Johnny Mercer: Too Marvelous For Words

Today would have been the 100th birthday of Johnny Mercer, the great American lyricist and sentimental gentleman from Savannah, Georgia. This time last year, I wrote a seven part series on this man whose talent left us with almost 2000 published songs and a host of images in song that continue to entertain us more than thirty years after his passing in 1976. I can't improve on last year's essays, so will link to them in this post for your convenience and enjoyment. They are:

Day One: Mercer's Early Years
Day Two: Hoagy And Hollywood
Day Three: Sense Of Humor
Day Four: The Bread And Butter Songs
Day Five: On Line And Print References
Day Six: Personal Favorites
Day Seven: Cover Artists And Organizations Keep The Music Alive

Hope you enjoy this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. There is a new addition for the Mercer reference shelf: The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer, by Kimball, Day, Kreuger, and Davis. This 500 page hardcover was published last month as the seventh volume in Knopf's Complete Lyrics series.