Oscar-winning director/producer/composer/music enthusiastic Clint Eastwood is paying tribute to legendary composer Johnny Mercer on the centenary of his birth (November 18, 2009) with the release of Bruce Ricker's Turner Classic Movies' "Johnny Mercer: The Dream's On Me" on DVD [Warner Home Video, two discs; SRP $30]. The disc is produced in association with the BBC and commissioned by the Johnny Mercer Foundation.
Ricker ("Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends") chronicles the life of a songwriter who truly left his mark on generations around the world not only with his famous songs in movies but also those that have become classic standards. The show features rare interviews and performances by Mercer himself and includes rare movie and TV featuring a Who's Who of the entertainment world: Julie Andrews, Astaire, Pearl Bailey, Bennett, Nat "King" Cole, Crosby, Fitzgerald, Garland, Audrey Hepburn, Lena Horne, Sinatra, Streisand, and Andy Williams. Disc Two is packed with bonus material, including the featurette, "At the Piano with Clint," and performances by Dr. John, Michael Feinstein and Audra McDonald.
Though the composer/lyricist/saloon singer wrote music and lyrics, he mainly contributed lyrics to partnerships with composers Harold Arlen, Harry Warren, Richard Whiting, and Henry Mancini. His songs have kept the world singing for more than eight decades.
Among his best-known tunes are "Laura," "Dream," "I Remember You," "And The Angels Sing," "Blues In The Night," "Come Rain Or Come Shine," "One For My Baby (and One More for the Road)," "You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby," "Satin Doll," "Tangerine," "Glow Worm," "Hooray for Hollywood," "Jeepers Creepers," "That Old Black Magic," "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," "Skylark," "Moon River," "The Days of Wine and Roses," "Day In and Day Out," "I'm An Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande," and, among numerous others, "Autumn Leaves."
Mercer wrote lyrics to more than a 1,000 songs, including those for 90 movies and six Broadway shows. He received 19 Oscar nominations. His songs can be heard in such films as, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "Blues in the Night," "The Harvey Girls," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "The Days of Wine and Roses," "The Americanization of Emily," "Li'l Abner," and "The Belle of New York."
The incredible Marilyn Maye displays a great kinship and passion for the Mercer tunes. The lyricist is one of her all times favs. "To my great regret," she says, "I never got to meet Johnny. I understood he drank a lot, something he had in common with three of my husbands. So I could have really worked with him.
Back when I was recording for RCA, I was in the studio and someone came in and slipped me a note on a torn piece of paper. It read, "No one sings 'Misty' like you!', and it was signed Johnny Mercer. And he didn't even write 'Misty.' I ran to the hall looking for him but he had slipped away."
In her Mercer tribute, she goes full blast in excess of 90 minutes singing 40 songs from the Mercer treasure trove by such lyricists as Arlen, Carmichael, Ellington, Kern, Mancini, Raskin, Strayhorn and Warren. The tunes include "Come Rain or Come Shine," "Fools Rush In," "I Remember You," "Emily," "Laura," "Satin Doll," "Skylark," "Tangerine," "That Old Black Magic," "Too Marvelous for Words," "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe," "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)," and "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby."
"Johnny was in many ways," adds Miss Maye, "a tortured soul, and it's easy to find the drama in his lyrics."
In conjunction with the DVD release, New Line Records has released a CD Johnny Mercer - The Dream's On Me: A Celebration of His Music [SRP $16], featuring songs performed by Bono, Ray Charles, Crosby, Fitzgerald, Sinatra, Streisand, and, among others, John Williams.
