Composer
Johnny Mercer
1909–1976
99 works in the index
a popular U.S. composer and lyricist through the period of the Second World War and well beyond – into the 1960s. He was born in Savannah, Georgia, the son of a prominent attorney. Mercer wrote either the music or the lyrics (more often the latter) for many songs that have become both ubiquitous and immortal. He wrote the lyrics for example to “Hooray for Hollywood” in 1937, “Tangerine” in 1941, “That Old Black Magic” in 1942, and “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive” in 1944.
He was also a successful musical entrepreneur, creating Capitol Records in 1942. In 1961, ATCO Records issued a duet album teaming Mercer up with Bobby Darin, Two of a Kind. Also that year,
Paramount Pictures released the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, in which Audrey Hepburn memorably sang the song “Moon River,” for which Mercer had written the lyrics to music composed by Henry Mancini. As a team, Mercer and Mancini received an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year.
Catalogue