How did Barry Gewens summary of the Johnny Mercer oeuvre conclude?”
Barry Gewen’s sumptuous summary of the Johnny Mercer oeuvre (Dec. 6) concluded with a paragraph on “Moon River.” I have an audio tape of “Johnny Mercer at the 92nd Street Y,” recorded from a WGBH radio broadcast from many years ago. In it, Mercer sang many of his personal favorites, accompanying himself on the piano. His elucidation of the phrase “my huckle berry friend” was a surprise: he said the word just popped into his head. No premeditation, just a flash of inspiration — and it had the requisite number of syllables. So put the “immortal” huckleberry down to Johnny just being Johnny. He ranks with the serious Broadway lyricists/composers. While I wouldn’t dispute Barry Gewen’s point in his review of “The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer” (Dec.
Barry Gewen’s sumptuous summary of the Johnny Mercer oeuvre (Dec. 6) concluded with a paragraph on “Moon River.” I have an audio tape of “Johnny Mercer at the 92nd Street Y,” recorded from a WGBH radio broadcast from many years ago. In it, Mercer sang many of his personal favorites, accompanying himself on the piano. His elucidation of the phrase “my huckleberry friend” was a surprise: he said the word just popped into his head. No premeditation, just a flash of inspiration — and it had the requisite number of syllables. So put the “immortal” huckleberry down to Johnny just being Johnny. He ranks with the serious Broadway lyricists/composers..
Barry Gewen’s sumptuous summary of the Johnny Mercer oeuvre (Dec. 6) concluded with a paragraph on “Moon River.” I have an audio tape of “Johnny Mercer at the 92nd Street Y,” recorded from a WGBH radio broadcast from many years ago. In it, Mercer sang many of his personal favorites, accompanying himself on the piano. His elucidation of the phrase “my huckleberry friend” was a surprise: he said the word just popped into his head. No premeditation, just a flash of inspiration — and it had the requisite number of syllables. So put the “immortal” huckleberry down to Johnny just being Johnny. He ranks with the serious Broadway lyricists/composers.
