M. Music and Popular Culture

Abstract:

This collection consists of one folder of correspondence and greeting cards from the files of Hugh Mercer, Jr., son of Johnny Mercer’s half-brother.

Abstract: Radio personality Ivey Peterson appeared on Atlanta's WSB Radio from 1941, serving as sometime master of ceremonies for the WSB "Barn Dance" and later appearing as one of the new cast members on "Barn Dance" when the show was revived in 1952. Peterson, who died in 1991, also co-owned a popular Atlanta country music nightspot, the Covered Wagon. His papers consist of correspondence, handbills, news clippings and songbooks (all in photocopied form), and 44 photographs of handbills and of...

Abstract: Jack Holden (born Milton Jackson) teamed up with Fairley Holden as a guitar and vocal duo on WATL in Atlanta. The pair moved to Ohio and built an active and successful performing career as "The Holden Brothers." After wartime service, they followed separate careers. Jack moved to Atlanta in 1949, where he continued a performing and radio career, frequently performing with his wife, Frances Thompson Holden (using the stage name "Frances Kay"). The Jack Holden papers contain photocopies of...

Abstract: Jackson Williams "Jack" Tarver was born March 2, 1917, in Savannah, Georgia, the only son of banker and hotelier Otis M. Tarver and deLuth Williams Tarver. In 1938, he graduated from Mercer University in Macon with a degree in journalism and began his professional career at The Vidalia Advance The Jack Tarver Research Collection includes logs, indices, one transcript and sound copies of WSB, WABE and WAOK radio programs from the 1950s and the...

Abstract:

The Jazz and Swing Foundation was a non-profit organization that existed 1986-1988, in order to collect and preserve jazz and swing sound recordings and information about jazz and swing music and musicians. Its records contain board and organizational information as well as various subject files.

Abstract:

Consists of a videocassette recording of a 1951 episode of the television program The Name's the Same featuring Johhny Mercer.

Scope and Content of the Collection The John and Seymour Rennolds Collection covers the time period from 1933 to about 1992. The manuscript portion of the collection includes materials that the Rennolds gathered on twentieth-century lyricist and composer Johnny Mercer (1909-1976). Included in the collection are a brief history of the collection itself, general files, correspondence, clippings and programs, music and lyrics, song magazines, one photograph, and three videotapes.A significant part of the manuscript...

Abstract:

The Johnny and Ginger Mercer Papers contain manuscripts, photographs, sheet music, recordings, printed materials, and memorabilia documenting the early careers (1920s through about 1931) of both Johnny and Ginger Mercer; their courtship and marriage (1930 and 1931); and Johnny Mercer's career as a songwriter, performer, and businessman as it continued after their marriage; Johnny Mercer's work as a lyricist.

Abstract:

This collection consists of memorabilia from the dedication of the Johnny Mercer Box Office at the McCallum Theatre, March 16, 2001, Palm Desert, Ca.

Abstract:

The collection consists of 24 contracts (dated 1933;1939, 1952-1978) signed by American lyricist Johnny Mercer (1909-1976), some with associated correspondence; and one contract signed by his son after his death.

Abstract

The Johnny Mercer Foundation is a charitable organization with a stated mission of supporting the discipline of songwriting in the tradition of the Great American Songbook as exemplified by the life and work of Johnny Mercer. Board meeting minutes, correspondence, legal documents, financial records and audits, and reports from supported charities and initiatives make up their records, dated 1962-2018.

Abstract:

The collection consists of three compact discs made from audiotapes and a phonograph record. The recordings (circa 1967) feature Johnny Mercer vocals, accompanied by a piano or small combo, for 19 songs he composed for the unproduced musical "Mike," a musical comedy for the stage based on Mickey Spillane's hard-boiled detective Mike Hammer.

Abstract The Johnny Mercer Oral History Project includes interviews with family members, friends, and colleagues of Johnny and Ginger Mercer. John Herndon Mercer (1909-1976), a native of Savannah, Georgia, began writing songs at the age of fifteen and eventually became one of the foremost figures of 20th century American popular music. His catalog includes many numbers that have become American classics, and his activities as lyricist, composer, performer and businessman span a period of nearly five...

Abstract:

Prints, slides, transparencies, and digital images of 24 watercolor paintings by the American songwriter Johnny Mercer (1909-1976) plus one image of a manuscript. Subjects include family members and other figures, landscapes, and seascapes.

Abstract

The Johnny Mercer Radio Programs Collection consists of audio recordings of more than 250 radio broadcasts, primarily dated 1934-1956. These musical radio shows feature performances from many notable entertainers of the time, but they all include either performances by Johnny Mercer, performances of his songs, or are otherwise related to his career.

Abstract The Johnny Mercer Foundation worked with the Turner Classic Movies network, Rhapsody Productions, executive producer Clint Eastwood and director Bruce Ricker to create Johnny Mercer: The Dream's On Me, a 100-minute documentary on the life and music of songwriter Johnny Mercer, released in 2009. The collection includes production and research materials created or assembled for the film, 1912-2013, including newly-created interviews and performances as well as...

Abstract

The Johnny Mercer "Three Arabian Knights" collection contains materials related to the never produced 1960s musical, "Three Arabian Knights." It includes draft lyrics, screenplay, script, telegrams, reel-to-reel tapes of the songs and CDs. Materials date from around 1960 to 1969.

Abstract:

Claude Davis (born Claude W. Dennis, 1895) was a country musician and singer. In the 1930s he was a member of the Carolina Tarheels, a group that pursued an active performing career on radio and on stage in the Southeast. The Katherine Smith Collection contains correspondence, newsclippings, song sheets, and photographs relating to Claude Davis.

Abstract: Leonora Gidlund conducted extensive research on resources relating to the life and career of Johnny Mercer while pursuing an M.A. degree in History at Georgia State University, resulting in a thesis in 1984. Her papers consist of correspondence with educational institutions, archives, historical societies, book dealers, radio stations and private collectors holding research materials relating to Johnny Mercer, and include a number of copies of original materials (including draft lyrics and...