Kermit Goell (1915 – December 4, 1997) was an American songwriter and archaeologist.[1]

Biography

Born in Brooklyn, Goell received his BSC in agriculture from Cornell University and served in the Army Air Forces during World War II.[1] As an amateur archeologist Goell helped excavate several ancient sites in Turkey with his archeologist sister, Theresa Goell.[1]

"Huggin' and Chalkin'", Goell's song written with Clancy Hayes, was recorded by Kay Kyser, Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer,[1] and his "One Finger Melody" was a hit for Frank Sinatra. Goell was the lyricist of the 1947 hit Near You with music by Francis Craig. "Near You" was a hit for Craig and his band as well as the Andrews Sisters and pianist Roger Williams a decade later.[1] In 1947 Billboard reported that Goell's lawyers had written to Craig accusing him of portraying himself as the sole author of "Near You".[2] Goell himself was sued later that year over the authorship of "Huggin' and Chalkin'".[3]

Goell wrote a musical, Pocahontas which ran for 12 performances at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith in 1963.[4] The President of the Tobacco Institute, George V. Allen refused funding to the musical because he thought the plot "atrocious". Allen wrote in 1962 that he felt depicting Pocahontas as a "drunken brawler in London horrifies my every emotion...If there were historical justification for Goell's version (which I doubt), I prefer to let such realism rest in the musty archives of the British Museum."[5]

Notable songs

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Kermit Goell, 82, Songwriter". The New York Times. 9 December 1997. p. 15.
  2. ↑ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (13 December 1947). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 21–. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 20 January 2013. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  3. ↑ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (1 March 1947). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 35–. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 20 January 2013. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  4. ↑ "Pocahontas". Musical Theatre Guide. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  5. ↑ "I've read the synopsis of Kermit Goell's play about Pocahontas..." Tobacco Institute. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
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