The Definitive American Songbook: Johnny Mercer Pt. 2

The second installment of the Definitive Johnny Mercer has a bird song, a train song, a love letter to Judy Garland, and Mercer singing the song that earned him his first Academy Award. Here are five must-have recordings for your collection.

“Skylark” Aretha Franklin from Jazz to Soul

One of a handful of artists who is universally recognized by her first name leads off this week’s list: Aretha. She recorded this Mercer ballad in 1963 (a year before another one-name diva, Ella, got around to it). “Skylark” is one of Mercer’s “bird” songs and the lyrics express his longing for Judy Garland, with whom he’d had a romantic fling once upon a time. Aretha Franklin is backed by a small group -- piano, bass, drums and guitar -- and even though she treats it with more of a jazz sensibility, she still finds a couple moments to remind us why she’s The Queen of Soul.

“I’m Old Fashioned” Ella Fitzgerald from Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Jerome Kern Songbook

Johnny Mercer teamed up with Jerome Kern on this song from the 1942 film You Were Never Lovelier. Before Milli Vanilli ruined things for all talented but camera-shy singers, Nan Wynn was Rita Hayworth’s singing voice for the song and dance number with Fred Astaire in the movie. A year before she recorded “Skylark,” Ella Fitzgerald put out her Jerome Kern Songbook, which included “I’m Old Fashioned.” She does it at a wonderful medium swing tempo that let’s her big band shine between choruses. The verse is included, making this not only the definitive version, but a complete one as well.

“I Remember You” Chet Baker from The Best of Chet Baker Sings

Another love song to Judy Garland, Mercer gave “I Remember You” to his crush the day after she married David Rose. The fact she married an inferior songwriter must have eaten Mercer up; he wrote, “I remember you, you’re the one who said I love you too.” Ouch. Fourteen years later a young and dashing Chet Baker sang it on one of his earliest sessions as a leader. Baker sounds great, his unique voice is crystal clear and his trumpet playing has that pop and sizzle you expect from a masterful musician.

“Laura” Nancy LaMott from My Foolish Heart

Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics to “Laura” after the tune was already out in the world, popular all on its own. The music was composed by David Raskin for the 1944 movie Laura. The song is recorded often by both singers and jazz musicians. The saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Clifford Brown both included it on their impeccable “with strings” albums, and both Sinatra and Carly Simon put their interpretations to wax. But the definitive version comes from a singer who, despite Jonathan Schwartz’s best efforts, remains grossly under-recognized. Nancy LaMott was a phenomenal talent whose time on earth was cut tragically short. Schwartz ends nearly every broadcast with one of LaMott’s recordings,saying he does so because he told her he would.

“On The Atchison, Topeka, And The Santa Fe” Johnny Mercer

We had to include one Johnny Mercer recording on our list this month because, as a popular recording artist writing his own lyrics, he was highly unusual in his day, beating The Beatles by a couple decades. He was also an impressive entrepreneur, founding Capitol Records in 1942. It’s difficult to declare this the definitive version; many better singers recorded it with much better equipment. But Mercer’s recording of “On The Atchison, Topeka, And The Santa Fe,” which won him his first academy award, is worth recognizing for its magnificence nonetheless.

Part 1