[78-L] Happy 100th, Johnny Mercer

[Jeff Austin]

Part of what made Mercer's Capitols so much fun was his ability to do pretty much as he wished in terms of material.  Who knows what propelled him to make his early side of "They Didn't Believe Me," other than his regard for the song, which didn't have much currency at that moment.  I was glad to see that one of my favorites, "On The Nodaway Road," which has much the feel of a Willard Robison song, finally made it to a recent CD issue on DRG.  I don't think that "Missouri Walking Preacher," which was Robison's, has ever shown up in any form beyond its first issue.

One thing that was a little surprising, in the context of the documentary, was the attention given Glenn Wallachs.  My understanding had been that his primary allure to Mercer and DeSylva was based on having access to a significant quality of high-quality shellac.

If there is any single question I have regarding Mercer and Capitol Records, it would be why Mercer never opted to throw a bone to Mildred Bailey during the latter part of her life.  The label's early embrace of Martha Tilton always struck me as a little misguided, with no disrespect intended toward Her Liltin'-ness.  Mercer was outspoken in his regard for Bailey (she certainly helped put any number of his songs on the map), and Decca never seemed quite the right home for her in the early '40s.  Capitol, no doubt due to Mercer's presence, always seemed to allow its artists room for a little edginess and even silliness that might have allowed Mildred to flourish in way she couldn't quite on other labels.

This, btw, is my first posting to this list.  I don't know why I have not joined prior to now, but it seems like a interesting group of extremely knowledgeable people.




________________________________
From: Jeff Sultanof <jeffsultanof at gmail.com>
To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Thu, November 5, 2009 11:10:19 PM
Subject: Re: [78-L] Happy 100th, Johnny Mercer

Johnny Mercer's Capitol Records with Jo Stafford, the Pied Pipers or just
himself with Paul Weston's Orchestra (often the arrangements were written by
Skip Martin) are among my favorite recordings of all time. Fantastic vocal
and instrumental arrangements, near-perfect performances - there is so much
love on these records.

I well remember afternoons with my mentor Jerry Graff, who had one of the
greatest vocal groups ever, The Beachcombers. We would sit and listen to
these records and Jerry would tell me what to listen for and why something
worked as well as it did. Sharing these records with him turned out to be
great arranging lessons.

I have one great favorite, "Movie Tonight," a record I first heard when I
was three years old. I still get shivers when I hear it.

May Johnny rest in peace.

Jeff Sultanof

On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 10:47 PM, Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com> wrote:

>
> No harm intended, Randy. Guess we just agree to disagree. I found the
> program eminently entertaining and not at all irritating. Maybe some newbies
> will be encouraged to pick up Gene Lees' splendid bio of Mercer, "Portrait
> of Johnny" that came out a few years ago.
>
>
>
> I only wished that they had included "The Sweetheart Tree" from "The Great
> Race," which Mercer wrote with Henry Mancini. I think that was one of his
> best songs.
>
>
>
> One thing that would have been nice to include as maybe a voiceover (unless
> there was video taken of this), was a one-man concert Mercer gave in the
> early 70s that was issued as part of a 3-LP box set from the
> Book-of-the-Month called "An Evening With." Each LP features a solo
> performance by a classic American songwriter. Mercer's on one, Sammy Cahn on
> another and Alan Jay Lerner on the third. You talk about a whirlwind show.
> Mercer sang parts of 50 of his songs in that hour. I haven't listened to the
> LP in quite a while, but I'm going to drag it out this weekend and listen to
> it again.
>
>
>
> Cary Ginell
>
> > Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 18:32:23 -0800
> > From: forwardintothepast at yahoo.com
> > To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> > Subject: Re: [78-L] Happy 100th, Johnny Mercer
> >
> > Cary, I didn't want analysis, I merely wanted Mercer's lyrics to be
> heard.
> >
> > This was cut with such a short attention span that any given song wasn't
> performed by one artist, it was performed by six or seven, sometimes with
> jarring key changes along the way. And you're right--everybody was
> identified, along with the source of the material, which normally I would
> applaud, but when each shot only lasted six or seven seconds at best it made
> for a tremendous amount of visual clutter, all of which distracted mightily
> from appreciating the nuances of Mercer's lyrics. I felt like Johnny was
> softly trying to sing one of his songs, while a juggler and a circus clown
> and a guy on a pogo stick were all blocking our view of him.
> >
> > This should have been edited with more of an emphasis and respect for
> Mercer's words. Lyrics are delicate things.
> >
> > I should note that I thought the biographical portions of the show were
> generally fine, just not organized the way I would have liked. You and I
> know Mercer's story forward and backward, so if this documentary actually
> told it forward and backward, we still knew what happened and when. Someone
> who was just learning about Mercer would be mightily confused, I suspect.
> >
> > --Randy
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