Skylark: The Life and Times of Johnny Mercer Review

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(More customer reviews)A true example of why they don't write 'em like they used to, Johnny Mercer has written some of the catchiest, longest remembered and honored songs of the 20th century, many of which the average listener has little clue as to who put the words to the tunes that remain timeless in their appeal. As a collaborator with some of the finest tunesmiths ever (Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael to name two) Mercer could dance with words as effortlessly and as beautifully as a prima ballerina while maintaining a roots, folksy manner both charming and disarming in its playfulness.
Philip Furia's biography is well recearched and referenced, using the recollections of friends, family, and cohorts, and finds a treasure trove in Mercer's own unreleased autobiography. Mercer's bouts with feelings of unworthiness as a composer were unexplained periods of doubt in a career that spanned the thirties through the sixties. While not the financial or acclaimed success of friend and rival Bing Crosby, Mercer became a standard for composition that has yet to be matched even by modern contemporaries like McCartney (who, the book indicates, explored a partnership in Mercer's latter years).
This book explores as best it can the song writing magic of Mercer, although the explanations of his seemingly effortless method of composition appears (as the author indicates) a tad glib and self-effacing. Were they available, additional tales of his creative inspirations would have been appreciated; any man who comes up with a couplet like "If for the stork you pine, consider the porcupine" deserves to be studied if only for the glee apparent in coming up with such delicious bits of rhyme and rhythm, certainly at a level equal or surpassing today's best.
Mercer's life was also painted in broad strokes of unhappiness, and the contrast between the joyous singer of "Zip-a dee-doo-dah" with the alcoholic and unsatisfied husband provides a remarkable set of circumstances.
This book was an enjoyable read in exploring the life and career of Johnny Mercer. Like the subject of these pages, I think I could have easily been fascinated with the book had it been twice as long, as this southern gentleman's tales and stories, against the background of his life and times, would have been captivating reading for any fan of the genre of the popular song and of show business personalities (and Johnny certainly had personality to spare). I would recommend this book along with an accompanying copy of "Capitol Collector Series - Johnny Mercer" or any good compilation of his songs. Be they his renditions or the more popular cover versions, Johnny Mercer is timeless, priceless, and almost "Too Marvelous for Words".Thank you Philip Furia.

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Skylark is the story of the tormented but glorious life and career of Johnny Mercer, and the first biography of this enormously popular and influential lyricist.Raised in Savannah, Mercer brought a quintessentially southern style to both his life in New York and to his lyrics, which often evoked the landscapes and mood of his youth ("Moon River", "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening").Mercer also absorbed the music of southern blacks--the lullabies his nurse sang to him as a baby and the spirituals that poured out of Savannah's churches-and that cool smooth lyrical style informed some of his greatest songs, such as "That Old Black Magic".Part of a golden guild whose members included Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, Mercer took Hollywood by storm in the midst of the Great Depression.Putting words to some of the most famous tunes of the time, he wrote one hit after another, from "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" to "Jeepers Creepers" and "Hooray for Hollywood."But it was also in Hollywood that Mercer's dark underside emerged.Sober, he was a kind, generous and at times even noble southern gentleman; when he drank, Mercer tore into friends and strangers alike with vicious abuse.Mercer's wife Ginger, whom he'd bested Bing Crosby to win, suffered the cruelest attacks; Mercer would even improvise cutting lyrics about her at parties.During World War II, Mercer served as Americas's troubadour, turning out such uplifting songs as "My Shining Hour" and "Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive."He also helped create Capitol Records, the first major West Coast recording company, where he discovered many talented singers, including Peggy Lee and Nat King Cole.During this period, he also began an intense affair with Judy Garland, which rekindled time and again for the rest of their lives.Although they never found happiness together, Garland became Mercer's muse and inspired some of his most sensuous and heartbreaking lyrics: "Blues in the Night," "One for My Baby," and "Come Rain or Come Shine."Mercer amassed a catalog of over a thousand songs and during some years had a song in the Top Ten every week of the year--the songwriting equivalent of Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak--but was plagued by a sense of failure and bitterness over the big Broadway hit that seemed forever out of reach.Based on scores of interviews with friends, family and colleagues, and drawing extensively on Johnny Mercer's letters, papers and his unpublished autobiography, Skylark is an important book about one of the great and dramatic characters in 20th century popular music.

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