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Johnny Mercer - My Huckleberry Friend. Johnny Mercer Sings The Songs Of Johnny Mercer (1974)

Исполнитель: Johnny Mercer
Название альбома: My Huckleberry Friend
Год выпуска: 1996, DRG
Формат файлов: Mp3, 320
Размер архива: 173 Mb
Скачать с: rusfolder

Recorded in London just two years before his death, My Huckleberry Friend includes nearly an hour and half of singer Johnny Mercer updating his own compositions. The American musical giant is accompanied by the Pete Moore Orchestra and the Harry Roche Constellation. Mercer's voice is solid throughout this 25-track record that marries his Tin Pan Alley lyrical style with diverse pop arrangements. The song "It's Great to Be Alive" says it all about this release: "It's great to be alive, to work from nine to five." Fans of Mercer will enjoy this record, while purists may prefer his earlier (and more traditional) recordings. Mercer's career may have slowed down due to the onslaught of rock & roll, but he was never intimidated by the new styles. (After all, he founded Capitol Records, the home of the Beatles.) So in 1974, he flew to London to record new interpretations of some of his old classics. The results are often stunning. The "Shaft"-like version of "That Old Black Magic," with its funk-fortified guitar and soul-splashed keyboards, is an archival treat. Mercer truly gets down when he sings "Every time your lips meet mine/Down and down I go/All around I go/Loving the spin I'm in/Under that old black magic called love." This tasty morsel will be jarring for listeners who only associate the name Mercer with '40s songs like "G.I. Jive" or soundtrack cuts like "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" or "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah." Mercer and arranger Pete Moore, however, do not abandon the big-band swing sound closely associated with these songs. And sometimes that is a problem. The moody and ethereal "The Days of Wine and Roses" is out of place next to some of the more modern-sounding tracks. The typical '70s instrumentations (dual use of flute and trumpet, etc.) make some songs sound hilariously familiar. The piano in "Too Marvelous for Words" hints at the "Theme From the Odd Couple." But if you are listening to Mercer, you expect some nostalgia, right? The only real criticism of this collection (besides the purists' crazy notion that funk and rock have no place in these standards) is that the pop flavors of the time are not embraced more completely: The funk guitar in "Something's Gotta Give" is strangely married to a brassy, swinging orchestration. There are some traditional takes here, especially on "Summer Wind," "Autumn Leaves," "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home," and "One for My Baby." Fans of lounge music and neo-swingers who appreciate Mercer will particularly like this collection. Who else would the island sounds of "Pineapple Pete" be for? My Huckleberry Friend" ends with a great reflection on Mercer's career: "Don't let it be said Old Unsteady can't carry his load. Make it one for my baby and one more for the road. That long, long, long, long road."
JT Griffith, AMG

01. You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby (Harry Warren) – 2:54
02. Little Ol' Tune (Johnny Mercer) – 3:05
03. Moon River (Henry Mancini) – 3:43
04. I Wanna Be In Love Again (Johnny Mercer) – 2:34
05. Days of Wine and Roses (Henry Mancini) – 3:16
06. Talk to Me Baby (Robert E. Dolan) – 3:19
07. Goody Goody (Matt Melnick) – 2:31
08. Summer Wind (Heinz Meier, Hans Bradtke) – 3:39
09. Little Ingenue (Johnny Mercer) – 3:19
10. Something's Gotta Give (Johnny Mercer) – 2:34
11. Satin Doll (Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn) – 2:53
12. It's Great to Be Alive" (Robert E. Dolan) – 2:32
13. That Old Black Magic (Harold Arlen) – 2:47
14. Tangerine (Victor Schertzinger) – 2:56
15. The What-Cha-Ma-Call-It (Gene DePaul) – 2:44
16. Midnight Sun (Francis J. Burke) – 4:15
17. I'm Old Fashioned (Jerome Kern) – 3:18
18. Come Rain or Come Shine (Harold Arlen) – 3:22
19. Too Marvelous For Words (Richard Whiting) – 2:39
20. Autumn Leaves (Joseph Kosma, Andre Jacques Prevert) – 3:52
21. Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home (Harold Arlen) – 3:41
22. The Air-Minded Executive (Bernard Hanighen) – 2:49
23. Pineapple Pete (Harold David Aloma, Al Jacobs) – 2:44
24. I Thought About You (Jimmy Van Heusen) – 2:54
25. One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) (Harold Arlen) – 3:58

Personnel:
Johnny Mercer - Composer, Vocals
Dick Abel - Ukulele
Kenny Baker - Trumpet
Joan Baxter - Vocals (Background)
Eddie Blair - Trumpet, Vocals
John Blanchard - Percussion
James W. Buck - French Horn, Vocals
Tom Carter - Strings
Alan Dalziel - Strings
Brian Dee - Keyboards, Vocals
Johnny Edwards - Trombone
Tony Fisher - Trumpet
Martin Fry - Tuba, Vocals
Hans Geiger - Strings
Bill Geldard - Trombone
Ken Goldie - Trombone
Steve Gray - Keyboards
Jack Greenstone - Strings
Emanuel Hurwitz - Strings, Vocals
Raymond Keenlyside - Strings
Ric Kennedy - Trombone
Bobby Lamb - Trombone
Duncan Lamont - Saxophone, Vocals
Don Lusher - Trombone
Margaret Major - Strings
Bernard Monshin - Strings
Pete Moore - Arranger, Conductor
Joe Mudele - Bass, Guitar (Bass)
Bobby Orr - Drums
Fred Parrington - Strings
Nat Peck - Trombone
Judd Proctor - Guitar
Chris Pyne - Trombone
Harry Roche - Trombone, Vocals
Stanley Roderick - Trumpet
Louis Rosen - Strings
Paul Scherman - Strings
Derrick Simpson - Strings
Bill Skeat - Saxophone
David Snell - Harp
Les Thatcher - Guitar
Clare Torry - Vocals (Background)
Charles Verney - Strings
Charles Vorzanger - Strings
Terry Walsh - Guitar, Ukulele
Dennis Walton - Saxophone
Kenny Wheeler - Trumpet

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22 октября 2014, Jaro