Moon River
Written by Henri Mancini and Johnny Mercer
It won two Grammies and two Oscars

Head deep into the heart of Hollywood for a tale of two of Tinseltowns most acclaimed and fondly loved composers, Henri Mancini and Johnny Mercer. In a career that spanned 40 years writing scores for film and television, Mancini won four Oscars and an amazing 20 Grammys, the all time record for a popular artist. You only have to think of scores like Peter Gunn or The Pink Panther to realise how influential he is - Johnny Mercer was likewise a phenomenally successful lyricist here’s just a few of the titles that Mercer penned - the words for the Chatanooga Choo Choo, Come Rain or Come Shine, Hooray for Hollywood, Fools Rush In, You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby, Lazy Bones and That Ole Black Magic…..he really was a unique talent and together with Mancini it was a musical marriage made in heaven. When they got together in 1961 to work on the Audrey Hepburn film Breakfast At Tiffanies they created the all time classic Moon River, a song that proved so popular there have been over 1000 recorded versions of it to date.

Danny Williams, Connie Francis, Ben E King, Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra all recorded versions, it really is no wonder Moon River is always referred to as one of the greatest pop songs ever.

We’ll start with a brief look at the life of the man who wrote those immaculate lyrics Johnny Mercer - he was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1909 and grew up on the banks of the huge Back River that stretches dreamily along the southern banks and proved to be an enormous inspiration to the young fledgling writer although he had no idea how Moon River and Back River would come to intersect years later

Mercer was always much more than just a lyric writer, when he moved to New York in the 1920’s he developed his skills as a music composer and indeed as a performer. His first song to get accepted was Out Of Breath and Scared To Death of You, which was used in a broadway show in 1930. From there he began to record with the likes of Benny Goodman and Eddie Condon and indeed in 1935 he even appeared in a couple of movies Old Man Rhythm and To Beat the Band. In 1942 he became one of the co-founders of Capitol Records signing up the likes of Nat king cole in the process. Throughout his musical career however he always had his eye on writing for the movies and set about impressing the movie moguls with his indepth knowledge.

Henry Mancini was born Enrico Nicola Mancini and he was something of a child prodigy, he began to write arrangements and sent them to Benny Goodman when he was still a kid. After a spell in the army he signed up as leader of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, as a pianist and arranger, he began writing scores for the film studios in the 1940’s and the first film he scored was the Abbot and Costello flick Lost In Alaska, that led on to all sorts of TV and cinema work including the Benny Goodman Story and the Peter Gunn Theme, many of them straddled the line between jazz and Hollywood style, his real heyday however was in the 1960’s when he hooked up with, you’ve guessed it, Johnny Mercer.

Mancini was certainly keen on working with Mercer and was very happy when he received the first draught of the lyrics. There has been much debate over that 'Huckleberry friend' line , what does it really mean? Personally I feel it has to be about the whole Mark Twain experience, Tom Sawyer and all that, it really evokes the American experience perfectly. It’s a great memorable slice of Americana that really captures the image of floating up and down a southern river in the heat of the midday sun.

Legend has it studio executives wanted to axe Moon River from the finished film and it was only the insistence of it’s star Audrey Hepburn that ensured it stayed in. If you recall the film Breakfast at Tiffanies the song plays an integral part with the lovely Audrey sitting out on the window ledge miming away on guitar and staring wistfully at the sky, some have said she can’t sing but Mancini himself reckons this is the best ever version and it’s certainly one of the most emotional.

The song was an immediate hit for soul singer Jerry Butler who went to number 11 on the American charts with it, strangely enough, the same number that Mancini hit with his own instrumental version. To say it was a successful number for the two composers is a bit of an understatement, at the Oscars of that year it became Johnny Mercer’s 3rd award winning song and overall it clocked up five Grammy’s and 2 Oscars. Today it remains a true classic that just seems to get better with every passing year.

Johnny Mercer passed away in 1976 and Henri Mancini in 1994 they also scored big hits with tracks like Days of Wine and Roses and Charade.

Written by Ralph McLean