Signature Sponsors

© 2009 Johnny Mercer Centennial Committee

Johnny Mercer Centennial 1 Oglethorpe Professional Blvd., Suite 102 Savannah, Georgia USA 31406 www.johnnymercercentennial.com Twitter: @JohnnyMercerSAV Facebook: Fans of Johnny Mercer Copyright © 2009 Johnny Mercer Centennial Graphic design by Applegate Design 912.233.6408 Sandy Traub, Advisory Marketing Consultant

Centennial Chairman’s Circle

Huckleberry Sponsors

Mayor Otis S. Johnson Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Applegate Design/Kelly Applegate ARR Design/Angela Horne Armstrong Atlantic State University Library Archives AVIA Hotel Savannah Betty Darby B. J. Merrell Bret Bell, City of Savannah Carey Ferrara / Georgia Economic Development Cherokee Publishing Company Dr. Thomas B. Lockamy Eileen Baker, City of Savannah Georgia House of Representatives Georgia Senate Governor Sonny Perdue Henry Mancini Estate Interactive Palette LLC J. Byous Photography of Savannah Jim Corwin Johnny Mercer Foundation Kevin Fleming Kevin Langston/Georgia Tourism Leopold’s Ice Cream Morris Multimedia / Kidsville MyEmma.com Pocket Media Marketing Popcorn Octane Productions Roni Henderson Sandy Traub Savannah Convention & Visitors Bureau Savannah Magazine Savannah Morning News Savannah Tribune Shore Fire Media SpyHop Productions Steve Taksler Susie Chisholm The South magazine WSAV TV WJCL TV WSEG Radio WTGS TV WTKS Radio WTOC TV

Azalea Inn and Gardens Edward Derst Green Palm Inn Tanya Milton Trinity Graphics, Inc. Zeigler House Inn

Event Partners Avery Gallery Benedictine Military School Coastal Jazz Association Dr. Ja Jahannes Flat Rock Playhouse Friends of Johnny Mercer, Inc. The Gallery Georgia Historical Society Georgia Music Hall of Fame Georgia State University Library Georgia Tourism Glasgow International Jazz Festival Golden Isles Arts and Humanities Association Jazz International Kinsale Arts Week: Kinsale, Ireland Live Oaks Public Libraries Lucas Theatre for the Arts Mercer in the Park Mercer in the Squares Ralph Mark Gilber Civil Rights Museum St. Vincent’s Academy Savannah Black Heritage Festival Savannah Book Festival Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools Savannah Children’s Book Festival Savannah Children’s Theatre Savannah Film Festival Savannah Music Festival Savannah Music Teachers Association Savannah Scottish Games Savannah Waterfront Association S.P.A.C.E. Black Box Theater Telfair Museum of Art Thirteen Colony Sound

Photo: Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library, Atlanta

SPONSORS OF THE 2009 JOHNNY MERCER CENTENNIAL

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© 2009 Johnny Mercer Centennial Committee

Permission for the use of the draft lyrics of “You’re in Savannah” by Johnny Mercer has graciously been given by the Johnny Mercer Foundation, a not-for-profit group organized under the laws of the State of California.

Come On Along

Johnny Mercer: Savannah ’s Huckleberry Friend 2009 CENTENNIAL OBSERVANCE

JOHNNY MERCER STATUE Meaghan Walsh In honor of his 100th birthday, the Friends of Johnny Mercer, Inc. Statue Committee commissioned a life-size bronze statue that is approved for placement in the new Ellis Square.

Throughout 2009 Savannah honors one of this Southern city’s most respected and famous native sons. The City of Savannah’s Johnny Mercer Centennial Committee serves as a grassroots umbrella resource for all things Johnny Mercer during Savannah’s celebratory year. Our mission is to honor and celebrate Johnny Mercer’s inspirations and legacy. Johnny Mercer is an example of that rare blend of artistic talent and business acumen. He was both a singer and a lyricist, and he parlayed those talents into success on radio, in live entertainment venues and in Hollywood. He solidified his place in business history by co-founding Capitol Records in 1942. We encourage new generations to seek grand achievements through Johnny’s “Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive” optimism and Huckleberry Friend persona. On November 18, 2009, the centennial celebration culminates with the unveiling of Susie Chisholm’s sculpture of Johnny Mercer. The date commemorates what would have been Johnny’s 100th birthday. The Johnny Mercer Centennial Committee invites friends and admirers to volunteer support, get information or submit a Birthday-gram through the centennial web site www.johnnymercercentennial.com. mercercentennial.com For more information, contact Dianne Thurman, chair of The Johnny Mercer Centennial, at 912.925.2214 or 912.658.3959 or dsthurman@ bellsouth.net. bellsouth.net

In the 1990s, Savannahian John Thorsen suggested a monument be installed, based on a famous photograph of Mercer in New York City leaning up against a fire plug, reading the newspaper. Johnny Mercer’s niece, Nancy Mercer Gerard, who is the co-chair of the statue committee, said the pose was ultimately chosen for a number of reasons. “First of all, it is already outside,” she says. “Also, I think it’s friendly and inviting. It’s adapted to southern hospitality. And he’s not on a pedestal. He was never that kind of guy.” The committee found the perfect sculptor in Susie Chisholm, a local artist who took classes at the City of Savannah. Chisholm began by researching various aspects of the photograph, including the fire hydrant. She found one, and US Pipe and Foundry in Chattanooga was kind enough to donate an actual plug to be part of the mold for the final statue. Stratton Leopold arranged for the costuming department of Paramount Studios to loan some vintage clothing to be modeled on Steve Gerard, Johnny Mercer’s great-nephew. Gerard donned the garments and posed on a nearby hydrant, unmoving for over an hour, while Chisholm measured distance, angles, wrinkles and cuffs. “As I stood there, I wondered what he was thinking about, reading the paper,” Gerard recalls.

Johnny Mercer Statue Committee Co-Chairs: Nancy Mercer Keith Gerard and Dianne S. Thurman Stephen S. Gerard George and Jackie Haberman Stratton and Mary Leopold

In addition to the family resemblance, there was also a lucky happenstance. Chisholm had noticed that Mercer knotted his tie in a very particular, and somewhat crooked, way. She pointed it out to Gerard who immediately recognized it as the way he tied his own, only in reverse. “I had to tie it on the costumer, then she slipped it off and put it over my head, so it would be the same as in the picture.” Chisholm’s attention to minute detail is so important for a statue of such a beloved man. “I hope I have conveyed his warm character,” she says, “and his charm and friendly nature. I tried to give him that little twinkle in his eye.” The FJM Statue Committee wants to thank everyone – the Johnny Mercer Foundation, the Mercer family, those who sponsored fundraisers and individual donors. You have made the statue a reality.

Johnny Mercer family © Pearce W. Hammond, Okatie, S.C. L-R top: Hugh Mercer, George A. Mercer, Walter Mercer, George A. Mercer, Jr. L-R bottom: Bessie Wheless Mercer, Lillian Mercer, Juliana Mercer and Johnny Mercer

Steve H. Gerard © Susie Chisholm

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Susie Chisholm © Savannah Morning News

FJM Statue Fund event. L-R: Nancy Mercer Gerard, Paula Deen, Earl “Bubba” Hiers. © Dianne S. Thurman

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John Herndon Mercer Mercer Family Collection. Lane Library. Armstrong Atlantic State University. Savannah, GA.

American composer and lyricist

John Herndon Mercer was born in Savannah, Georgia, on November 18, 1909. He was one of the most prolific and successful songwriters of the 20th century, writing more than 1,700 songs throughout his career. From the mid1930s through the early 1970s, many of his memorable compositions were the most popular hits of the time. Collaborations with other music greats such as Hoagy Carmichael, Henry Mancini, and Harold Arlen produced American standards such as “Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive,” “Moon River,” and “Jeepers Creepers.” Four of his eighteen Academy Award-nominated songs won the Oscar for Best Song. Mercer was the co-founder of Capitol Records and the founding president of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Mercer was born into an affluent and well-respected family. His father, George A. Mercer, Jr., was a prominent attorney and real estate developer. His mother, Lillian Ciucevich Mercer, raised Johnny’s half-brothers – Hugh, Walter, George. His sisters are Nancy (who died at the age of three) and Juliana. Hot Savannah summers found young Johnny at the family’s island home at “Vernon View,” on Burnside Island where he spent time with AfricanAmerican playmates, and at the Pin Point Brand Oysters cannery (the former A.S. Varn and Son, Inc.), listening to local women singing spirituals and conversing in their Geechee dialect as they shucked oysters. No doubt, the sultry summers spent along the tidal waters, among Spanish moss-draped trees and under starry coastal Georgia nights, inspired his later works.

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From his birth, Johnny Mercer’s home was filled with music. Although he never received formal music training, his Aunt Hattie sang to him, and he was humming by the time he was six months old. By age six Johnny began singing in the choir at Christ Church, where his family attended services. Decades later, Johnny was still referring to himself as an “old choir boy.” Evidence of Johnny’s southern roots and love of family resonate through much of his work. He was drawn to music, loved the African-American sounds, followed bands around the town, and attended concerts in Forsyth Park and dances on Isle of Hope and Tybee Island. Travels to New York and experience in a local Savannah theater company only increased Johnny’s love of music and entertainment. At age nineteen he moved to New York, took bit acting parts in theater productions and wrote lyrics for shows. While working on the Garrick Gaieties, he met Ginger Meehan, a chorus girl who later became his lifelong wife. Throughout the 1930s Johnny worked for RKO, MGM, and Paramount studios in Hollywood. In 1942 Johnny, fellow songwriter and movie producer Buddy DeSylva, and businessman Glenn Wallichs founded Capitol Records Company, launching the careers of Nat “King” Cole, Margaret Whiting, and Peggy Lee, among others. In 1946, Capitol had sold 42 million records. When Johnny sold his interest in Capitol, he paid his father’s Depression-era debts. Johnny went on to write some of his most memorable songs for movies in the decades following World War II. Among these are his four Oscar-winning songs, “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” (1946), “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening” (1951), “Moon River” (1961), and “Days of Wine and Roses” (1962). Johnny wrote for Broadway musicals. L’il Abner (1956) was the most successful. As the era of rock ’n’ roll began, Johnny and Bobby Darin teamed to make an entertaining album, “Two of a Kind” (1961). Mercer went to England in the early 1970s and there wrote the lyrics for his final project, The Good Companions (1974) with conductor André Previn. While in London, record-producer Ken Barnes persuaded Mercer to record the outstanding double CD of “Moon River: Johnny Sings Johnny.” This was one of Johnny’s final recordings. Johnny Mercer died on June 25, 1976, in Los Angeles at the age of 66. He had never fully recovered from surgery to remove a brain tumor several months earlier. He is buried in the family plot in Savannah’s Bonaventure Cemetery. His lyrics, “And the Angels Sing” are inscribed on his tombstone. L-R: Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer. Photo appears courtesy of the Henry Mancini Estate.

John Herndon Mercer

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All Over the World © William P. Gottlieb, www.jazzphotos.com

AN INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATION “Many people think of my father as a great talent. I always thought of him as a loving and kind man who had nothing but my best interest at heart. He had tremendous respect for his family history and his Savannah roots. He took great pride in his love of family and friends. I miss him and love him as much today as I did when he passed 33 years ago.” – Mandy Mercer-Neder

Meaghan Walsh

“To me he was Bee-Bah. Bigger than life. ‘World’s Greatest Grandpa.’ Whether it was writing a song for Cub Scouts (“We are Men of the Werewolf Den”), going to a Little League game, or just watching sports with me, I felt like the most important person in the room. ” – Jim Corwin

In Paris, Susanna Bartilla is focusing on Mercer standards in her vocal jazz repertoire. “A Johnny Mercer lyric always comes across as something authentically by him,” she says, “a part of his real person, as lived and experienced by him – and us! He always strikes the right balance between nostalgia and optimism, between tenderness and passion; genuine emotion that we all can relate to.”

“Johnny’s contribution to the world, nay, universe of music, is monumental. He will live forever through his wonderful music.” – Stratton Leopold “If I were asked to describe Johnny Mercer in a single sentence, I would say he was the most decent man I ever knew.” – Ken Barnes “He was my best friend …” – Margaret Whiting “He made lyric writing an art. Funny – tender – down-home – elegant – beautiful – unique. You always know when it’s Mercer.” – Alan Bergman

Savannah began as a port city full of merchants, trade, warehouses – and immigrants. Its rich, colorful past includes the stories of many cultures that influence the city even today. Johnny Mercer grew up in a house at the corner of Lincoln and Gwinnett streets, in a nice, middleclassneighborhood that was home to businessmen, tradesmen and shopkeepers. It was also a fairly diverse area of town of European immigrants. The famous Leopold brothers, who had immigrated from Greece, had an icecream parlor just a block away from Johnny’s front porch. It’s only fitting, then, that the Mercer Centennial be celebrated all around the world.

Savannah native Tony Cope now lives in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland, considered by many to be the Monaco of the Irish Riviera. He headed up a Mercer show for the annual Kinsale Arts Week. Prior to the festival, he said: “It runs for three nights in July at the Lord Kingsale (the town’s original name). It is a musical tribute but also a look at the man and his life.” He adds, “Johnny Mercer is one of those song writers where everyone, even here, knows his songs, but few know the man. Hopefully, our show will change that, at least a little.” Todd Gordon is a vocalist who has been touring a show throughout the centennial year. He has put together a culminating event as the headline concert of the Glasgow International Jazz Festival, featuring British television’s Sir Michael Parkinson as host. He discovered Mercer’s lyrics at age eleven, “but it was three years later following my parents’ rather acrimonious divorce that music became my escape route from depression, and it was the simple line in “Dream” – “things never are as bad as they seem, so dream, dream, dream” – that became my mantra; Mr. Mercer’s lyrics helped me a lot at that time,” he remembers. Gordon, a Scot, was “intrigued to learn of Johnny Mercer’s pride in his Scottish ancestry and the many links that existed between Savannah and Scotland.” Yet another link in the truly versatile and varied strains in Mercer’s music.

Johnny Mercer – London session © Laureate Company L-R: Pepe Loeches (engineer), Harry Roche (bandleader), Pete Moore (arranger/ conductor) and Ken Barnes (producer)

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All Over the World

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If We Forget…

AFRICAN-AMERICAN INFLUENCES Sandy Traub and Dianne S. Thurman Dr. Clifford Hardwick reminisces about simplier times, the days when Johnny Mercer was growing up in Savannah. “The family gathered around the supper table for the evening meal, and children had to be home before the street lights were lit,“ he recalls. As a youngster, Johnny would wander from his home near Forsyth Park to explore the vibes of West Broad Street, discovering the captivating sounds that came out of African-American heritage – jazz, blues and spirituals. When Johnny’s mother would call the record shops or theaters looking for him, they would reply, “Yes, Mrs. Mercer. Johnny’s here.” And they would send him on home. The storied history of West Broad Street is one of an economic center and African-American entertainment district. Along this corridor Johnny listened to “race records,” as they were called. Two of the theaters along the entertainment corridor were the Star and Dunbar theatres. Close by was the majestic Union Station at 417 West Broad Street.2 Johnny loved trains and their associated sounds, and he preferred train travel. From Johnny’s childhood memories, he introduced the romance of the rails through “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” and “Blues in the Night.” For decades, the bustling area surrounding Union Station was where travelers disembarked, bringing business to the area. The corridor was a multi-ethnic melting pot where respect for the work ethic was central – the cultural and economic center for African-American Savannah. Churches along the corridor and their music were also an important influence on young Johnny. Today there are 26 churches that continue to be a vital part of the community.

Some writers have erroneously linked Johnny’s “Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive” lyrics to Sweet Daddy Grace’s sermons. Johnny said the phrase was from another charismatic preacher in Harlem, Father Divine, who is linked to Savannah by his birth on Hutchinson Island. Even the music of “Ac-cent-tchuate The Positive” has links to West Broad Street. Composer Harold Arlen was influenced in part by his Jewish faith music, but also by African-American music, especially the music of “King” Oliver. One of the most important figures in early jazz, Oliver was mentor to young Louis Armstrong, giving him first big break. In 2007 Wynton Marsalis participated in the dedication of a plaque (514 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) honoring Oliver, who ended his career and died in Savannah. Johnny Mercer learned many of life’s lessons during his childhood visits to the little fishing village of Pin Point, near Vernon View, his family’s summer home. Whether writing stories with his cousin Walter Rivers and their African- American playmates or exploring the natural beauty of the marsh, Johnny absorbed the culture that would influence his lyrics and singing. Another influence was the music he heard listening to the ladies working at the Pin Point Brand Oyster cannery, singing spirituals as they worked. The predominantly African-American suburb – comprised originally of freed slaves – has a well-established community of Geechee-Gullah speakers, a dialect that draws heavily from West African languages. It is the birthplace of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. An educational video of the Pin Point community’s crab pickers will air during the Johnny Mercer Centennial celebration at the Ralph Mark Gilbert Museum in downtown Savannah. It was these coastal-living African-Americans who came into downtown Savannah from areas of Pin Point (near Skidaway Island), Sandfly (near Isle of Hope) and White Bluff (around the Vernonburg municipality). They brought seafood and fresh vegetables for sale to the fishmongers and vegetable venders on West Broad Street and City Market. Dr. Hardwick comments,”They tell you something about the yesteryear. Coming into town to Anderson and Bull Streets, the city limits at the time, loading up and putting baskets on their heads. They were carrying fresh crabs, corn, butter beans, singing as they came on down to City Market, and shouting as they walked, “Okra, fresh okra!” Sometimes there was a truck to take them back to their home at night. More times they walked. The songs they would sing – some they made up – were deep in religion. That was a tradition. If we forget, who will remember?” 1 2

West Broad Street at Louisville Road (looking north, cropped), c.1919. Courtesy of the Georgia Historical Society.

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“Out of Yamacraw and Beyond: Discovering Black Savannah,” Charles Lwanga Hoshkins. Union Station was torn down in 1963 to make way for the Interstate 16 flyover, considered catastrophic to West Broad Street’s vitality.

Dunbar Theatre © Bynes and Royal Funeral Home. Used with permission.

Scarbrough House (from 1878 Union Station. Public domain photo. owned by Board of Education and used as the West Broad Street School until 1962.) Library of Congress.

“If We Forget…”

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“Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive…”

EDUCATION ACCENTUATES THE POSITIVE

“I think one of the cool parts of that is that they are going to be doing the same thing in some New York City classrooms, and the kids will be able to interact with each other (via Internet),” says Ken Hudlow, the public schools’ performing arts specialist.

Betty Darby From the lighthearted to scholarly and serious, the Mercer Centennial has targeted education. “One of the major focuses of the Centennial is passing the legacy on from one generation to the next,” says Dianne S. Thurman, chairperson of the Johnny Mercer Centennial Committee.

“The Savannah classes will be matched up with New York City classes that have had the same lessons as their ‘Mercer-Mates.’ They will share their songs they have written with each other, share photos from the class, and share videos of each other singing their songs,” Hudlow says.

“Every organization that I approached was very willing to incorporate an educational component in their Johnny Mercer tribute,” she continues. Those organizations read like the Who’s Who of “Groups that Get Things Done in Savannah.” By the time the Mercer celebration concludes, virtually all of the 33,500 or so SavannahChatham County Public Schools students, their approximately 70 music teachers and many of their private/parochial school counterparts will meet Mercer via some event or lesson.

Schoolchildren can also keep their eyes peeled for Travelin’ Light: A Johnny Mercer Exhibit. This multi-media display started as the work of one of SCAD professor Chris Neal’s classes, and Laura Victore – visual arts specialist with the public schools – is getting it into schools.

Some of that has already happened. Elementary students turned out in droves for the Georgia Day Parade in February, featuring Mercer as the parade’s historical figure. Later, several hundred students attended “Happy Birthday, Johnny,” the Savannah Music Festival’s Mercer tribute. Benedictine Military School and St. Vincent’s students honored Johnny with their “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” play at Trustees Theatre. But the big guns are still to come, including sessions with a professional lyricist offering youngsters a chance to try their hands at Mercer’s craft. The October 2009 visit from Camp Broadway, sponsored by New York’s Johnny Mercer Foundation, will involve two elementary schools and Lyric Notes: Accentuate the Positive workshop with music educators.

Johnny Mercer and young Savannah girl at arts festival. © Savannah Morning News. Used with permission.

On a lighter note, say goodbye to Jimmy Buffet, at least in puppet form. To meet tight deadlines and a nonexistent budget, puppeteer Angela Beasley gave the popular contemporary singer an extreme makeover and transformed the foam-and-fabric figure into a puppeteer’s vision of Johnny Mercer, complete with his signature gap-toothed grin. The puppet has a starring role in “Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive,” Beasley’s play that teaches youngsters about the famous Savannahian. Angela Beasley’s Puppet People have taken their Mercer show to the Live Oak Public Libraries’ branches multiple times so far – part of a long list of concerts, displays, parades, and lesson plans in the educational component of the Johnny Mercer Centennial Celebration. Beasley said she had no trouble finding kidfriendly material in Mercer’s repertoire. It went beyond the obvious “Glow Worm,” too. “We sing ‘Autumn Leaves’ in French, because it’s cute and because none of the kids ever heard it that way,” says Beasley. “And we have a funny little pantomime to ‘Moon River’ that people just loved.”

Angela Beasley and Puppet People’s Johnny Mercer. © Johnny Mercer Centennial / Sandy Traub.

Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library, Atlanta

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In November, Kidsville from Morris Multimedia and the Mini Page from Savannah Morning News will feature Johnny Mercer. Student musicians will participate in the Mercer statue dedication.

“Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive”

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In Johnny’s Footsteps

Opportunities abound for visits to locations significant in Johnny Mercer’s life. Key locations are listed below, but for expanded information, visit www.johnnymercercentennial.com

“MOON RIVER” 2009 SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME TOWERING SONG OF THE YEAR The Towering Song Award is presented each year by the Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) to the creators of an individual song that has influenced our culture in a unique way over many years.¹ The 2009 winner was “Moon River,” written by SHOF co-founder and great American songwriter, Johnny Mercer (lyrics), and the versatile and celebrated Henry Mancini (music).²

Johnny Mercer’s Childhood Home 226 E. Gwinnett St. Leopold’s Ice Cream Shop (original site) 720 Habersham St.

“Once you hear the song, you’d immediately think of the picture (Breakfast at Tiffany’s),” says Johnny Mercer in his interview with Willis Conover in 1970.

Leopold’s Ice Cream Shop (today) 212 E. Broughton St.

Johnny Mercer scripted the conversational lyrics and nonchalant style that portrayed his idyllic childhood along Savannah’s Back River (now Moon River). To complement the singing range of actress Audrey Hepburn, Henry Mancini crafted the melody, played only on the piano’s white keys in the key of C Major. It was Ms. Hepburn who fiercely saved her balconyscene solo from being cut out of the film.

Forsyth Park Between Drayton and Whitaker Streets Massie School 207 E. Gordon St. Chatham Academy 208 Bull St. Catholic Cemetery Wheaton Street near Gwinnett St. Greenwich Cemetery 330 Bonaventure Rd. Lucas Theatre 32 Abercorn St. adjacent to Reynolds Square Christ Church 28 Bull St. at Johnson Square

Johnny Mercer bench in Bonaventure Cemetery. © Robert Mazuer. Used with permission.

Johnny Mercer Bench Johnson Square Tony Roma’s Restaurant (original building of the George Mercer real estate business) 7 E. Bay St. Susie Chisholm’s Studio Second floor of the Franklin Building in City Market

Breakfast at Tiffany’s was released on October 5, 1961. “Moon River” won the 1961 Grammy as “Song of the Year,” and 1962 “Best Original Song” Oscar from the Academy of Film Arts and Sciences at the 35th Academy Awards.

West Broad Street (now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) Oglethorpe Club 450 Bull St. DeSoto Hotel (now the Hilton Savannah DeSoto) 15 E. Liberty St.

© Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Used with permission. Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer at the 35th Annual Academy Awards with Oscar for “Days of Wine and Roses”

Johnny Harris Restaurant 1651 E. Victory Drive Johnny Mercer Grave Bonaventure Cemetery 330 Bonaventure Road, Thunderbolt Bethesda Home for Boys 9520 Ferguson Avenue Pin Point Burnside Island Moon River

Johnny Mercer along Moon River marsh. © Frederick C. Baldwin. Used with permission.

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JOHNNY MERCER ACADEMY AWARD-NOMINATED SONGS 1938 Jeepers Creepers 1946 On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe 1940 I’d Know You Anywhere* Love of My Life* 1951 In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening 1941 Blues in the Night 1955 Something’s Gotta Give 1942 Dearly Beloved 1960 The Facts of Life 1943 My Shining Hour* That Old Black Magic* 1961 Moon River 1945 Ac-cent-tchu-ate 1962 Days of Wine and Roses The Positive 1963 Charade

1965 1970 1970 1971

The Sweetheart Tree Whistling Away the Dark* Darling Lili* Life is What You Make It

Academy Award-winning songs in bold *Academy Award-nominated Original Song Score Oscar and Academy Award are registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

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Ardis Wood, Savannah, GA When asking her neighbor, Dottie Johnson, if she knew Johnny Mercer, this is the response: “Of course, I did,” she replied. “Everybody knew everybody when I was growing up. I’d double date with Johnny when we’d go dancing at the Tybee Pavilion. He’d ride in the back seat with his date, and I’d be up front with his cousin. Then Lordie, he’d start to sing, and I’d turn around and say, ‘Shut up, Johnny, you can’t sing!’”2 Abraham Famble, Pin Point, GA “We went to the doh’ as little boys, selling blackberries, huckleberries and went on our way.” He tells of his aunt working for the Mercer family for 20 or 30 years, describing them as generous and kind, and of Johnny speaking Gullah. “Whar you for goin’ from? Whar yur’ dod’dee?” (Daddy) would be typical Gullah speak.3 David O’Leary, Wilmington Island, GA “Johnny’s neighborhood was more expanded than ours. We were not allowed to go past Bull Street. He spent a lot of time on West Broad Street, with black music shops over there. …”4 Dan O’Leary, Tybee Island, GA “I was taking piano lessons and practicing at Aunt Lillian’s house, when Johnny and Ginger arrived; I believe for Ginger’s first trip to Savannah. ‘Keep playing the piano. I wish I had,’ Johnny Mercer told me.”5 Nancy Mercer Keith Gerard, Wilmington Island, GA “Johnny was my godfather, and I knew him very well. …I think most of his lyrics evoke feelings, memories, smells, sights of Savannah,” says Nancy. “He loved home. He adored his family. He wanted to come home. Anything I’ve ever done in my life, he helped me to achieve – he sent me to college, he gave me away at my wedding, he talked to me and ” S sang with me.” D R O S FOR W

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Tom Coffey, Savannah, GA “Johnny Mercer is from my hometown.” It’s a phrase Savannahians love to say, including Tom Coffey, who told fellow soldiers upon hearing Johnny Mercer on the radio during World War II training in California.6 Pearce Hammond, Okatie, SC “Stick with the young folks but don’t forget the old fogies,” wrote Johnny Mercer when autographing a 78-LP album for Pearce. 7

1

4

2

5

Excerpt from Georgia Historical Society, 2009. Used with permission. Ibid. 3 Excerpt from Mercer Storytelling, oral histories, a project to learn about Johnny Mercer, from Armstrong-Atlantic State University, Lane Library’s Mercer Family Archive. Used with permission.

Ibid. Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid.

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MERCER MEMORIES Great people inspire us to do great things. Certainly, Johnny Mercer’s life and work have inspired us in this challenging year. The celebration of Johnny’s legacy – “Too Marvelous for Words” – has motivated many to re-focus on family, education, community and the arts. From toddlers to grandparents, the Johnny Mercer Centennial events invite all ages to Savannah’s beautiful open spaces and grand old places. Visiting Girl Scouts line dance to summer’s Music in the Squares. Certainly, as Dr. Clifford Hardwick III has said, it is a year when “ordinary people are doing extraordinary things.” The generous efforts of many individuals and organizations have prompted us to experience our treasured city and Savannah’s many cultures in new ways. The timing has been perfect in this year of the stay-cation, when people are being creative and doing more things in our home community.

Mercer Family Collection. Lane Library. AASU. Savannah, GA.

I Remember You

Eleanor Torrey West, Ossabaw Island, GA “My meeting with Johnny Mercer…was in the 1930s, 70 years ago. …It happened in the crowded ballroom of the dear, old DeSoto Hotel during a cotillion. The ballroom sparkled with lights and excitement; the music made my heart thump. I was in my teens and was dancing with someone forgettable when Johnny Mercer cut in. …We danced. Then, just as the music slowed, Johnny looked down at me and said, ‘Your hairline has rhythm.’”1

Johnny’s timeless music spans generations, captivating audiences across the world. The Friends of Johnny Mercer and the Savannah Music Festival launched our Centennial celebration in Savannah. High school students have taken the lead in Johnny’s play productions. Mercer on the River featured puppeteers teaching children through “Jeepers Peepers” art. There is more laughter, storytelling and music in our parks and libraries. We invite you to continue the celebration during Savannah’s Fall 2009 events – Oct. 4, “Mercer in the Park”; and exciting activities in Savannah’s Historic District Nov. 14-18, culminating with the unveiling of the Johnny Mercer Statue in Ellis Square. To extend the spirit of the Centennial, we encourage you to make more Mercer memories. For Johnny Mercer, it was a lifetime of “I Remember You” – doing the quiet deeds for others in the dead of night. Happy Birthday, Johnny Mercer! You are “Too Marvelous for Words.”

THE JOHNNY MERCER CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE Dianne S. Thurman, Chairperson Mayor Otis S. Johnson, Ph.D. Representative Ron Stephens Eileen Baker Carolyn Blackshear Ken Carter Nancy Mercer Keith Gerard Stephen Gerard Rob Gibson Dr. Clifford Hardwick, III Kenny Hill Kenneth Hudlow Michael Hutchinson Joyce Jones Dr. Thomas Jones

Mary Leopold Stratton Leopold Josh Lotz Ryan McMaken Joseph Marinelli Tanya Milton Charles H. Morris Danielle Pinkerton David F. Richards Laura Simpson Kathleen Sizemore Sandy Traub Laura Victore Meaghan Walsh

I Remember You

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