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Last broadcast on Sun, 15 Nov 2009, 21:00 on BBC Radio 2.
Synopsis
Every Sunday Russell Davies presents the history of popular song, spotlighting its greatest exponents.
He focuses on top songwriters and composers like the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer, as well as some lesser-known names such as Roy Turk and Fred Ahlert; Ted Koehler, Walter Donaldson, Jack Lawrence and Peter Tinturin.
Russell features the artists who gave their songs wings: Fred Astaire, Ella, Bing, Peggy Lee, Sinatra, Julie London, The Mills Brothers, Boswell Sisters and many more. He pays birthday and centennial tributes, marks important deaths, and finds topical items that illuminate the subject in a variety of entertaining ways, with the occasional star interview.
THIS WEEK'S SHOW
The news of the death of Malcolm Laycock came as a shock to us all, friends & colleagues alike. Here’s not the place for a reflection on his career but we’d just like to put on record how much we’ll miss him; his big warm grin, his consummate professionalism, his genuine care for his listeners and most of all his great enthusiasm for the music he loved.
Our copy of “The Complete Lyrics Of Johnny Mercer” was handed to us by the postman last Tuesday. It’s a must, we’d suggest, to any lover of The Great American Songbook. The lyrics are presented chronologically and tracking down all this work is an achievement in itself: Hats off to Robert Kimball, Miles Kreuger, Barry Day and Eric Davis. Like others in publishers Knopf’s “Complete Lyrics Of..” series, this book is full of black and white photos - of Mercer at work and at play; of movie stills and reproductions of original sheet music covers, and of the many shows and stars who’ve benefited from his artistry. As well as the thousands of lyrics – some for which music has been lost or is not known to have existed, others as familiar as your favourite slippers – there are essays by Kimball, Kreuger, Davis and Day, a comprehensive list of Mercer’s collaborators and a delightful bonus – some of the whimsical poems Johnny sent out at Christmas-time to his friends, starting at 1939 & up to the unfinished one of 1975. Johnny died following an operation to remove a brain tumour in June 1976: This book is a fitting memorial to him.
Recommended: Johnny Mercer
Recommendations
That much-loved old chestnut “The Waiter And The Porter And The Upstairs Maid” is available in numerous compilations, of course. The one we reached for in this occasion, for we knew we could rely on immaculate re-mastering, was Vocalions “Bing Crosby And Friends” (CDUS 3000) which gathers together the cream of a lifetime’s duetting with fellow stars. They’re all here – Jolson and Crosby, Bing and The Andrews Sisters, Bing and Bob Hope, Bing with Judy Garland, Mary Martin, with Dick Haymes and The Andrews Sisters – and four favourite collaborations with Johnny Mercer. There are 25 tracks all told: a good 70 minutes of top-class entertainment.
We’re inclined to feel that Sandy Stewart’s album in tribute to Jerome Kern is one of her finest, which fans of Sandy will know is saying something. It’s made up of two studio dates, one in 1985, the other in autumn 1994. The programme has few surprises: with just a couple of exceptions these are the most familiar of Kern’s melodies – but Sandy’s gorgeous voice and Dick Hyman’s equally gorgeous piano accompaniments make these among our very favourite interpretations – of, for instance, “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”, “Can I Forget You?” and “The Way You Look Tonight” (with Dick paraphrasing Bach behind Sandy). All these delights – 18 tracks altogether including one piano solo - are on Audiophile ACD 205 and the ‘couple of exceptions’? “Day Dreaming” which Kern wrote with Gus Kahn and the oft-overlooked “All In Fun” from ‘Very Warm For May'.
Tracklist
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The Mills Brothers — Swing Is The Thing
Chronological Mills Brothers, JSP, JSP CD 304 -
Doris Day & Andre Previn — Fools Rush In
Last Of The ‘Complete’ Box Sets (1960-67), Bear Family, BCD 15800 Hk -
Bing Crosby, Mary Martin & Jack Teagarden — The Waiter & The Porter & The Upstairs Maid
Bing Crosby & Friends, Vocalion, CDUS 3000 -
k.d. lang — SkylarkMidnight In The Garden Of Good & Evil OST, Malpaso, 46829 -
Richard Rodney Bennett — I Wanna Be A Dancin’ ManWay Ahead Of The Game: Lyrics Of Johnny Mercer, Black Box, BBJ 2018 -
Chris Connor — Laura
Chris Connor – Classic, Contemporary, CCD 14023-2 -
Bing Crosby — I’m An Old CowhandChronological Bing Crosby (March – July 1936), Jonzo, JZCD 18 -
Sandy Stewart & Dick Hyman — I’m Old Fashioned
Sandy Stewart Sings The Songs Of Jerome Kern, Audiopphile, ACD 205 -
Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini — Moon River
Permission For Use Granted By Mercer Estate, & Ginny Mancini Through Ken Barnes -
Daryl Sherman & Wycliffe Gordon — The Bathtub Ran Over Again
Johnny Mercer: A Centennial Tribute, Arbors Records, ARCD 19388 -
Billie Holiday with The Paul Whiteman Orchestra — Trav’lin’ Light
Paul Whiteman: Complete Capitol Recordings, Capitol, 7243 8 30103 2 5 -
Ella Fitzgerald — My Shining HourElla Fitzgerald Sings The Harold Arlen Songbook, Verve, 314 519 832-2
Broadcast
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Sun 15 Nov 200921:00
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