Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Blues In The Night (My Mama Done Tol' Me) - Louis Armstrong
2. I Thought About You - Billie Holiday
3. Come Rain Or Come Shine - Anita O'day
4. Hit The Road To Dreamland - Mel Torme
5. Dearly Beloved - Margaret Whiting
6. Goody Goody - Buddy Rich
7. Skylark - Ella Fitzgerald
8. Laura - Billy Eckstine
9. Day In-Day Out - Sarak Vaughan
10. Early Autumn - Woody Herman
11. I Remember You - Dinah Washington
12. Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home - Helen Merril/Gil Evans
13. Too Marvelous For Words - Joe Williams
14. Autumn Leaves - Dee Dee Bridgewater
15. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) - Billie Holiday
16. Jeepers Creepers - Bing Crosby/Buddy Bregman's Orchestra

Disc 2:

1. Something's Gotta Give - Ella Fitzgerald
2. That Old Black Magic - Shirley Horn
3. P.S. I Love You - Billie Holiday
4. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive - Buddy Rich
5. I'm Old Fashioned - Margaret Whiting
6. Midnight Sun - Ella Fitzgerald
7. Dream - Dinah Washington
8. On The Atchison, Topeka, And The Santa Fe - Jack Teagarden
9. Trav'lin' Light - Billie Holiday
10. Moon River - Sarah Vaughan
11. Once Upon A Summertime - Astrud Gilberto
12. Too Marvelous For Words - Oscar Peterson
13. When The World Was Young - Anita O'Day/Three Sounds
14. A Kiss From You - Billy Eckstine, Benny Carter
15. Hit The Road To Dreamland - Cleo Laine
16. Out Of This World - Helen Merrill

Disc 3:

1. I Remember You - Charlie Parker
2. Out Of This World - Gerry Mulligan/Concert Jazz Band
3. Too Marvelous For Words - Lester Young
4. Come Rain Or Come Shine - Bill Evans
5. Mandy Is Two - Stan Getz
6. Jeepers Creepers - Benny Carter
7. Satin Doll - Johnny Hodges
8. That Old Black Magic - Erroll Garner
9. Tangerine - Coleman Hawkins/Ben Webster
10. Charade - Quincy Jones
11. Laura - Don Byas
12. I'm Old Fashioned - Oscar Peterson
13. Skylark - Paul Motian
14. Day In-Day Out - Terry Gibbs Big Band
15. When The World Was Young - Stan Getz
16. Days Of Wine And Roses - Joe Henderson/Wynton Kelly Trio

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1512 in Music
• Released on: 1998-11-03
• Number of discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .69 pounds

Customer Reviews

If you have the music, he has the words
Among Johnny Mercer's greatest songs are: "P.S. I Love You" (1934, Gordon Jenkins), "Goody Goody" (1936, Matt Melneck), "I'm An Old Cowhand" (1936, words and music), "Bob White (Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight?)" (1937, Bernie Hanighen), "Too Marvelous For Words" (1937, Richard Whiting), "Jeepers Creepers" (1938, Harry Warren), "Hooray For Hollywood" (1938, Richard Whiting), "Day In--Day Out" (1939, Rube Bloom), "I Thought About You" (1939, Jimmy Van Heusen), "Fools Rush In" (1940, Rube Bloom), "Blues In The Night" (1941, Harold Arlen), "Skylark" (1941, Hoagy Carmichael), "I Remember You" (1942, Victor Schertzinger), "I'm Old Fashioned" (1942, Jerome Kern), "That Old Black Magic"(1942, Harold Arlen), "Hit The Road To Dreamland" (1942, Harold Arlen), "My Shining Hour" (1943, Harold Arlen), "One For My Baby" (1943, Harold Arlen), "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive" (1944, Harold Arlen), "Let's Take The Long Way Home"(1944, Harold Arlen), "G.I. Jive" (1944, words and music), "Laura" (1945, David Raskin), "Out Of This World" (1945, Harold Arlen), "Early Autumn" (1949, Woody Herman and Ralph Burns), "Autumn Leaves" (1950, English version of a French song, music by Joseph Kozma), "Here's To My Lady" (1951, Rube Bloom), "Something's Gotta Give" (1955, words and music), "Satin Doll" (1958, Duke Ellington), "Charade" (1963, Henry Mancini), "Summer Wind" (1965, Henry Mayer), and "How Do You Say Aug Wiedersehn?" (1967, Tony Scibetta).
This collection does not include them all but contains enough to show why he is considered one of the greatest lyricists popular American song ever produced.
One oddity with Mercer is that many of his greatest hits came from melodies, music which had been pre- produced and which he was asked to write the words for. So for instance the beautiful haunting 'Autumn Leaves' was given lyrics after it had come to America from France.
Mercer is also the only lyric writer to have been honored by an 'Ella Fitzergald Songbook' collection.

Mercer???
All three discs are great, but the third (instrumental and jazzy)is outstanding. Old enough to be exposed to the popular Mercer tunes and understandingly biased regarding the commercialization of his stuff, I was thrilled to hear these renditions by the great artists selected for this disc. Worth the price for just the last disc-so consider the other two as bonuses.

Listen and dream
An excellent album. The best of Mercer performed by the best musicians and singers. The instrumental album is magnific, with names like Charlie Parker, Gerry Mulligan, Quincy Jones, Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz performing songs that sensibilize our reflections. An invitation for a dream.