Johnny Mercer’s Centennial in the South

Johnny Mercer was born Nov. 18, 1909, in Savannah, Georgia. This Southern boy turned American music icon wrote or co-wrote more than 1,000 songs, including American Songbook classics like That Old Black Magic, Hooray for Hollywood and his most famous tune, Moon River, sung by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany’s.

Johnny was born into wealth and privilege in high Savannah society, and went on to make millions with his songs and by founding his now-famous record company, Capitol Records. With the characteristic Mercer family gap-toothed smile, Johnny was known to be fair, likable and an all-around regular guy despite his money. When Johnny arrived in Hollywood, he brought with him his Southern charm and infused it into all his work. He was influential in elevating Jazz further up in pop culture, including writing the lyrics to Riffin’ The Scotch for Billie Holiday, the first song she recorded. Even Johnny Mercer’s Savannah home carried on his legend of fame in the book and movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which introduced the beautiful, history-rich and sometimes quirky Southern culture of Savannah to the world.

There are several events planned to celebrate Johnny’s life and legacy. Glenn T. Eskew has written a new biography, Johnny Mercer: Southern Songwriter for the World, published last month. Clint Eastwood’s new documentary film, Johnny Mercer: The Dream’s on Me premieres this month. The Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon has mounted a Mercer exhibit, Georgia State University – which houses the Johnny Mercer Archives – will host an academic conference and concerts of his work, and a statue of Mercer will be unveiled in Savannah. Learn more about Johnny Mercer Centennial events.
Mercer died at age 66 in 1976 from complications after surgery for a brain tumor.

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