LYRICS BY JOHNNY MERCER

            The most prolific lyricist of popular songs (over 1,500 of them), dating over six decades from the 1920’s through the 1970’s, was Johnny Mercer. He had over 100 hits; his songs were used in more than 385 movies; 18 of his songs were nominated for an Academy Award, and four were winners.

             When we think about noteworthy popular songs from those top songwriting decades, we tend to focus on the composer. To be sure, Johnny Mercer did some composing himself; but his real eminence came as a lyricist. He worked with a number of famed composers – probably more than any other prominent lyricist did – and the results embraced a number of different styles.

             I just received a gift from my friend Bob Werbel of an excellent 300-page book (titled Our Huckleberry Friend)  about the life, times, and song lyrics of Mercer. Since next year will be the 50th anniversary of his passing in 1976, I want to pay tribute to him right now.

             My favorite vocalist, Annette Sanders, and I have over the years recorded (with rhythmic support on bass by Dmitri Kolesnik and some fine solos by Warren Chiasson on vibes and Andrei Ryabov on guitar) a number of tunes containing Mercer lyrics. I’ve picked out a dozen of these for this tribute. Six have solos by Annette, two by me, and four feature our duets. The dozen songs were written with eight different composers, including Harold Arlen (the most at four), Jerome Kern, Hoagy Carmichael, Henry Mancini, Jimmy Van Heusen, and Johnny Mercer himself.

Here are the songs (with their publication dates and composers) in the order they appear:

1.     Moon River (1961), composed by Henry Mancini

2.     My Shining Hour (1943), composed by Harold Arlen

3.     Skylark (1942), composed by Hoagy Carmichael

4.     This Time the Dream’s On Me (1941), composed by Harold Arlen

5.     When the World Was Young (1950), composed by M. Philippe-Gerard

6.     Dream (1944), composed by Johnny Mercer

7.     I Remember You (1942), composed by Victor Schertzinger

8.     Easy Street (1941), composed by Harold Arlen

9.     I’m Old Fashioned (1942), composed by Jerome Kern

10.  I Thought About You (1939), composed by Jimmy Van Heusen

11.  Days of Wine and Roses (1962), composed by Henry Mancini

12.  Accentuate the Positive (1944), composed by Harold Arlen.

  Just listen to the broad variety and superb taste of these unforgettable Mercery lyrics.

I hope you’ll enjoy the experience.

To listen to the medley, click on this play button.