For those unaware, Johnny Mercer, born in Savannah, Georgia, was a prolific and highly successful songwriter, contributing dozens of hits to the Great American Songbook, often as a lyricist, although his background was very different from most of his peers from New York’s Jewish immigrant community.

He was one of the co-founders of Capitol Records in 1942. He was also a singer, recording largely of course for Capitol, and recording mostly with the Pied Pipers vocal group and The Paul Weston Orchestra.

This 50-track 2CD collection features all his 29 career hits as an artist, plus other selected A & B sides from early Decca releases, and then from his Capitol singles during the 1940s. Among his hits were the No. 1’s “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive,” “Candy,” and “Personality.”

Along with The Pied Pipers and Paul Weston, it features performances with Bing Crosby, Jo Stafford, Margaret Whiting, The Benny Goodman Orchestra, The King Cole Trio, Freddie Slack’s Orchestra, and Wingy Manone’s Dixieland Band.

He was an influential and multi-talented personality and this collection highlights what was maybe the lesser-known side of his extraordinary contribution to pop music over the years.

From the light-hearted “You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby” and “Jeepers Creepers” to the romantic “Laura,” “Dream” and “I Remember You”…from the big band “And The Angels Sing” to the dramatic “Blues In The Night,” “Come Rain Or Come Shine” and “One For My Baby”…from the sassy “Satin Doll” and “Tangerine” to the cinematic “Hooray for Hollywood” and “On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe”…not to mention the timeless standards of “That Old Black Magic,” “Glow Worm,” “Days Of Wine And Roses,” and “Moon River,” Johnny Mercer could most assuredly bring forth a most righteous tune.

These songs, with their wide range of musical styles, have been heard by millions of people all over the world on recordings, radio, films, television programs and Broadway shows over the past century.

Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, his love affair with music didn’t come from the glitter of Broadway or Hollywood. His influences were drawn from the scenic countryside, the sounds of regional African-American music, the concerts he attended in Forsyth Park, and dances on Isle of Hope and Tybee Island.

His lyrics came naturally from the colorful way the people around him talked: such as you gotta “Accentuate The Positive”; “Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread)”; “Any Place To Hang My Hat Is Home”; and you’re just “Too Marvelous For Words.” And from the sounds he heard: the clickety clack of the railroad track, the wind whistling through the Spanish moss, and the rain like silver slivers racing along the horizon – “Now the rain’s a-fallin’, hear the train a-callin’ ‘Whoo-ee!’”

Disc One:
1. Mr. Gallagher And Mr. Sheen; 2. Small Fry; 3. Friendship; 4. Mister Meadowlark; 5. Strip Polka; 6. I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City; 7. The Old Music Master; 8. G.I. Jive; 9. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down & Write Myself A Letter; 10. San Fernando Valley; 11. Sam’s Got Him; 12. Accentuate The Positive; 13. I’m Gonna See My Baby; 14. Candy; 15. On The Atchison, Topeka And The Sante Fe; 16. Conversation While Dancing; 17. Surprise Party; 18. Personality; 19. Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home; 20. My Sugar Is So Refined; 21. Ugly Chile (You’re Some Pretty Doll); 22. Winter Wonderland; 23. A Gal In Calico; 24. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah; 25. Huggin’ And A-Chalkin’

Disc 2:
1. I Do Do Do Like You; 2. Moon-Faced And Starry-Eyed; 3. The Covered Wagon Rolled Right Along; 4. Cecilia; 5. Sugar Blues; 6. If I Had A Talking Picture Of You; 7. Save The Bones For Henry Jones (’Cause Henry Don’t Eat No Meat); 8. Harmony; 9. That’s The Way He Does It; 10. My Baby Likes To Be-Bop (And I Like To Be-bop Too); 11. The Thousand Islands Song; 12. Hooray For Love; 13. Goofus; 14. I Don’t Care If It Rains All Night; 15. Louisville Lou (That Vampin’ Lady); 16. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road); 17. If I Knew Then; 18. The Tailgate Ramble; 19. Memphis Blues; 20. Would Ya? (eYah aYah eYah); 21. The New Ashmolean; 22. Missouri Walkin’ Preacher (With A Little Book In His Hands); 23. Baby, It’s Cold Outside; 24. At The Jazz Band Ball; 25. The Glow Worm

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