
The Beatles included the song "
I Remember You" (music by Victor Schertzinger, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, 1941) in their 1962 live performances, with Paul McCartney on vocals. The Beatles' arrangement of "
I Remember You" was a duplicate of the 1962 recording issued by
Frank Ifield.


"
P.S. I Love You" (music by Gordon Jenkins, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, 1934) has been recorded many times.
Rosemary Clooney,
Frank Sinatra,
Kay Starr, among others.

In 1962, The Beatles recorded a Paul McCartney - John Lennon composition also titled "P.S. I Love You". McCartney was probably aware of the Mercer song. But you can't copyright a song title.

Producer Ron Richards: "I was originally a music publishing man, a plugger, so I knew someone had done a record with that title. I said to Paul [McCartney] 'You can have it as B-side, but not an A-side.'"
Mercer's biographer
Gene Lees expressed annoyance at this duplicate title.
Johnny Mercer co-founded Capitol Records in 1942. The Beatles joined Capitol in 1963. Johnny was gone from Capitol by then.

Ringo Starr sang Johnny Mercer's 1944 song "
Dream" (produced and arranged by George Martin) for his 1970 standards album
Sentimental Journey.
Paul McCartney contacted Johnny Mercer in the 1970s in an attempt to write a song with Johnny. But Mercer was already ill and nearing the end of his life.
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