A Visit To Johnny Mercer's Savannah

We visited Savannah Georgia recently, the stomping grounds of one the all time great lyricists Johnny Mercer.  He was the man who wrote the words to such songs as "Moon River" and "The Days of Wine and Roses." He also started Capitol Records and was closely affiliated with my favorite singer Jo Stafford and her husband Paul Weston.

                                                 Paul Weston, Jo Stafford, and Johnny

 Johnny was the genius behind Capitol Records with such stars as Nat King Cole under his wings

                                   Bing Crosby and Johnny were admirers of each other

Savannah pays tribute to Johnny with this statue that Heike discovered as we were wondering around. She said "I found Johnny Mercer." I thought to myself "What is she talking about?!" And there he was....

We visited the Bonaventure Cemetery, a very interesting place. The movie "In The Garden Of Good and Evil" starts off there with a picture of Johnny's grave. Clint Eastwood produced that pic and used Johnny's music throughout.

The cemetery had such elaborate graves that they must have cost the families a small fortune. 

Here I am at the Johnny Mercer gravesite: 

This bench at the grave has several of Johnny's biggest hits engraved on it including Ac-cen-thu-ate the Positive, Autumn Leaves, Blues in the Night, Charade, Laura, My Shining Hour, and Atcheson Topeka and Santa Fe.  Click on the song titles to hear them by some of the greatest including Johnny himself who sang quite well and sold a lot records in his early years.

Sadly there was a group of tourists at the grave with the tour guide asking "Does anyone know who Johnny Mercer was?" Nobody did. He was about to continue the tour without much of an explanation, so I started singing "Moon River" and told them that Johnny wrote that. They all recognized it immediately.

There are several bios out there about Johnny. There is also an excellent dvd which Clint Eastwood had a hand in as well entitled 
"Johnny Mercer: The Dream's On Me."

 Mercer had an interesting life. He was a genius but also an alcoholic with a mean streak. His lyrics are often very haunting and sentimental. Quite a talented man.

Song Of The Open Road by Paul Weston & Jo Stafford

 As you regular "Nostalgic Rambler" blog readers know, my favorite reads are biographies of my favorite stars. Jo Stafford is my favorite singer and her bandleader/arranger genius husband Paul Weston has fascinated me as well. Unfortunately they never wrote a biography on their lives....or did they?

Apparently back in 1979 and 1980 they started on the project but it never saw the light of day as publishers said the incidents happened too long ago and their stories didn't have enough juicy gossip to entertain the masses. Sounds like the banner of the Nostalgic Rambler!

 Jo and Paul are gone now. They donated their archives to the University of Arizona. You can visit their on-line webpage and see the massive collection that is on file there as well as read some background about the Westons. The archive curator is a guy named Keith Pawlak. I wouldn't mind having his job as he has free access to all of this one of a kind material. Perhaps one day I will be able to visit.

With the cooperation of Jo Stafford and Paul Weston's children, Pawlak has now re-assembled the long lost biography and published it under the title "Song Of The Open Road, An Autobiography & Other Writings by Paul Weston and Jo Stafford." It's available from the publisher Bear Manor Media.

 The book has several sections to it. First we have a captivating look at the "Big Band Era" including what it was like to travel with Tommy Dorsey on a bus. This is not a Hollywood watered down version and is great fun. Can you imagine Tommy not letting the bus stop for a pee break and a guy getting his, well, you know what, caught in a beer can?!

Next is a great look into the 1940s personal lives of Jo and Paul as we are voyeurs peering at their love letters and personal correspondence. I just eat this sort of stuff up as I read about the recording sessions, radio shows, and stars the two hobnobbed with.

 The book has some essays about the music biz that Paul Weston wrote and also has a chapter explaining how Mr. Pawlak assembled the book, which wasn't an easy task.

It's unfortunate that the book was never finished back when the Westons were alive. A skeleton outline is presented about what might have been. It would have been great to read more about the stars they recorded with, the songwriters, the radio and tv shows. The Mitch Miller connection would have been fascinating I'm sure. And what about the later years when Jo more or less retired from singing? When she regained her record library and started Corinthian Records? Pawlak could have done a lot more research to flush out the missing stories...but then he calls himself merely "editor", letting the writings of Paul and Jo speak for themselves. And those writings were never completed.

Despite the fact that this book is not the complete story, it is highly recommended as an insiders' look at the music biz, the big band era, and radio in the early days.  Back in 1979 no one wanted this book. I'm grateful that we have other publishers now such as Bear Manor Media who can bring these manuscripts to life. It allowed me to spend several hours with two people I admire and what fun it was.....


You can order the book here, and tell 'em The Nostalgic Rambler sentcha!

Don't forget to listen to my radio show where nary a week goes by without a Jo Stafford song....Saturday or Sunday at 1 pm EST at www.TheGeneMartinShow.com. 

Christmas in Zitherland

Unlike some neighbors in the area, we are not already putting up Christmas lights and decorations on November 28th. From what I understand in the old days Christmas trees were actually put up Christmas Eve!

The reason for this pre-Christmas blog however is to alert you to my all time favorite Christmas album "Christmas in Zitherland" by Ruth Welcome. Miss Welcome recorded many albums for the famed Capitol Records label. Unfortunately as far as I know none of them have ever been re-released on cd. There was a budget cassette several years ago with a few of the "Christmas in Zitherland" cuts on it, but it had so much tape hiss in it, it was almost unlistenable.

What can you do if you want to hear this great album? Well, that's why I'm giving you plenty of time! There are currently several copies available on ebay. So get out your record players and start bidding here or here for instance.

If you are computer savvy and can understand how file sharing works (I don't really get it, so if you do maybe you can explain it to me) you can apparently get your Ruth Welcome Zither fix that way. Here is a link to someone else's blog who also has the album for your listening pleasure. Click here.

The music is hauntingly beautiful and definitely nostalgically different. Sorry folks, but "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" isn't featured here. Instead you get the tried and true Christmas classics that have withstood the test of zither time. Merry CHRISTmas in Zitherland or wherever you might be!

pics above of the "Christmas in Zitherland" album, Miss Welcome, and the Capitol Records building in Hollywood with Christmas tree on the roof.