Waitin' For The Evenin' Mail

18 November 2011 is the 102nd anniversary of the birth of Johnny Mercer.

Comments on this blog:

this is well done. it's cool to learn more about him.
lynn paden

On Dearly Beloved:
[Fred Astaire] looks so sexy in his white tux jacket, singing this song in the movie...
Chris Bamberger

Two 'Must Haves' for Mercer fans and all fans of pre R&R American pop music are 'Johnny Mercer: The Dreams on Me', a two disk TCM - Warner Bros. DVD documentary and 'The Great American Songbook' Warner Bros. DVD hosted by Michael Feinstein. Both are entertaining as they are instructive.
NewRoc

Thanks, Mark. I hadn't realized how productive he was as a songwriter. I suppose most of his work was for the lyrics.
Even if he hadn't written a word, he would be with the angels, having co-founded Capitol Records in the early 1940s.
Mike McGregor

On the death of Gene Lees, Johnny Mercer's biographer: ‎
:-(
Mark Carroll

A head-'em-off-at-the-pass note for the persnickety: I know, Waitin' For The Evenin' Mail is not a Johnny Mercer composition. It's by Billy Baskette, from 1923. But Johnny did sing it on the radio.

Astaire

"Fred Astaire
(b. May 10, 1899, Omaha, Neb.; d. June 22, 1987), the brilliant singer-dancer, began performing at age five in vaudeville with his sister, Adele; a favorite interpreter of many of the greatest Hollywood songwriters in the 1930s and 1940s, he was a composer himself."
Excerpt of "Johnny Mercer's Collaborators" from The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer.

Messages that mention Fred:

Johnny Mercer's Music Shop
http://mercerjohnny.blogspot.com/2011/09/johnny-mercers-music-shop.html

Waitin' For The Evenin' Mail
http://mercerjohnny.blogspot.com/2011/11/waitin-for-evenin-mail.html

All-Star Recording Pays Tribute to Johnny Mercer
http://mercerjohnny.blogspot.com/2010/04/all-star-recording-pays-tribute-to.html

Dearly Beloved
http://mercerjohnny.blogspot.com/2009/11/dearly-beloved.html

All-Star Recording Pays Tribute to Johnny Mercer

That old Mercer magic is back, working wonders on the soundtrack from a recent documentary film marking the composer's 100th birthday, "Johnny Mercer: The Dream's On Me."
Doug Levine, Washington, 12 April 2010

Lyricist Johnny Mercer was one of the world's most prolific composers, turning out more than 1,500 songs, including a classic he co-wrote with Harold Arlen, "That Old Black Magic." Over the years, it's been recorded by Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Sammy Davis, Jr., and, for the new Johnny Mercer documentary, by British jazz star Jamie Cullum.

With a running time of nearly two hours, the film covers Mercer's award-winning career through new and archival interviews, and performances by the some of the greatest entertainers of the past century. Among them, is crooner Bing Crosby, who appears on the soundtrack singing a previously unreleased version of "Something's Gotta Give."

Music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, recorded in 1955 by Bing Crosby with Buddy Cole and His Trio, that's "Something's Gotta Give." It was first performed by Fred Astaire in the 1955 musical film "Daddy Long Legs."

Georgia native Johnny Mercer, who died in 1976 at the age of 66, crafted one of the most enduring chapters of the "Great American Songbook." His songs were featured on stage and screen, and, of course, on countless recordings. Tapping into the his vast collection of jazz melodies and pop standards on "Johnny Mercer: The Dream's On Me," are Ella Fitzgerald on "Midnight Sun," Ray Charles singing "Blues In The Night," Chet Baker with "I'm Old Fashioned," and Mercer himself alongside Bobby Darin singing "Two Of A Kind."

Several generations of stars are featured on the soundtrack, from the Tony Bennett and Bono duet "I Wanna Be Around," to a wistful remake of "This Time The Dream's On Me," sung by Clint Eastwood's 13-year-old daughter, Morgan Eastwood. Clint served as executive producer on the album.

Also included is the title track from Queen Latifah's album of jazz standards "Travelin' Light," composed by Johnny Mercer, Jimmy Mundy and Trummy Young in 1942.

Dearly Beloved

'Dearly Beloved' (Lyric by Johnny Mercer, Music by Jerome Kern)
'Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth in the new Columbia musical production "You Were Never Lovelier" with Adolphe Menjou and Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra'
'Song Suitable for Weddings'