Tombstone Tuesday ~ Johnny Mercer

Two weeks ago my best friend and I went to Savannah, Georgia to celebrate 50 years of being friends. We have know each other since we were three and four years old. We did a tour of Bonaventure Cemetery one morning before it got way too hot that day. 

I am not related to the subject of this post but I am a fan of his music. I just loved the bench in his large burial plot.

One of the graves pointed out to us by our tour guide was that of John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer. He was born November 18, 1909 in Savannah and died June 25, 1976 in Los Angeles County, California. There is a bench in the family plot where one can sit and remember the family or as our tour guide said remember the music of Johnny Mercer. 

During his lifetime, Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics to more than 1,000 songs and received 19 Academy Award nomintions. He also wrote the music for several Broadway shows. In 1942, he co-founded Capital Records with Buddy DeSlyva and Glenn Wallichs, the first West Coast recording label.

In the top photo the songs written on the inside of the bench are: "Ac-Cen-Tchu-The-Positive", "Jeepers, Creepers", "Autumn Leaves", "Blues In The Night", "Charade", "Laura", "Moon River", "My Shining Hour", "On The Atchinson, Topeaka and Santa Fe". On the top front edge are the songs "Buddy", "I'm Kind Of Poet", "I've Gotta Lotta of Things To Say". In the middle of the bench is an image of Johnny himself. On the back of the top edge are the words Co-Founder of Capitol Records in the left corner and in the right corner are the words, Winner of 4 Academy Awards.

In the bottom photo the songs written on the outside of the are: "Come Rain or Come Shine", "Days of Wine and Roses", "Hooray for Hollywood", "In the Cool, Cool, Cool Evening", "One for My Baby", "Skylark", "Something's Gotta Give", "That Old Black Magic", "You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby". I grew up listening to my Dad's Time Life Series of albums that were titled "Songs from the 40's and 50's and many of these songs were on these albums. Other's I learned from movies like "The Days of Wine and Roses" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

The first Academy Award Johnny won was in 1946. It was for the song "On the Atchinson, Topeaka and Santa Fe" with music by Harry Warren. Judy Garland sang the song in the movie, "The Harvey Girls". Click here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7NHWKbQuRw) to hear Judy Garland sing "On the Atchinson, Topeaka and Santa Fe".

His second Academy Award came in 1951 for the song "In the Cool, Cool, Cool Evening" with music by Hoagy Carmichael. The song was sung by Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman for the movie "Here Comes the Groom". Click here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puSgWX4DbZ4) to hear Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman sing, "In the Cool, Cool, Cool Evening".

The third Academy Award won by Johnny Mercer was for the song "Moon River" with music by Henry Mancini. This was for the film "Breakfast At Tiffany's" and was sung by Audrey Hepburn. Click here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UoIO4qxJig) to listen to Audrey Hepburn sing, "Moon River". 

In 1962, Johnny would win his fourth and final Academy Award for the song "The Days of Wine and Roses (with music by Henry Mancini), for the film of the same name. It was performed by Henry Mancini and his Orchestra with the Chorus. Click here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nikPwhewdmk) to listen to Henry Mancini & Orchestra and Chorus.

Sources:

Eskew, Glenn T. "Johnny Mercer (1909-1976)" New Georgia Encyclopedia. 15 April 2015. Web. 30 June 2015.

Songwriters Hall of Fame, (http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/bio/C18 : accessed 1 July 2015), entry for Johnny Mercer.

Wikipedia contributors. "Capitol Records." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Records : accessed 1 July 2015).

Wikipedia contributors. "Johnny Mercer". Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mercer : accessed 1 July 2015).

Shen Long Tang, "On the Atchison, Topeaka, and Santa Fe", Online video clip,(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7NHWKbQuRw : accessed 1 July 2015), sung by Judy Garland, music composed by Harry Warren with lyrics by Johnny Mercer for the film "The Harvey Girls".

Theater2Film, "In the Cool, Cool, Cool Evening", Online video clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puSgWX4DbZ4 : accessed 1 July 2015), sung by Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman, music composed by Hoagy Carmichael, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, from the movie "Here Comes the Groom".

Sarah Evangeline, "Moon River" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UoIO4qxJig : accessed 1 July 2015), sung by Audrey Hepburn music composed by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Johnny River, from the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Sirchinmoy, "Days of Wine and Roses, Online video clip, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nikPwhewdmk : accessed 1 July 2015), Sung by The Henry Mancini Chorus, music composed by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, from the movie "The Days of Wine and Roses".