THE JOHNNY MERCER EDUCATIONAL ARCHIVES
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THE JOHNNY MERCER EDUCATIONAL ARCHIVES
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What defines a Desert Island Lp? For starters a desert island Lp (for those who may not know) is a Lp which one would pick to take if they were to be stranded on a desert island. The Bobby Darin & Johnny Mercer Lp titled; "TWO OF A KIND" (Atco 33-126) has all the ingredients to qualify. This work of art has withstood the test of time. Listening to it today the work is like a breath of fresh air 30 years after it's original release. The chemistry & artistry alone between these two men are priceless. The added banter between these two giants takes this recording to a higher level. With a dose of Billy May as arranger simply means, " It Don't Get Any Better Than This!" Gerry Stonestreet mentioned in a prior article "I understand that there are more Bobby Darin reissues pending" one being "Two Of A Kind". So with a little luck this masterpiece will surface soon. The liner notes read as follows " This album is bases on an idea by J. Steven Blauner ". In talking with Steve (Bobby's long time friend and manager) I asked him just how did he arrive at this concept. He went on to explain : SCALIA: Can you tell me something about the Darin/Mercer Lp? How it came about? BLAUNER: Bobby was doing a television show in New York. It was an hour and half show called "The Big Party". One of the guests on the show Bobby was doing was Johnny Mercer. We were in some rehearsal hall, I think Nola's or something like that, where ever they would rehearse. I just got this idea and I said to Bobby " Would you like to do an album with Johnny Mercer?" He said " I'd love it!" So, I went over to Johnny Mercer and introduced myself and I said to him " Mr. Mercer how about you and Bobby Darin doing an album together". He said " I'd love to. I said ok, I'll put it together. So then, I don't know maybe a few months later we go to California where we were recording with Billy May as the arranger and Johnny. I wanted to do an album of all Mercer tunes but Johnny did not want to do that. So I think in the album there is maybe only 2 or 3 of Johnny's songs, thats all. SCALIA: Can you tell me about the tune Two Of A Kind which is a collaboration by Johnny & Bobby? BLAUNER: I remember when they were writing the lead song "Two Of A Kind" and I remember we were on a set some place and Johnny would be in the dressing room and Bobby would go off and do some scene and he would come back and Johnny had a pencil and he would be writing something down and Bobby would give him a line here and a word there. The next thing you know they wrote the song. I mean Johnny really wrote the song but he wrote on it "written by Johnny Mercer and Bobby Darin". When Bobby saw his name on the song he said to Johnny why are you including my name? Johnny said you helped me write the song. So, out of this album of course Bobby has the honor of being credited with having a song written with Johnny Mercer. SCALIA: How many sessions did it take to complete the album? BLAUNER: In those days all albums were done in three sessions. I don't remember if they were three or four hour sessions, I forget. You do four songs a session, three different days and you would have your album, twelve songs. So, we do the twelve songs, we got the album. Then both of them come over to me after the last session and say to me " listen, we have to do another session". I said "why?" Their response was" because we don't have the album yet!" I said "Of course we have the album". They insisted "no, no". Then I realized why am I carrying on for? They were having such a good time together singing, that they wanted to do another session together. So we did three more songs. I don't remember from that fourth session if any of the songs made the album or not but there were three songs that didn't make the album. SCALIA: Do you think the remaining cuts that did not make it on the final album will surface for future release? BLAUNER: No, unfortunately the three songs that did not make the album had burned in the fire at Atlantic Records. So, they'll never be heard again. SCALIA: Do you have any closing thoughts? BLAUNER: When they were all through and just about ready to leave, Mercer came up to me and said " Steve, I gotta tell you something. I thought you were putting me on. I didn't think anyone would have any interest in singing with me again". I guess when it first came up he must have thought it was just one of those Hollywood things. They had such a great time working together and they would crack up, ya know and they would have to do another take or they would have to stop the band. Finally I said to Ahmet Ertegun who was producing I said "Ahmet when you master this album leave some of these mistakes in. The spontaneous feel will make it different than an average album and shows the enthusiasm, and so you'll hear it!" He did keep some in. Not as much as I would have liked but there is a couple of times. As I remember the album, there is one time that Bobby just bursts out laughing and they kept trying to top one another with the sides. When you listen to the album it is more spontaneous than any album your used to hearing. I would like to thank Steve Blauner for his precious memories and recollection of these two giants and a classic album. As an added bonus I would like to rap up this article with Bobby and his own words on his recollection of working with Johnny. This comes from my collection of a very rare audio tape when Bobby was a guest DJ and just finished playing a cut from the "Two Of A Kind" album. BOBBY DARIN: I enjoyed working with Mr. Mercer so much. He is such a pleasure to watch. I wish you could see.......I'm going to describe to you what he does while he is singing, and you'll have to picture this. He actually......when a song starts to feel good to him, he puts his hands over his head, in a sit-up exercise position and smiles. And all the tracks you hear, most of them you hear were done while his hands were over his head, and he sings that way. That's great! My hands are usually in my pockets. If you wish to find out more about Johnny Mercer, you can visit Steve Taksler's site at http://www.johnnymercer.com
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