[78-L] Happy 100th, Johnny Mercer

[David Lennick]

I'll watch it tonight..last night it lost out to the Bill Cosby Mark Twain 
award show. Catch that if it's repeated on your local PBS. Cos tells a fabulous 
tale (from an old Dick Cavett show) of wanting to sit in on drums, and getting 
his chance..Jack Benny just about falls out of his chair. 78-year-old Rita 
Moreno does a better than half-decent rendition of "Brazil", Willie Nelson does 
"Caldonia" (sleeps through it, but what a band).

The Mercer tribute was followed by "The Fleet's In" (Mercer lyrics, of course).

dl

Cary Ginell wrote:
> Just finished watching a splendid 90-minute documentary on Johnny Mercer that was produced by Clint Eastwood. An amazingly good job, well-annotated, terrific video clips, and a fitting tribute to one of the most prolific and stylish lyricists of the century. Mercer's 100th birthday is coming up in a few weeks, so it would behoove every one of us to pull out a Mercer record (or one on Capitol at least) and play it. Wouldn't be hard to find one, either. 
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> Funny - coincidentally, I had just found a copy of Mercer's first solo record - a 1934 pairing on Decca 142 of "Lord, I Give You My Children" (a relative of "Mama Don't Allow" as he introduces members of his band: Jack Teagarden, Dick McDonough, Sterling Bose) backed with "The Bathtub Ran Over Again!" Mercer did a few vocals prior to that with the Whiteman and Dorsey Bros. orchestras, but this was his first disc done under his own name.
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> Cary Ginell
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