Johnny Mercer

Johnny Mercer's songwriting output is as staggering as a Category 5 hurricane — a perfect storm of sophistication and soulfulness, he was a one-man Great American Songbook. He wrote "One for My Baby" on a cocktail napkin, sitting at a bar, and, with some help from Frank Sinatra's black-velvet voice, it became the quintessential torch song. Georgia-born Mercer's immersion in blues and early jazz enabled him to bring some Southern grease to Tin Pan Alley with loping laments like "Blues In the Night," and even to combine uptown elegance with down-home daydreams on the shimmering, star-spangled, instant standard "Moon River," whose red-clay roots are spotlit by Jerry Butler's soul-soaked version.

Discover the deliciously dark side of Mercer's music, in Next Steps.

Sure, Johnny Mercer is the man who gave the world "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah," but when he was in the mood, he could write with enough bite to tear a tree — not to mention a heart — in half. Tony Bennett had one of his biggest hits with "I Wanna Be Around," where a jilted lover gleefully anticipates his objet d'amour meeting a cad who "breaks your heart to bits." The chirpy refrain of "Goody Goody," brought into the rock 'n' roll era by Frankie Lymon, belies the wild-eyed revenge at its core, its words practically tap-dancing atop true love's headstone. Of course, no one does deep and dark like Lady Day, so when Billie trills about "Trav'lin' Light," it's not because she's carefree — she's minus the man who took her heart away.

Mercer goes to the movies, along with Mancini — and you — in Deep Cuts.

While Mercer may have been born when Broadway still reigned supreme, his heart couldn't help but beat in time to the rhythms of the silver screen, as he composed some of the most memorable movie themes of all time. He found a kindred spirit in composer Henry Mancini; together they turned out the bittersweet ballad "Days of Wine And Roses" for the film of the same name, earning an Oscar® in the process, and the theme that haunted the Cary Grant/Audrey Hepburn classic Charade like a lonely ghost. But sometimes, Mercer's movie tunes far outlived their flickering origins, like the sensual, swinging standard "Something's Gotta Give," born from the forgotten Fred Astaire film Daddy Long Legs, and sounding sweet and sassy in equal measure in the McGuire Sisters' sharp-shooting version.

People sometimes praise songwriters by saying they should have their faces on a stamp. Well, Johnny Mercer already does, which should give you some idea of his stratospheric status in American music. He's written a jaw-dropping number of standards, from "Summer Wind" to "That Old Black Magic," from "Autumn Leaves" to "Dream," and dozens more, providing the likes of Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, and Tony Bennett with career highlights along the way and waxing some damn fine versions himself. But when you're dealing with a songwriter who's been nominated for 19 Academy Awards®, where do you begin? Relax, we've got you covered — we already combed the massive Mercer archives to find a fulsome pack of precious moments culled from the crooners, musicals, and movies that have been touched by that one-of-a-kind Mercer magic.