laureatedvd.com

Ken Barnes · Host Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 548

Hi, Mark,

It's certainly good to be back on line again. The complete running order on the Johnny Mercer album is as follows (All of the lyrics are by J.M. and some of the melodies too )

CD-1

THAT OLD BACK MAGIC
MOON RIVER
LITTLE OL' TUNE
TOO MARVELLOUS FOR WORDS
SUMMER WIND
WHATCHA-MA-CALL-IT
ANY PLACE I HANG MY HAT IS HOME
TALK TO ME BABY
THE MIDNIGHT SUN
I'M OLD FASHIONED
SHOOBY-DOOIN'
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
COME RAIN OR COME SHINE
IT'S GREAT TO BE ALIVE !

CD-2

GOODY GOODY
TANGERINE
SATIN DOLL
AUTUMN LEAVES
I WANNA BE IN LOVE AGAIN
THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES
PINEAPPLE PETE
SHOW YOUR LINEN, MISS RICHARDSON
LITTLE INGENUE
THE AIR-MINDED EXECUTIVE
I THOUGHT ABOUT YOU
NOT FOR SALE
YOU MUST HAVE BEEN A BEAUTIFUL BABY
ONE FOR MY BABY ( and one more for the road )

The label is Castle-Pulse: Cat. No. PLSCD 602

Release date: February 28,2005. Price: £4.99 ( talk about value ! )

As you can see, it covers a fair spectrum of Mercer's versatility. A smattering of his great hits ( we could have made 10 albums and still not covered his hits ) and some of his celebrated joke songs and novelties.

It's a jazz-oriented set and we had a ball making it. I'm glad it's available over for the first time on CD. It's been selling in the USA for years on the DRG label on a single CD ( minus three tracks ).

Thanks for your interest

Ken

Ken Barnes · Host Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 548

Yes, Mark. That's the one. I was told it was Castle Pulse - but if it's now Kaz, that's fine with me. And if the release is now Feb 21, that's also fine.

The cover confirms that this is the correct album. I hope you like it - and, if you do, maybe you'd like to review it for Amazon.

By the way, I hope to have some feedback soon from Fox on DADDY LONG LEGS. If it's a go-situation, I'll probably use a portion of an audio interview I did with Johnny Mercer regarding the film and the song "Something's Gotta Give" Fingers crossed !

Many thanks

Ken Barnes · Host Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 548

Mark,

Re the new Mercer release, I just noticed that the Amazon posting lists it as 1 disc. I'm wondering if Sanctuary have done two different releases.
1 on Kaz and the other on Castle Pulse. As far as I know it is definitely a 2-disc set. I'll check this out with the company on Monday and post their answer on this site.

Ken Barnes · Host Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 548

Hi Mark,

I've just checked with Lee Simmonds of Sanctuary and he has confirmed that the Amazon posting is wrong. This will be corrected. The label is Castle Pulse. It is a 2-CD set and the release date is set for February 21st.
Retail price just £4.99.

I heard the first set of test discs yesterday and it sounds great. I hope you like it.

Best
Ken

Ron Patmore · Guest

Good to see the Laureate website up and running again ( And back to the old format. Thanks, Karen ). And marvellous to find the Johnny Mercer London Pye sessions at last on CD. I have owned the U.S. DRG version for some time - but this is on one disc and has three tracks missing, so it's great to have the COMPLETE set.

Ken Barnes, as always, delivers a first rate production and Pete Moore's orchestrations are as good as anything that comes out of America. I can't recommend it highly enough. Anyone who likes Sinatra or Bing or Tony Bennett would be well advised to buy this release. Johnny Mercer was not only one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century, he was also a superb song stylist. A great jazz singer, of course. But this album shows him to be an outstanding ballad singer. Check out "Summer Wind" and "Autumn Leaves."