JOHNNY MERCER LIVE

THE JOHNNY MERCER EDUCATIONAL ARCHIVES

JOHNNY MERCER LIVE

1.	Out of Breath an Scared to Death
2.	I'm Going Back to the Farm
3.	Fare-Thee-Well to Harlem
4.	Pardon My Southern Accent
5.	Here Come the British
6.	Dixieland Band
7.	I'm an Old Cow Hand
8.	Bob White
9.	I'm Old Fashioned
10.	And the Angels Sing
11.	I Thought About You
12.	Out of This World
13.	Yogi (Who Lost His Willpower)
14.	Medium Couldn't Get Through [Recitation]
15.	Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish [Recitation]
16.	Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing
17.	Strip Polka
18.	G.I. Jive
19.	Glow Worm
20.	Miriam (Pepsodent Commercial)
21.	Hit the Road to Dreamland
22.	Bon Vivant
23.	Lazy Bones
24.	Goody Goody
25.	Too Marvelous for Words
26.	Jeepers Creepers

27.	Satin Doll
28.	You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
29.	That Old Black Magic
30.	AC-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive
31.	Fools Rush In
32.	I Remember You
33.	Day in, Day Out
34.	Dearly Beloved
35.	Come Rain or Come Shine
36.	Tangerine
37.	Hooray for Hollywood
38.	Laura
39.	Dream
40.	On the Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe
41.	Something's Gotta Give
42.	One for My Baby
43.	In the Cool Cool Cool of the Evening
44.	Skylark
45.	Autumn Leaves
46.	I Wanna Be Around
47.	Blues in the Night
48.	Charade
49.	Summer Wind
50.	Moon River
51.	Days of Wine and Roses

An Evening with Johnny Mercer. assisted by Margaret Whiting and Robert Sands.
DRG #5176. Produced by Maurice Levine. Recorded live from the Lyrics and Lyricists Series at New York's 92nd Street "Y". 52 minutes of Johnny Mercer - Live. Mercer talking and singing accompanied Margaret Whiting. A not to be missed CD. Mercer makes many observations and performs these pieces in partial form as a medley interspersed with fine conversation.

VARIETY
New York, NY

MAR 17 1971

Tiptop Pop Songsmith

Johnny Mercer Clicks

With One-Man Recital

At a time when singers are finding that the lyrics require even greater attention than the music, the "Lyrics and Lyricists" series is assuming an even greater importance in the current music scene. Sunday's (13 March 1971) soiree at the New York Y.M.H.A with Johnny Mercer as star was No. 4 in the "and-then-I- wrote" cavalcade.

Mercer, one of the most prolific wordsmiths in Tin Pan Alley, has been described as a folk poet by many. He knows song and song stylists full well. He even served as vocalist in various orchestras, including Benny Goodman and Paul Whiteman. He has collaborated with the top tunesmiths.

His place in music is secure as is evidenced by one of the longest string of hits in the ASCAP roster. His span encompasses the musical stage and films but his greatest strength is in the field of unaffiliated pops.

Mercer's recital at the 92nd St. Young Men's Hebrew Assn. Auditorium with the assistance of pianist Richard Leonard and singers Margaret Whiting and Bob Sands concentrated on Mercer's delivery of the lyrics in a highly service able voice. Mercer is sophisticated. He is aware of constants and can shift with the times as well. What's more, he is a man who loves language enough to treat it reverently and want to play with it and give it forms that are plastic, literate and amusing at times. There are trick rhymes and subtle rhymes and frequently a delicacy of feeling. His collaborations with the top composers has produced some of the top pops extant. Mercer went through more than 50 of them, some with revealing commentary such as the instance when producer Martin Rackin felt that the tune "Moon River" was expendable it only won the Academy Award, as did several of his other numbers.

Of course, the times are changing, Mercer is somewhat bitter at the rush of the untrained and unscholarly who have emerged into writers of major hits. He concedes that many more will come through, by force of numbers. He feels that the folk invasion is dreary. He remains on the side of talent and integrity, praising the talents of James Taylor, whom he believes to be sincere, and "that singer from Blood, Sweat & Tears" (David Clayton Thomas).

But nonetheless, it's conceded that Mercer's place in music and in folk poetry is secure. The string of hits, as delineated by him, insures him a permanent niche.

...Jose

VARIETY
New York, NY ~ MAR 17 1971

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