Kermit Goell

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

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

• "Near You" (with Francis Craig)
• "Huggin' and Chalkin'" (with Clancy Hayes)
• "One Finger Melody" (with Al Hoffman and Fred Spielman)

References