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The Year of Tony Bennett

An Appreciation of the Art and Music of Tony Bennett

November 21, 2020 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: I Thought About You

The song of the day for Sunday, November 22, 2020, is “I Thought About You.”

About This Song

“I Thought About You” was written in 1939 by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Mercer. n the biography Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer, author Gene Lees quotes Mercer about this song:

I can remember the afternoon that we wrote it. He [Van Heusen] played me the melody. I didn’t have any idea, but I had to go to Chicago that night. I think I was on the Benny Goodman program. And I got to thinking about it on the train. I was awake, I couldn’t sleep. The tune was running through my mind, and that’s when I wrote the song. On the train, really going to Chicago.

“I Thought About You” proved quite popular and has been recorded many times by jazz performers including Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Hartman, Shirley Horn, Dinah Washington, and Mel Tormé.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “I Thought About You” in 1992 for his album Perfectly Frank. Ralph Sharon did the arrangement.

I Thought About You

Listen to I Thought About You on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1992.

“I Thought About You,” as well as Perfectly Frank, is available from Apple Music.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Mercer, Johnny Mercer Week, Perfectly Frank, Ralph Sharon, Tony Bennett

November 18, 2020 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)

The song of the day for Thursday, November 19, 2020, is “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road).”

About This Song

“One For The Road” was written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the 1943 film The Sky’s The Limit, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire. Harold Arlen called this song one of his “tapeworms” as at 48 bars, it was longer than the standard 32 bar popular song. Alec Wilder, in American Popular Song, says that “the honors must go the lyric. … Just imagine having the acuity and courage to start a song, as Mercer does, with “It’s a quarter to three”!

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this version of “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)” for his 1992 album Perfectly Frank. It was arranged by Ralph Sharon.

One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)

Listen to One for My Baby (And One More for the Road) on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1992.

“One For My Baby (And One More For The Road),” as well as Perfectly Frank, is available from Apple Music.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Johnny Mercer Week, Perfectly Frank, Ralph Sharon, Tony Bennett

November 17, 2020 By Suzanne 3 Comments

Song of the Day: Out Of This World

The song of the day for Wednesday, November 18, 2020, is “Out Of This World.”

About Today

Today we are celebrating the birthday of one of the great songwriters — John Herndon Mercer, born on November 18, 1909, in Savannah, Georgia. I think the Great American Songbook might not have been as great if Johnny Mercer hadn’t become a songwriter. We’ll be featuring songs written by Johnny Mercer for the next week or so.

About This Song

“Out Of This World” was written in 1944 by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the film of the same name. Out Of This World starred Eddie Bracken; however, Bing Crosby dubbed the vocals for Bracken and introduced the song. Alec Wilder was a fan of this song, praising its ethereal quality and the excellent lyrics by Mercer.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded this version of “Out Of This World” in 1964 with a world-class jazz quartet: Herbie Hancock (piano), Stan Getz (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass), and Elvin Jones (drums). This recording, as well as others recorded with this quartet, was not released on an album. However, these songs were included in the 2011 Complete Collection box set on Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights, Vol. 1.

Out of This World

Listen to Out of This World on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 2012.

“Out Of This World,” as well as the other recordings on Rarities, Outtakes & Other Delights, Vol. 1, is available from Apple Music.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Elvin Jones, Happy Birthday Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Herbie Hancock, Johnny Mercer, Johnny Mercer Week, Ron Carter, Stan Getz, Tony Bennett

November 22, 2014 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Johnny Mercer Week Conclusion

We wrap up Johnny Mercer Week on the same day that we honor the anniversary of the birth of Hoagy Carmichael, who was born on November 23, 1899 in Bloomington, Indiana.

Of the several songs they wrote together, my favorite is “Skylark,” which was published in 1941. Johnny Mercer is said to have worked on the lyrics for “Skylark” over a year. It is also said that he wrote the lyrics to express his feelings for Judy Garland, with whom he had been involved. Whether true or not, the song and the lyrics are outstanding and it easily became a jazz and popular standard.

This Tony Bennett recording of “Skylark” is from the 1961 album with Ralph Sharon Tony Sings For Two.

Skylark

Listen to Skylark on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1961.

Johnny Mercer

In 1942, Mercer co-founded Capitol Records, with Buddy DeSylva and Glen Wallichs. The studio was quite successful, with artists including Nat Cole, Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, Dean Martin and more. Mercer made enough money that he was able to return to Savannah and pay back the remaining funds owed to those who had lost money when his father’s business had gone under.

Like many composers and singers, the musical landscape began to change drastically for Mercer in the 1950s as popular music drifted to rock and the jazz idiom was bebop. That said, some of his best work was done in the 1950s and 1960s, including the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers for MGM and Li’l Abner and Saratoga on Broadway.

In the 1960s, he wrote the lyrics some of his most beloved songs, including “Moon River” and “Days of Wine and Roses.” And, of interest to Tony Bennett fans, the story of “I Wanna Be Around” is a classic. You read about that here. In 1964, Ella Fitzgerald recorded a volume of his music for her Verve songbook series, the only volume devoted to a lyricist.

Johnny Mercer died on June 25, 1976 in California from an inoperable brain tumor. He is buried in hometown of Savannah at the Bonaventure Cemetery.

He will always be remembered as one of America’s greatest and most successful lyricists.

Mercer’s papers and archives were donated to Georgia State University. You can find out more about the Johnny Mercer Collection here.

The Johnny Mercer Foundation is his official website. The foundation serves educators, researchers and songwriters.

Hoagy Carmichael

As we said earlier, Hoagy Carmichael was born on this day in 1899. During his career, he was a composer, pianist, singer, bandleader and even an actor — I saw him in the Humphrey Bogart/Lauren Bacall movie To Have and Have Not just recently and he was a natural.

His canon includes favorites including “Skylark,” “Stardust,” “The Nearness of You” and “In The Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening.”

Carmichael died in California on December 27, 1981 and is buried in his home town of Bloomington.

His papers and archives were donated to his alma mater, Indiana University, which established The Hoagy Carmichael Collection and the Hoagy Carmichael Room to display elections. You can read about and explore the collection here.

His official website, created by his son, can be found at hoagy.com.

Filed Under: About His Collaborators Tagged With: Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer Week, Remembering Hoagy Carmichael, Skylark

November 21, 2014 By Suzanne Leave a Comment

Song of the Day: One For My Baby (and One More For the Road)

The song of the day for Friday, November 21, 2014 is “One For My Baby.”

About This Song

“One For The Road” was written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer for the 1943 film The Sky’s The Limit, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire. Harold Arlen called this song one of his “tapeworms” as at 48 bars, it was longer than the standard 32 bar popular song. Alec Wilder, in American Popular Song, says that “the honors must go the lyric. … Just imagine having the acuity and courage to start a song, as Mercer does, with ‘It’s a quarter to three!'”

About This Version

While Tony Bennett has recorded this song several times, I’m a big fan of this 1992 version from his album Perfectly Frank. Just Tony Bennett and his quartet … terrific.

About Today

We pick up the story of Johnny Mercer in 1935 as he relocated to Hollywood. He socialized frequently with his now-friend Bing Crosby and a new circle of Crosby’s friends. His first big hit in Hollywood was “I’m an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande,” written in 1936. At that point, his career really took off and he was much in demand as a lyricist, penning songs including “Too Marvelous For Words,” “Hooray for Hollywood” and “Jeepers Creepers,” which earned him his first Oscar nomination.

Quite prolific, he was also writing songs for the big orchestras, such as “And The Angels Sing” for Benny Goodman followed soon by “Day In, Day Out” and “Fools Rush In.” At one point in 1939, he had 5 of the top 10 songs on Your Hit Parade. He had just turned 30 years old.

And then he met Harold Arlen; the two were an incredible pair. Their first hit was “Blues in the Night” followed by “One For My Baby” and “That Old Black Magic.” Frank Sinatra was recording his songs and he and Arlen wrote a Broadway musical St. Louis Woman with Pearl Bailey. He paired up with Harry Warren to write the score for the 1946 film The Harvey Girls, which starred Judy Garland. The song “On The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe” won Mercer the first of four Academy Awards for best song.

By the mid-1940s, Mercer was easily the top lyricist in Hollywood. He had also developed a tendency to drink heavily.

… To Be Continued …

One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)

Listen to One for My Baby (And One More for the Road) on Spotify. Tony Bennett · Song · 1992.


“One For My Baby,” as well as the album Perfectly Frank, is available from iTunes.

Filed Under: Song of the Day Tagged With: Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Johnny Mercer Week, Perfectly Frank

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