Background
Lombardo was born in London, Ontario, Canada.
Lombardo was born in London, Ontario, Canada.
He was a vocalist and composer. The band developed into The Royal Canadians in 1923, in which Carmen both sang and wrote music He frequently collaborated with American composers and his music was recorded by Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, and others
Many of his compositions have also been used in Woody Allen films.
When singing songs like "Alone at a Table for Two" he would allow his voice to tremble, and seem nearly to break into tearshe was caricatured in Warner Brothers cartoons as "Cryman" Lombardo. Lombardo wrote the words and music with John Jacob Loeb for Guy Lombardo"s stage productions of Arabian Nights (1954, 1955), Paradise Island (1961, 1962), and Mardi Gras (1965, 1966) at Jones Beach, New New York
In the late 1960s, actor-raconteur Tony Randall made several television appearances on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" in which he sang songs written by Carmen Lombardo in a voice imitating (and somewhat exaggerating) Lombardo"s style. On one appearance, Lombardo and Randall performed a duet of Lombardo"s "Boo Hoo (You"ve Got Maine Crying for You)", which was one of the songs that Randall typically included in his Lombardo routine.
Lombardo died of cancer in Miami in 1971, aged 67.
Lombardo"s compositions included the number one jazz and popular standard "Sweethearts on Parade", "Powder Your Face with Sunshine (Smile! Smile! Smile!)", "A Lane in Spain", "Some Rainy Day", "Boo Hoo (You"ve Got Maine Crying Foreign You)", "A Sailboat in the Moonlight" (1937) with John Jacob Loeb, "Coquette", written with Johnny Green and Gus Kahn, recorded by Paul Whiteman, Louis Armstrong, Jimmie Lunceford, Bud Freeman, Bob Crosby, and The Ink Spots, "Seems Like Old Times", "Oahu (My Lovely Island Home)", "Get Out Those Old Records", "Ridin" Around in the Rain" with Gene Austin, "Return to Maine" (1957) with Danny Di Minno, and "You"re Beautiful To-Night, My Dear". He wrote five songs for the 1934 film Many Happy Returns, in which the orchestra appeared.