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6 Degrees Entertainment

'Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me'
(Bill Charlap, Julie Andrews, et al / 2-DVD / NR / 2009 / Turner Ent. - Warner Bros.)

Overview: “Hooray for Hollywood”; “Jeepers Creepers”; “That Old Black Magic”; “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe”; “Skylark”; “Blues in the Night”; “Moon River”; “The Days of Wine and Roses.” Some of the most beloved songs of the 20th century came from the pen of a Georgia-born lyricist, singer and composer named Johnny Mercer.

Now, from Academy Award®-winning director and producer Clint Eastwood, comes the story of renowned music lyricist and Capitol Records co-founder Johnny Mercer in 'Johnny Mercer: The Dream’s On Me'.

DVD Verdict: So the story goes, as legend has it, John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American songwriter and singer. As a songwriter, he is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others.

From the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s, many of the songs Mercer wrote and performed were among the most popular hits of the time. He wrote the lyrics to more than a thousand songs, including compositions for movies and Broadway shows. He received nineteen Academy Award nominations. Mercer was also a co-founder of Capitol Records in 1942.

Here in Clint Eastwood's latest directorial saga, 'Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me,' he gives us a loving and carefully produced look at one the true musical geniuses of the 20th Century. This is as much a celebration of Johnny Mercer's life and music as it is a biography. It plays out like a catalogue of all the great songs, performers and writers that we grew up with.

That said, for all his success as a writer, performer and record producer, Mercer had one great ambition left unfulfilled: a successful Broadway production. In 1946, he partnered with Arlen on St. Louis Woman. The show produced several hit songs, including “Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home” and “Come Rain or Come Shine,” but it was plagued with production problems and harsh criticism for its inadequate book. It would be 1956 before Mercer finally realized his dream of a hit Broadway show with L’il Abner.

Indeed, Mercer seems to have had some involvement in virtually every facet of "The Great American Songbook" and he excelled in all of them. Most of all this is an enormously enjoyable and entertaining 2 hours that I could watch over and over again. It is such an informative documentary that lovers of great music will enjoy very, very much - over and over, I hope. That's what makes this DVD worth buying. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

“At the Piano” with Clint Eastwood, John Williams and Jamie Cullum.
Song performances by legendary musicians such as Audra McDonald, Michael Feinstein, Jamie Cullum, Dr. John, and Morgan Eastwood.
“Bio Text” – a brief essay about Johnny Mercer.

www.WarnerBros.com





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