Capitol Collectors Series Music Cd

Johnny Mercer - Capitol Collectors Series

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Capitol Collectors Series      Artist : Johnny Mercer      List Price : $11.98 USD        Your Price : $10.99 USD      ProductGroup: Music      Release Date : 1989-07-26      Studio : Capitol      Label : Capitol      Avg. Customer Rating : (8 reviews)

Reviews Customer Reviews for Capitol Collectors Series      Mercer at his best!      Rating:      Johnny Mercer was a great part of the Swing Era, this CD adds to any 40's collection.     Customer Reviews for Capitol Collectors Series Cd      His Contributions To Music Go Way Beyond His Own Hits      Rating:      Here's a guy whose own considerable contributions as a recording artist [just over 29 hit singles from 1942 to 1952] are far exceeded by his other accomplishments. These include writing the lyrics for over 1,000 songs, among them some of the greatest hits of the 20th Century such as Blues In The Night, That Old Black Magic, and Moon River, as well as founding Capitol Records in 1942 at the tender age of 33. In this fantastic compilation you get 18 of his own hit singles plus his renditions of Blues In The Night and another of his famous compositions, One For My Baby (And One More For The Road), which became a Sinatra staple. In 1942 there were no less than six hit versions of Blues In The Night [Woody Herman (# 1), Jimmy Lunceford and Dinah Shore (both # 4), Cab Calloway (# 8), Artie Shaw (# 10), and Benny Goodman (# 18), and in 1952 Rosemary Clooney took it to # 17. His recordings of Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive and On The Atchison, Topeka And Santa Fe, both of which he also wrote, along with Candy [a duet with Jo Stafford] and Personality [which he did not write], all reached # 1 in 1945 and 1946. Seven others made Top 10: Strip Polka [his first in 1942 and which he wrote - # 7]; Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah [# 8 in early 1947 from the Disney film Song Of The South ]; Winter Wonderland b/w A Gal In Calico [# 4 and 5 respectively in 1947]; Huggin' And A Chalkin' [# 8 in 1947]; Sugar Blues [# 4 in 1947]; and Baby, It's Cold Outside [a # 3 duet in 1949 with Margaret Whiting]. With the exception of tracks 1 and 2 and Sam's Got Him [a # 19 in 1944 and not included here], on which he was backed by Freddie Slack & His Orchestra, all his hits had the backing of Paul Weston's band. These included the flip of My Sugar Is So Refined, a tune called Ugly Chile (You're Some Pretty Doll), which reached # 22 in 1946, and I Do Do Do Like You which, as the B-side to Huggin' And A-Chalin', made it to # 13 in 1947. Neither is included here. On the double-sided late 1947 hits Save The Bones For Henry Jones ('Cause Henry Don't Eat No Meat), and Harmony [not included here) - both # 12 - he shared the billing with The King Cole Trio. On The Glow Worm, for which he wrote additional lyrics, he is backed by Alvino Rey and his orchestra and this, his last hit single, went to # 30 in late 1952. Two of his hits - G.I. Jive [# 13 in 1944] and Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive - both scored as well on what passed then for the R&B charts, reaching # 1 and 4 respectively. With the insert are three pages of background notes written by Denise Cox, a complete discography of the contents, and a centre spread showing colour reproductions of album covers, song-sheets, posters, and 78 rpm records. Johnny, who passed away in 1976 at age 67, was honoured with the Grammy's Trustee Award in 1987. Truly one of the giants of the industry, and this entry from the Capitol Collectors Series does him justice. Get a copy at the low price being asked before it goes out of circulation. Editorial Reviews for Capitol Collectors Series Audio Cd      Amazon.com      Johnny Mercer was one of the founders of Capitol Records, so it's fitting that this entry in the label's Collectors Series is such a well-compiled and -designed package. Comprised of 20 key sides made between 1942 and 1949, it captures the Savannah-born singer/songwriter's lazy, bluesy delivery on both his own tunes ("Blues in the Night," "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive," "One for My Baby") and others' (Frank Loesser's "Baby It's Cold Outside," which Mercer and Margaret Whiting made into a No. 1 hit). Mercer was a major figure in American popular music; this CD makes clear that he was also a highly entertaining performer. --Rickey Wright