Customer Reviews

"Clint Eastwood Presents: Johnny Mercer "The Dream's On Me" A Celebration of His Music"

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have many of the songs here on the original albums from which they came and it's an excellent compilation.

If you have a chance to see Eastwood's documentary currently airing on TCM this month, by all means do so. It was excellent.

The song choices here are great...we're only sadly limited by space as there are so many GREAT Johnny Mercer choices available. I'd only quibble with the omission of a Mercer song by Judy Garland, who shared a special relationship with Mercer over the years and whom he quietly described as his muse. The stunning arrangement of "Come Rain or Come Shine" she does, with its final notes shattering the ceiling, is not to be missed and would have been great here, too.

Given the number of memorable songs that Mercer wrote, it is inevitable that a single-disk compilation will omit many. Still, I am left to wonder why some of the songs on this disk made the cut when "Satin Doll," "Too Marvelous for Words," "Day In, Day Out," "I Remember You," "One for My Bay (One More for the Road)," "Come Rain or Come Shine," "Autumn Leaves," "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," "Jeepers Creepers," "Moon River," "Charade," "Days of Wine and Roses," and "Summer Wind" did not. Admittedly, there is something to be said for using a compilation like this to provide exposure to some of Mercer's lesser-known songs. In this regard, the inclusion of "Trav'lin Light" (Queen Latifah) "Midnight Sun" (Ella Fitzgerald), and "My Shining Hour" (Barbara Streisand) work well. Far less successful are "I Had Myself a True Love" (Audra McDonald) and "Spring, Spring, Spring" (Jalala). These five tracks reflect, in part, another problem with a compilation of a writer's songs, and that is the choice of artists. Mercer's songs have been recorded by so many artists that selecting the most popular versions is probably a licensing nightmare. That may account for the selection of some of the artists on this disk (for example, Maude Maggart's version of "Skylark" rather than that of k. d. lang or Linda Ronstadt). I doubt, however, that it was a licensing problem that led to the choice of 12-year-old Morgan Eastwood (Clint's daughter) for the title track. Fortunately, it appears that someone recognized that it was better to omit "One for My Baby" than to include a version other than Sinatra's.

worth the price of the whole "The Dream's On Me" and that's Daryl Sherman's "I Thought About You!" On a CD full of gems, Sherman's breathy girly gutsy take on this song will melt your heart!

I wanted to find a copy of a one hour TV special that Mercer did before his death. This CD was the closest I could find to what I really wanted. I did not like this CD. The selections were not the best of Mercer's work and many of the artists were poor. I could not recommed this CD to anyone who is a Mercer fan.

This album is from Clint Eastwood's tribute to Johnny Mercer on TCM. The show was wonderful and any fans of Johnny Mercer will love this CD.

Saw the original program on TV which inspired me to purchase the CD. What a disappointment. This presentation doesn't come close to hailing Mercer and his fabulous work.

Except for a few tracks, we were disappointed overall. We chose "Clint Eastwood Presents:......" over the movie (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) soundtrack, but not being familiar with most of the performers and selections, it was disappointing. Having seen the movie, and just visited Savannah, the movie soundtrack would probably be more enjoyable.

I love it and would recommended it. Great service and product quality. As always, Amazon did not disappoint; I am very satisfied.

Merci Clint pour ce CD qui illustre le talent et la diversité du Zola ou du Balzac de la littérature musicale US. Signer plus de 1500 chansons, c'est un vrai métier... Cette somme est plutôt bien résumée sur ce disque. Diversité des interprètes, variété des morceaux, qualité des textes et des compositions, ce disque est une très bonne synthèse.

What can you say, Johnnie Mercer has always been wonderful. His lyrics and melodies are ageless. I particularly enjoy his renditions of his songs.