Margaret Whiting,Julie LaRosa,Max Wilk,Johnny Rotella,MarleneVerPlanck
From: webmaster@johnnymercer.com
CommentsJOHNNY ROTELLA VAN NUYS, CA May 26, 1998 Dear Stephen: Just a few words about when I met Johnny Mercer and how we got together to write a few songs. We co-wrote three songs and we had plans to write many more. If Johnny were with us today we would have a catalogue of beautiful songs. I have been a musician/songwriter all my life. I learned the sax as a small boy in New Jersey and as I grew up I became interested in writing music. I composed the music for my high school graduating class in 1938. After playing with the big bands of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Raymond Scott and others I moved to California and became a studio musician. That was in 1948. This is when I played with Jerry Gray, Billy Vaughn and many more recording artists. In the late 50's and early 60's Johnny and I met on some sessions and we became great friends from then on. He always loved to be with musicians. I was a close friend of Marshall Robbins who ran Johnny's publishing firm Commander Publications. We used to hang out in the office every week. Finally Johnny and I decided to write something together. We composed I'VE WAITED FOR A WALTZ. Columbia recorded it with Tony Bennett but unfortunately it was never released. Our second song was BABY-0 which Dean Martin recorded for Reprise. That was followed by YOUNG and FREE which to date has not been recorded. All this time Johnny and I spent a lot of time together. He always loved to eat at any hamburger stand. Watch the crowds go by and talk about anything. Just hang out. We always mentioned our families, music, musicians and bands. He was the greatest. Just look at all the songs he wrote with those great collaborators. I was blessed to have known Johnny and to have written a few songs with him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Max Wilk Westport Ct. May 25, 1998 I first become a Mercer fan long before I ever met him. I was working at Warner Bros studios in Burbank, the year was 1938, and Mercer was writing brilliant lyrics for Warner musicals, either with Harry Warren or with Harold Arlen.
There was one musical called "Garden of the Moon", and Mercer worked on some of the lyrics (along with Al Dubin). His unmistakble talent shines through a couple of brilliant songs. One is "I'm In Love With The Lady On The Two Cent Stamp." Check it out; it's a great lyric. So is the second one I will never forget."The Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish."
I think that one goes... "She's the girl friend of the whirling dervish She's his best friend to his face. But every night when there's mellow moonlight And he's out dervishing with all his might She gives him the runaround." How about that? I've always loved it. "He dreams of a Hindu honeymoon But every night when he goes out to make an honest rupee, She goes out to make a lot of whoopee." He topped it! How much better can it get?
Well, one day, on the call sheet, they announced on one of the stages, for a picture called "Going Places," on the set would be Mr Louis Armstrong and Miss Maxine Sullivan. What would they be shooting? A production number called "Jeepers Creepers." Who do you think spent the entire day down on the stage, playing hooky from my publicity department job, and basking in reflected glory, while Louis and Maxine recorded that great Mercer number for posterity. YOU BET - ME! So I've been a Mercer fan for lo, these sixty years, right? He's gone - but long may his lyrics live on! ....I can quote "The Lady On The Two Cent Stamp," too! Is it any wonder I went after Johnny first - when I wrote "They're Playing our Song." ? DeCapo 1997 - 25 years old and still going strong! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you Max for your first hand contribution to the Johnny Mercer Website. Max's book "They're Playing Our Song - conversations with America's Classic Songwriters" was reissued last year in soft cover. ...This book is a must read for any fan of traditional American Lyricists.. Max Wilk has written 22 books as well as numerous television shows, musicals, plays and films... Steve Taksler..webmaster@johnnymercer.com. Max knows and interviewed:
"All the Things You Are" JEROME KERN "Three Little Words" KALMAR AND RUBY "Tea for Two" VINCENT YOUMANS "I'm in the Mood for Love" DOROTHY FIELDS "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" LORENZ HART "The Sound Of Music" RICHARD RODGERS "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II "Of Thee I Sing, Baby!" IRA GERSHWIN "My ideal" RICHARD WHITING "Thanks for the Memory" LEO ROBIN "Make Sonwone Happy" BETTY COMDEN "Lullaby of Broadway" HARRY WARREN "Moon River" JOHNNY MERCER "Over the Rainbow" HAROLD ARLEN "People Who Need People" JULE STYNE "Bei Mir Bist Du Schiin" SAMMY CAHN "Tradition" BOCK AND HARNICK Taking a Chance On Love" VERNON DUKE "Wish You Were Here" HAROLD ROME "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" BURTON LANE "Put On a Happy Face" LEE ADAMS "Oh, How We Danced" SAUL CHAPLIN "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" E. Y. HARBURG "Everything's Coming Up Roses" STEPHEN SONDHEIM "Guys and Dolls" FRANK LOESSER "Always" IRVING BERLIN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DOLLY DAWN New York City, NY February 18, 1998
Having known Johnny Mercer, and having recorded and sung many of his wonderful songs on our radio shows from the Taft Hotel; I am so happy to have the opportunity to tell you the following story, that I remember lovingly, of a chat that I had with Johnny during a session at lunchtime in The Taft Grill Room. The orchestra that I sang with was George Hall and His Taft Hotel Orchestra. We were on the C.B.S. network every day at 12 noon to 12:30, six days a week and of course, it attracted many writers and contact men, looking for radio performance of the songs they were plugging. It was the full network and we had a great listening audience and so, it was considered a major plug. One day I sat talking to Johnny Mercer. During our conversation I asked him of all the songs he had written, which was his favorite. He answered me by saying, in his delightful southern drawl, "You know Dolly, when you write a song it's like being your baby, and you love them all whether they become hits or not." So once again, I asked Johnny which song that he wrote was his favorite, and again he said he liked his babies. However, he said his favorite song was one that he did not write. It was written by Gus Kahn and Isham Jones, the band leader. The song was, "It Had to Be You." I used that song on stage in my performance and I always told that story. I sang many songs by Johnny Mercer, recorded some that I really thought were terrific and had a great deal of joy out of singing them. Two of my favorites which I recorded....are titled "Let that Be a Lesson to You" words by Mercer and music by Richard A. Whiting recorded 11/15/37, from the film Hollywood Hotel; another Mercer song that I love and also recorded was a wonderful song titled "I Could Kiss You For That" words by Mercer and music by Jimmy McHugh. I recorded it on 12/4/40..... Hope this will be interesting to you about dear Johnny Mercer. He was one of a kind and I feel so lucky that I knew him. Best love and all good wishes for you Steve. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Julius La Rosa New York 5 February '98 A FEW WORDS ABOUT JOHNNY MERCER
"You'd never know it, But, Buddy I'm a kind of poet And I've got a lot of things to say." That line has always struck me as autobiographical. I've been singing Johnny Mercer songs since I was a boy! One of the great regrets of my life? I never got to meet him; never got to tell him he was my favorite lyricist, never got to tell him how awed I was by his lyrics. Imagine rhyming "chalice", '"palace", and "aurora borealis!" One of his contemporaries, E.Y. Harburg said of Mercer, "He was America's folk poet." This from the man who wrote, "Over The Rainbow." And Oscar Hammerstein, after winning the Academy Award in 1941 for "The Last Time I saw Paris", over Mercer's "Blues In The Night", sent Mercer a telegram saying simply, "Johnny, you was robbed." But only for a while. In 1946 he won the Academy Award for "The Atchison, Topeka, and The Santa Fe", and in 1951 "In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening" won it. "Moon River" was a cinch winner in 1961, and ''The Days Of Wine and Roses" laughed and ran away in 1962. Mercer's occasional use of the unusual word, the unexpected word has always amused and amazed me. Probably the best known example-- "huckleberry"! "We're after the same rainbows end, Waitin' round the bend, My huckleberry friend, Moon River and me," (The well known head of a record company turned down Moon River; asking. "What's a huckleberry?) Imagine using the word "honeycomb" in a song? "Kansas City, Caroline, That's my honeycomb. 'Cause ANYPLACE I HANG MY HAT IS HOME." And how's this for invention?! "In The Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" he told us "Sue wants a barbecue, Sam wants to boil a ham, Grace votes for bouillabaisse stew." ''The Waiter and the Porter and the Upstairs Maid" makes a word like harlequinade come to life! Y'ready?
If ever I'm invited to some fuddy duddys; I ain't a gonna watch any harlequinade, You'll find me in the kitchen Applaudin' my buddies; The waiter and the porter and the upstairs maid."
During World War II, this ingenious "bridge" in "G.I. Jive".
If you're a P.V.T . your duty Is to salute the L.I.E.U.T.; But if you brush the L.I.E.U.T., The M.P. makes you K.P. on the Q.T. I've always smiled at "Hooray for Hollywood! Where you're terrific if you're even good." And how would you classify FOOLS RUSH IN Where wise men never go, But wise men never fall in love So how are they to know? Several years ago, while in Savannah, Georgia, where he was born, I went to the cemetery where he is buried. On his tombstone it said simply, "AND THE ANGELS SING" . Remember We meet, and the angels sing. You speak, and the angels sing. You smile, and the angels sing. We kiss, and the angels sing. Any questions? P.S. Johnny and his wife, Ginger, would send Christmas cards in the form of poems written by Johnny. An excerpt, from the card they sent one year shows a side of Johnny which is consistent with the sub-text of many of his lyrics. Then say to God--and mean it too Thanks for today--and all year through Thanks for the good things we all had Now--help us overcome the bad Teach us, like children still in school the facts of life--the Golden Rule Teach us to know what Jesus meant Why we are here--why He was sent... Julius LaRosa New York 5 February '98 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Margaret Whiting NYC, NY
I never realized when I was a little girl learning how to sing that the man who was helping me was one of the top lyricists in the business. He knew the magic of writing a very special lyric -- or appreciated a good lyric written by Alan Lerner, Irving Berlin or Larry Hart. He was a natural, and taught me a way to demonstrate lyrics. For example, as the head of Capitol Records, he was our A&R man in the beginning.
And he found me a song that he was in love with by two writers, Johnny Blackburn and Karl Suessdorf, who wrote a very poetic song about the charms of Vermont. Johnny had heard that song and thought it was a natural for me. I naively asked him, "How can I sing a song about a place I've never been to?". He said "I haven't either, but we'll use our imagination." So he had me imagine the four seasons, and what each season would be like there.,the warmth, the chill, what it was like to ski there, the smell of maple syrup. All these things conjured up a place with great memories that helped me sing the song. The song, of course, was "Moonlight In Vermont," and became a signature song for me, After it became a hit for me, he would come and hear me sing and say, "Do the song that hasn't got a rhyme in it. " I think it's the only hit song ever written without a rhyme in the entire lyric. Johnny had the ability to intuit what songs should be sung by what singer. He had to write a love song for Fred Astaire to sing to Leslie Caron, Astaire came to Johnny in a tizzy. "My audiences will think I'm an evil old man seducing a young. girl if I don't have the right lyric." Johnny knew what Fred meant, and wrote the unusual and charming `'Something's Gotta Give." Johnny was writing for Warner Brothers Pictures with my father, Richard Whiting. It was for the film "Ready, Willing and Able," and the producer, Jerry Wald; told them they had to have a special kind of a love song that Dick Powell had met and fallen in love with. He told Johnny to write at least ten sets of lyrics, because the secretary would read the first set back to the writer and then Ruby Keeler would receive the letter he sent, and she would have another lyric to sing to her girlfriends would read the letter back with another set of lyrics. The letter went on and on, with several other people reading. when it finally came to ten, they thought it was enough, The boys went to the studio a few days later and read all the lyrics of the song. Not being content, the producer asked for five more Johnny had a temper, said "That's enough, I can do no more," and stalked out. The next day Johnny received a gift from my father in his mailbox. It was a Webster's Dictionary," with the words "Don't give up so easy." That song was "Too Marvelous for Words." Margaret Whiting January 11, 1998 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marlene VerPlanck Clifton, NJ In 1978 I was asked to do a month's engagement at Michael's Pub in New York for a tribute to Johnny Mercer. At that moment, I wasn't quite sure of the songs he wrote but glance in the ASCAP book revealed all of my favorite songs. Along with this job came four of the finest musicians in the world. Tony Monte, piano, Milt Hinton, bass, Butch Miles, drums and Bucky Pizzarrelli on guitar. At the end of the month, my husband Billy booked a recording studio and we all went in to record these timeless songs. I didn't think it was such a good idea and I was sure that we would be the only ones who would buy it. As usual, I was wrong and he was right.. it is to this day one of Audiophile's best selling recordings. We are very proud of this issue and it has become a benchmark for everything we do. MARLENE VerPLANCK JANUARY 5, 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shelly Cullin When people ask me whose lyrics are my favorite to sing, without hesitation, I answer, "Johnny Mercer". Ever since I can remember, I've been a fan of Mr. Mercer--even long before I became a professional singer. In the late 'thirties, as a precocious youngster, I even managed a squeaky chorus or two of "Jeepers Creepers". At one of the many tributes to this icon of songwriters, the master of ceremonies said that, while researching for the program, it took him three days just to read the titles of Mercer's songs! For anyone else--an exaggeration; for Johnny Mercer--an understatement. Prolific, yet perfect, his lyrics were written with intelligence, sensitivity and, when appropriate, Mercer humor. Who could write a western spoof like, "I'm An Old Cowhand" and also create a tender ballad like "Fools Rush In"? Why... Johnny Mercer could! That's who... Thanks, Stephen, for helping people to know more about him, and for keeping his name aloft. __________________Shelly Cullin January 5, 1998 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Chandler Marietta, GA USA
Steve has been kind enough to add my project to his Resource Page. CD entitled "SOUTHERN CHARM AND SWING' It was my great privilege to work with an arranger, Ken Palmer, who was one of Johnny Mercer's favorite musicians. Ken happens to also be from Savannah. I never had the privilege of meeting Johnny since he passed away in 1976. It was Ken Palmer who really brought me into an understanding of this great writers works. For this I am forever grateful. The following is an excerpt from an email to Steve Taksler. Interesting story, when we were recording, "Laura" was the last number. The horn section came in to record that night. we noticed that the trombone player, Rod, who had participated in the whole project was looking very sick. As it turned out, he could not continue. The next day we were informed that he had appendicitis and was to be operated on that same day. We tried unsuccessfully to bring in another trombone player, a student at Amstrong State University. But even with Ken Palmer sitting beside him he just couldn't cut the part.Phil Hadaway, the engineer had a brilliant idea, scrap the horn section and have the legendary Joe Jones come in and play. Only one problem, Joe had terminal cancer. As it turned out Joe did come. He walked in the studio, his head completely bald from the chemotherapy. he struggled to the Hammond and proceeded to play some of the most brilliant organ that you have ever heard. I have a photo record of this whole project. The picture of Joe performing under extreme pain is a wonderful testimonial to the special nature of this recording project. Chris Chandler, January 5, 1998 This is an archive site that seeks to educate others on the works of the great American Lyricist JOHNNY MERCER. I enjoy sharing my hobby with others; please feel free to contribute to this work in progress. Steve Taksler, Princeton Junction, New Jersey,USA |
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