By Johnny Mercer

 I wish I had the songwriting gift that Johnny Mercer had. Even if you didn't know it, you know a Johnny Mercer tune or two. He took more than one walk to the stage to accept an Oscar in the Best Song category. The lyricist was nominated for writing "Jeepers Creepers," "Blues in the Night," "That Old Black Magic" and "My Shining Hour" among others. He won his first Oscar for "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Sante Fe" introduced by Judy Garland in the 1946 musical western, THE HARVEY GIRLS. He won another for "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" from 1951's HERE COMES THE GROOM, a third for "Moon River" from 1961's BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S and his last one for "Days of Wine and Roses" from the 1962 film of the same name.

One of my all-time favorite songs is one that Mercer wrote for a 1942 musical comedy from Paramount Pictures. THE FLEET'S IN starred Dorothy Lamour and a young, fresh-faced William Holden. The song is "I Remember You." Here's lovely Lamour as she introduces it.

I have a very dear friend, a terrific jazz singer, named Paula West. Paula lives in San Francisco. One day, I was at her apartment while she was going through songbooks to select numbers for an upcoming show. She had a thick book of songs by Johnny Mercer. A song that is NOT in the book is the very popular "I Remember You."

Why? Well, the married Mr. Mercer fell in love with Judy Garland and their brief romance inspired the song. It crystallized his feelings for Judy. Mrs. Mercer excluded it from the book. Yep. She found out about the affair.

Another Paramount musical comedy to boost morale during World War II was 1944's HERE COME THE WAVES starring Bing Crosby and Betty Hutton. It brought Mercer a Best Song Oscar nomination for "Accentuate the Positive" introduced in the movie by Crosby. In blackface. Mercer cut a swingin' record of it himself. You hear that record with Mercer's totally cool vocal in the opening minutes of the movie L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.

There's another original Johnny Mercer tune in HERE COME THE WAVES that is pretty much obscure but, baby, it's a gem. The song is called "I Promise You" and it gets a velvety duet introduction from Bing Crosby and Betty Hutton in a highlight of the movie. 

When I first heard it, I thought "Wow. What a great song to do at a wedding or a wedding reception." I still feel that way. However, the actor part of me now thinks one could approach it with a different emotional core. Think of Mercer and Garland. You could sing it as one secretly vowing to still be devoted to the one you love -- even though the one you love is marrying someone else. Listen to Mercer's lyrics.

Johnny Mercer. What an extraordinary music man.