Bill May oral history interview, October 4, 1996

Interviewed by Chris Paton. In this interview, May discusses his relationship to Mercer during the early days of Capitol Records, when May was employed frequently as an arranger/director for many of the major Capitol artists. May relates several anecdotes about Mercer during this period, and he talks about Mercer's assistance of other lyricists working in Hollywood. In the course of the discussion, he mentions "Hello Out There Hello" "I'll Remember You" "Mandy is Two" "G.I. Jive" and several other Mercer songs. May also discusses some technical aspects of sound recording, comparing the standards that Capitol maintained during the 1940s to other record companies and commenting upon the quality of modern technology in the production of CDs. He also talks about what it was like to do recording sessions during the 1940s. At the end of the interview, May suggests names of other contemporaries of Mercer who might be available to participate in the Johnny Mercer Oral History Project.