Johnny Mercer wrote lyrics with many of the most
renowned composers of the classical era of American pop
music, which ran from the 1920’s to the 1960’s. Mercer
wrote with Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael, Walter
Donaldson, Duke Ellington, Jerome Kern, Henry Mancini,
Jimmy Mchugh, Jimmy van Heusen, Harry Warren, Kurt Weill
and Richard Whiting, to name a few (and all of whom
are in the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, of which
Mercer was a founding member and the first
president). Mercer is credited with the most
extensive catalog of published songs, with
well over 1000.
Mercer wrote mostly for films, but also
wrote for a few Broadway shows during
his career. In the early part of his career he
was known as a singer as much as he was
a songwriter. He appeared on nationally
broadcast radio shows during the 1930's and
40's and had 13 Top Ten hits as a singer. As a songwriter,
he received 19 Academy Award nominations, and won
4, as well as receiving 2 Grammy awards. Mercer was one of
the founders of Capitol Records in 1942. Many of the greatest
pop and jazz singers of that era recorded with Capitol
Records, including Frank Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole, Judy
Garland and Dinah Shore.
Johnny Mercer's lyrics are a unique combination of charming
colloquialisms and profound poetry. Frank Sinatra once said, “A
Johnny Mercer lyric is all the wit you wish you had and all the
love you ever lost.” Mercer's era produced a rich musical tradition
which will endure as long as the classics from any earlier
era. This was the pop music of its day, but its timeless appeal
has resulted in it being repeatedly reinterpreted by prominent
jazz artists of the recent and current eras.
The album was produced by award winning producer and
musician Ken Whiteley. I am privileged to have had the following
musicians play on the album:
PARMELA ATTARIWALA - violin (tracks 2, 7, 12)
ANDY BALLANTYNE - baritone sax (tracks 5,10,11) , alto sax (tracks 2, 4, 8)
BUCKY BERGER - drums (all tracks)
ROMAN BORYS - cello (tracks 2, 7, 12)
WILLIAM CARN - trombone (tracks 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11)
DEBBIE FLEMING - background vocal (tracks 3, 5, 11)
CHRIS GALE - tenor sax (tracks 6, 7)
PETER HILL - piano (tracks 1, 6)
KELLY JEFFERSON - tenor sax (tracks 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11)
KATHLEEN KAJIOKA - viola (tracks 2, 7, 12)
MARK KIESWETTER - piano (tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
GEORGE KOLLER - bass (tracks 3, 7, 9, 12)
ROSS MACINTYRE - bass (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11)
REG SCHWAGER - guitar (tracks 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 12)
LENNY SOLOMON - violin (tracks 2, 3, 7, 12)
KEVIN TURCOTTE - trumpet (tracks 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11)
CHRIS WHITELEY - harmonica (track 1), trumpet (tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11)
KEN WHITELEY - guitar (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12), ukulele (track 9),
organ (tracks 6, 11), vibes (track 9), background vocal (tracks 3, 5, 11)
ANDREW JONES - Horn arrangements (tracks 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11)
ANDREW DOWNING - String arrangements (tracks 2, 7, 12)
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