Johnny wrote for Warner Brothers, and wrote quickly. The young songwriter who would spend weeks and months on a single song when he was in New York was more experienced and had responsibilities, and he started churning out song lyrics. Warner Bros. studio was a fast-paced workplace, producing musicals one after another, and cashing in on the new trend of featuring radio stars so the audience could finally see what they looked like. Remember, this was before television and the Internet, so audiences only ever heard the stars’ voices.

As usual Johnny found inspiration from Savannah and his family. While writing one song he recalled something Ginger said to him when she and his mother were looking through a photo album. Ginger saw a picture of Johnny as a baby, and remarked, “You must have been a beautiful baby,” and Johnny’s proud mother immediately brought out a blue ribbon Johnny had won in a baby contest years ago! But Johnny remembered that phrase from his wife, and turned it into yet another lyric

And when it came to winning blue ribbons,
You must have shown the other kids how.
I can see the judges’ eyes
As they handed you the prize,
I bet you made the cutest bow

Oh! You must have been a beautiful baby,
‘Cause baby look at you now.

But this age of movie musicals was short-lived, and soon Johnny found himself out of work from writing Hollywood songs for movies. But once again, his multiple talents, the “triple threat” of acting, singing and songwriting, saved him. His singing career took off in the late 1930s, his singing voice combined with his songwriting skills, spurred him to collaborate with other musicians and create a number of hits

He and Ginger returned to New York after years in California, and Johnny found a job emceeing for a radio show Camel Caravan. He was incredibly creative during this time; lyrics and songs sprang from him. One segment of Camel Caravan was called “Newsie Bluesies,” where Johnny would satirize current events and people, much the same way the show Saturday Night Live does with "Weekend Update.” Johnny would wait until the evening the show aired, and would sit down to write a whole new lyric for that week’s edition “Newsie Bluesies,” once again showing how he’d grown and matured as a songwriter.

While in New York, Johnny and Ginger, who had been married for nine years but had never been able to have children, adopted a baby girl from Georgia. Amanda, or Mandy, became was the light of their lives. Johnny wrote a song, “Mandy Is Two,”

You ought to see her eyes of cornflower blue;
They really look as if they actually know
That’s she’s a big girl now…
You ought to see how many things she can do,
She knows her alphabet and ties her own shoe,
And no one shower her how.

Upon returning to California, Johnny met Judy Garland. Garland was just off her success as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and she and Johnny fell in love with each other. They had a brief love affair, which ended when Johnny reaffirmed his commitment to Ginger and their new child.

Johnny’s songwriting and lyrics were deeply affected by this time in his life as he struggled to reconcile his love for another woman with his commitment to his wife and child. He and Ginger stayed together though, and eventually adopted a baby boy they called Jeff.

Vocabulary

Adoption - to take a child of other parents as one's own child

Emcee – to act as the master of ceremonies or the host of an event

Satire – wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit someone or something

Trend – to go in a new direction, sometimes like a popular fad

Wire – a telephone or telegraph wire of system

Teaching Tips

Discuss what can happen to quality of work when you work very quickly without much regard for the finished product. Is it possible Warner Bros. was creating musicals so quickly that they made poor movies because of the speed involved? Or if there are enough support personnel, could the quality be similar to other studios that worked more slowly?

Sources

Philip Furia, Skylark: The Life and Times of Johnny Mercer (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003). 91, 102, 105, 117

Gene Lees, Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer, (Pantheon, 2004)