RESOURCE LIST - LINKS


All Music Database

ASCAP: You can search by Writer, Title, Performer, Publisher

Paulette Attie

Lise Avery

Ken Barnes

BIOGRAPHY INFORMATION

BIGBANDS - HUGE & VALUABLE Search Site

Sophia Bilides

BMI: 

Cabaret Hotline: Stu Hamstra's Website  

CABARET.ORG

CABARET SCENES MAGAZINE

CABARET WEST

Eddie Cantor


CITY CABARET -courtesy of Liz Ahlfors

Hoagy Carmichael 

Hoagy Carmichael- Indiana University - digitized images

Claiborne Cary

Chris Chandler

Rosemary Clooney

Collectors Choice Music

Eric Comstock

Larry Conley 

Don Cornell           

Cynthia Crane


Shelly Cullin

Doris Day

Digital Times- a lyric resource

BOBBY DARIN WEBSITE 

Dolly Dawn

BLOSSOM DEARIE

Baby Jane Dexter

Jean DuSchon

Duke Ellington

Jacques Emond

Filmography: search tool

The Johnny Mercer Foundation

Connie Francis

Georgia State University-The Home of Johnnys papers

Roy Glover

Leslie Gwin

Corky Hale

Pearce W. Hammond....artist and Johnny's Great Nephew

Mary Cleere Haran -official site

Mary Cleere Haran

Yip Harburg

Fank Ifield _ "I Remember You"

International Association of Jazz Record Collectors

Internet Movie Data Base


In Tune Magazine - link information


Jazzsingers

Jerry Jazz Musician (a very comprehensive article with audio!)

Bill Kirchner: "The Oxford Companion to Jazz"

Kohn on Music Licensing

Kay Kyser

Julius LaRosa

Kathleen Landis

Peggy Lee

Lester S. Levy collection at Eisenhower Library: Johns Hopkins: searchable database

Manhattan Association of Clubs and Cabarets

Barry Manilow

Andrea Marcovicci

Dean Martin

Karen Mason

Amanda McBroom

Susannah McCorkle

Rosie Mitchell

MusicBoards.com wide variety of music message boards

The Music Buffs Web Pages

Musical Theatre Homepage - Jill Hobgood's Search Site: The Most Incredible!


the National Academy of Popular Music/Song Writers Hall of Fame

New York Sheet Music Society

Anthony Newley

PAST TIMES: The Nostalgia Entertainment Newsletter

Todd Peach's Johnny Mercer Lyric Site

Pied Pipers  

Kim Polote

Andy Prior

Radio Station CKCU FM [Jacques Emond]

Johnny Rotella

Satin Doll Trio


Savannah Online

Susan L. Schulman

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Italian website)"Sette Spose per Sette Fratelli"

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - wonderful comprehensive site

DARYL SHERMAN

Bobby Short

Vickie Smith

Song Writers Hall of Fame/the National Academy of Popular Music

Southern Music Network - in addition to the Johnny Mercer Page - they have numerous other pages- check it out!

K.T. Sullivan

Jack Teagarden

Tin Pan Alley: a history- thanks, to Steven Lewis!


Top Banana -Craig Gustafson's tribute to this timeless Johnny Mercer Broadway Play

Marlene Ver Planck

Jim Wann

Harry Warren Website David E Jenkins wonderful website!

HarryWarrenMusic.com  The Four Jays Tribute

PAULA WEST

Margaret Whiting

Alec Wilder

Max Wilk

Julie Wilson

WSVH radio

Yester Music - the home of radio nostalgia


 

SWING ON-LINE FEATURE: THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY MERCER

JOHNNY MERCER WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST LYRICISTS of all time. He was also, in all probability, the most prolific with over 1000 songs to his credit. Not only did he write words to other people's melodies he often wrote his own music. As if this wasn't enough, he also recorded many sides for Capitol Records as well as appearing on radio, TV, movies and stage.

Mercer was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1909. In the twenties he moved to New York where he worked outside the music business. His first song was Out of Breath and Scared to Death of You, a song that was used for a Broadway show in 1930. By 1932 he was a singing-MC and writing for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. Still in the 1930s, he recorded many sides with Jack Teagarden, Wingy Manone, Benny Goodman and Eddie Condon.

In 1935 he appeared in a couple of movies; Old Man Rhythm and To Beat The Band. Mercer then became heavily involved in radio as host of his own show Johnny Mercer's Music Shop with his old boss Paul Whiteman as musical director. He was also guesting on many other shows as vocalist and, sometime, comedian. In 1942 he was one of the founders of Capitol Records. As part owner of the company he was instrumental in bringing to the label such stars as: Nat King Cole and Stan Kenton, signing them to long term contracts. Mercer himself cut many successful sides on his own and in duets with Cole, Martha Tilton, Bing Crosby, Jo Stafford etc. The first album released by Capitol in May, 1944, was Songs By Johnny Mercer featuring various artists. He also collaborated in the writing of many songs written for the movies, including the scores for Dangerous When Wet., Laura, Daddy Long Legs, Here Come The Waves and many others. His Broadway credits include; Top Banana, Li'l Abner, St-Louis Woman, Free and Easy and many others. Mercer won Oscars for In The Cool, Cool, Cool of The Evening, On The Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe, Moon River and The Days of Wine and Roses..

Mercer's song writing collaborators reads like a who's who of composers. He worked with Hoagy Carmichael, Harry Warren, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, Richard Whiting, Rube Bloom, Jimmy McHugh, Jimmy Van Heusen, Gene DePaul, Arthur Schwartz, Gordon Jenkins, Bernie Hanighen and many others. Some of his most successful songs were written in the 60s with Henry Mancini. Emerging from this collaboration were such hits as; Moon River, Charade and The Days of Wine and Roses.

He also composed the music for a number of compositions like; Dream, Harlem Butterfly, My New Celebrity is You, The Waiter and The Porter and The Upstairs Maid and Something's Gotta Give.

To me, Johnny Mercer epitomized the hip songwriter a hipness that was also reflected in his cool Southern accented singing. His voice was relaxed, swinging and bang on. One of the few writers who could have easily made it as a vocalist even if he had never written a lyric or a note of music. As executive, and Artist and Repertoire man, at Capitol Records, Mercer got to record many sides. Unfortunately, maybe, because he left the company on bad terms, only a handful of these sides have ever been reissued. There are however, some radio transcriptions featuring Mercer doing his songs and those of others. Johnny released a fine album, later in his life, on Constellation called My Huckleberry Friend. Check out also the many tribute albums released by other singers. I highly recommend: Susannah McCorkle's The Songs of Johnny Mercer on Concord, Bill Hernderson's A Tribute to Johnny Mercer, and Lorenz Alexandria's The Songs of Johnny Mercer. These last two releases on Discovery. There's also a great LP on Verve called Buddy Rich Sings Johnny Mercer. This is an extremely rare LP that, to my knowledge, has never been reissued. Check out the garage sales for this one, it's well worth looking for.

Johnny Mercer passed away in Los Angeles, June 25, 1976.

The above article was written by Jacques Emond; Radio Station CKCU FM, Ottawa I Suggest That Readers Frequently Visit This Site

  Crabapple Sound
Crabapple can provide you with numerous radio shows with Johnny Mercer

 

revised  22 October 2009