Customer Reviews

Collector's Series

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Amazing that a lyrics fanatic like me, who grew up on Hammerstein, Hart, Harburg, Harnick, Gershwin, et al., only discovered Johnny Mercer in 1999. But thanks to this CD, I am making up for lost time. Johnny Mercer was not only a brilliant lyricist, he was an outstanding vocalist and a charming performer. This CD showcases all three aspects of his glorious contribution to American music.

Every song on this disc is a gem, but if I had to pick my absolute favorites, they'd be: "G. I. Jive," "On the Atcheson, Topeka and the Santa Fe," "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive," "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and "Surprise Party."

Treat yourself to this superb CD!

I was born in 1975... a full 35 years after most of these songs were recorded ... and I will admit... I am completely surpised. I am surprised at how much I enjoy this entire CD! It really is amazing... I find myself singing along with songs like "G.I Jive" and "Strip Polka" and I NEVER sing along to music. Everything has such catchy tunes, with crazy little quirks, and such genuine good-natured humor. Really, I find myself laughing everytime I hear put this cd in.

Why this Johnny Mercer CD? Honestly this is the only one that I own, so I don't know if this is any better than the others. However, I do know that has turned into the CD that I listen to on my way home from work (It is especially awesome when I am havign a bad day... "Zippy Do Dah" alway brings a smile to my face!)

My recommedation - even if you don't think that you will like it (I only bought to see if we should use it for dinner music at my wedding!) try it. You may be as amazed as I was.

Songwriter Johnny Mercer had considerable success in Hollywood before co-founding Capitol Records in 1942. The maverick Los Angeles-based label had some of the hugest hits of the wartime era, starting with Ella Mae Morse's "Cow Cow Boogie," and continuing on through a slew of other great artists. Mercer himself recorded prolifically, and though his own versions of his songs tended to sell less spectacularly than versions cut by various popular bandleaders, he did alright as a singer, too. Mercer's bluesy, hepcat vocal style is a little hokey, but fun nonetheless, and no expense was spared on the punchy big band arrangements. This disc is packed with great Mercer originals, such as "G.I. Jive," with its goofy Slim Gaillard-style scatting, "Ac-Cent-Chu-Ate The Positive," "Glow Worm" and "The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe." Mercer also did fine versions of songs by other standards writers, such as "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah," and Frank Loesser's "Baby It's Cold Outside." Backing him up throughout are Jo Stafford and the Pied Pipers, top talent of the time. The Capitol studios had a great, readily identifiable production style -- clean, punchy, solid arrangements, pointing to a new "vocal" style that would redefine pop music in the wake of the big band era. And there was Johnny Mercer, right at the heart of it all. This is a great collection, well worth checking out.

Johnny Mercer's words and music provided the soundtrack to our lives, especially during the 1940s when the songs on this disc were recorded. Johnny Mercer's impeccable musical taste and his ability to match words with music show us that he was one of the greatest musical artists of the entire twentieth century. This CD proves it.

The CD opens with the playful "Strip Polka" which offers a catchy melody; and Johnny's lyrics work brilliantly on this number. When Johnny sings of the stripper who still remains a lady no matter what, you become enchanted by Johnny's lyrics. "I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City" comes from the film Stormy Weather; Johnny sings his lyrics beautifully with panache. The Johnny Mercer touch makes "I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City" a powerful number.

"G. I. Jive" reverts to a happier tune; Johnny sings his lyrics flawlessly; and his musical arrangement complements the vocals to a tea! "Blues In The Night" features Johnny singing with Jo Stafford and The Pied Pipers as Paul Weston & His Orchestra weave their musical spell. Johnny's lyrics match the stunning melody by Harold Arlen, too.

Other gems on this CD include the infectiously happy "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive;" "On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe" written by Johnny with help from Harry Warren and the relentlessly upbeat "Personality." "Personality" lets Johnny sing of how impressed and taken he is with a woman he just met.

"One More For My Baby (And One More For The Road)" is another great ballad written by Mercer and Harold Arlen; Johnny Mercer sings this with passion, flair and masculine sensitivity. Great! "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" is yet another remarkably joyous number that allows Johnny to sing of his happiness to be alive.

One playful number that is new to me is "Save The Bones For Henry Jones ('Cause Henry Don't Eat No Meat)." This number begins with an aborted start; but when they do kick in soon afterward Johnny, a very young Nat King Cole and The King Cole Trio perform this to perfection! I think you will enjoy this happy tune.

The CD ends with strength as we get "Glow Worm" and Baby It's Cold Outside." "Glow Worm" was a big hit for Johnny with audiences young to old; and "Baby It's Cold Outside" hit one out of the ballpark, too. Look for Margaret Whiting to accompany Johnny Mercer for the duet of "Baby It's Cold Outside."

The liner notes include a great essay by Denise Cox; and the digital remastering by Larry Walsh at Capitol Recording Studios shows a lot of hard work went into this project. You also get the song credits and there are great color photos of some of Johnny's records, too.

Johnny Mercer will remain one of the great musical geniuses of the entire twentieth century. His words and music touched countless people with their sensitivity, playfulness and warmth. I recommend this CD for Johnny Mercer fans; and people who enjoy classic pop vocals will cherish this CD for many years to come!

I host a show on a 50,000-watt FM radio station, playing music of the 1930's-50's. This album is a true find. Wasn't difficult in the past to find Mercer's Top 5 hits, but those that were still a success, but maybe reach #14 on the charts, have been almost impossible to locate. This album cured those short-comings. Thanks for your quality of selections, plus the speed in filling the order, the reasonable rates, plus an acceptable p&h rate, which no other distributor can compare.

Funny, after reading the thoughtful warning "surface noise from original discs is audible at times", printed clearly on the back cover, I was surprised at the absolute shimmering quality of this great work of musical art! In fact, not only could I not detect any noise whatsoever (perhaps partly being so entranced in the music), but the inside jacket points out that this was remastered from the original lacquer discs by Capitol, which ensures the absolute finest quality on Earth, for such a vintage recording!
To make my case even more convincing,(though I truly enjoy the British Proper label box sets), I was amazed at the difference clarity once I compared the very pretty "Candy", from Jo Stafford's gorgeous 4-disc Proper box set to the same take on this disc! This is the absolute same take, same no., date, and everything, but quite the difference! The Jo Stafford box set version sounds just fine, but on the Mercer album, we get to hear more of how this stuff must have sounded like when they listened back to it in the studio! I challenge anyone to find anything else this clear from back then,(and then I'll thank them!), since this is one obvious example of how clean and clear all that great stuff from the late '30s to the late '40s must have "originally" sounded.
There are probably already several reviews about the songs, so I won't go into that. If you like Johnny's great stuff from that particular era of his amazing career, you might want to try out "The Best of Tex Beneke", "The Complete Modernaires, Vol. 1", the Proper box set of "The Artie Shaw Story", Proper's Jo Stafford ("Yes Indeed"), etc., etc. They're all great, but it would be even better if they had the "high fidelity" of this disc! But what the hell! We're lucky just to have access to such wonderful music, period!

This is a great comp, covering Mercer's years with capital. I was first introduced to Mercer via his Duet with Bobby Darin titled "Two of A Kind" another great swing/pop album. Johnny Mercer obviously influenced many including Bobby Darin and was a great song writer. Every track on this album is great. If you appreciate this type of music, you won't be disappointed with this album.

Johnny Mercer was a great part of the Swing Era, this CD adds to any 40's collection.

Here's a guy whose own considerable contributions as a recording artist [just over 29 hit singles from 1942 to 1952] are far exceeded by his other accomplishments. These include writing the lyrics for over 1,000 songs, among them some of the greatest hits of the 20th Century such as Blues In The Night, That Old Black Magic, and Moon River, as well as founding Capitol Records in 1942 at the tender age of 33.

In this fantastic compilation you get 18 of his own hit singles plus his renditions of Blues In The Night and another of his famous compositions, One For My Baby (And One More For The Road), which became a Sinatra staple. In 1942 there were no less than six hit versions of Blues In The Night [Woody Herman (# 1), Jimmy Lunceford and Dinah Shore (both # 4), Cab Calloway (# 8), Artie Shaw (# 10), and Benny Goodman (# 18), and in 1952 Rosemary Clooney took it to # 17.

His recordings of Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive and On The Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe, both of which he also wrote, along with Candy [a duet with Jo Stafford] and Personality [which he did not write], all reached # 1 in 1945 and 1946. Seven others made Top 10: Strip Polka [his first in 1942 and which he wrote - # 7]; Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah [# 8 in early 1947 from the Disney film Song Of The South ]; Winter Wonderland b/w A Gal In Calico [# 4 and 5 respectively in 1947]; Huggin' And A Chalkin' [# 8 in 1947]; Sugar Blues [# 4 in 1947]; and Baby, It's Cold Outside [a # 3 duet in 1949 with Margaret Whiting].

With the exception of tracks 1 and 2 and Sam's Got Him [a # 19 in 1944 and not included here], on which he was backed by Freddie Slack & His Orchestra, all his hits had the backing of Paul Weston's band. These included the flip of My Sugar Is So Refined, a tune called Ugly Chile (You're Some Pretty Doll), which reached # 22 in 1946, and I Do Do Do Like You which, as the B-side to Huggin' And A-Chalin', made it to # 13 in 1947. Neither is included here.

On the double-sided late 1947 hits Save The Bones For Henry Jones ('Cause Henry Don't Eat No Meat), and Harmony [not included here) - both # 12 - he shared the billing with The King Cole Trio. On The Glow Worm, for which he wrote additional lyrics, he is backed by Alvino Rey and his orchestra and this, his last hit single, went to # 30 in late 1952. Two of his hits - G.I. Jive [# 13 in 1944] and Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive - both scored as well on what passed then for the R&B charts, reaching # 1 and 4 respectively.

With the insert are three pages of background notes written by Denise Cox, a complete discography of the contents, and a centre spread showing colour reproductions of album covers, song-sheets, posters, and 78 rpm records.

Johnny, who passed away in 1976 at age 67, was honoured with the Grammy's Trustee Award in 1987. Truly one of the giants of the industry, and this entry from the Capitol Collectors Series does him justice. Get a copy at the low price being asked before it goes out of circulation.

What a talent. That's an understatement. These are all gems (although woefully inadequate).

However, it should be an introduction to Mercer only. In addition to creating and singing all those great songs, here is a man who helped create Capitol Records! One might think Capitol Records would think it appropriate (and profitable) to put together a box set of at least 4 CDs to satisfy the tens of thousands of people who appreciate what this guy accomplished musically.