Maggie Worsdale Sings Johnny Mercer

Jazz Singer Maggie Worsdale Sings the Songs of Johnny Mercer

Johnny Mercer was at the heart of the golden era of American popular music, when it was informed by classic and contemporary jazz. Songs from the "In the Cool, Cool of the Evening" to "Moon River" bear the stamp of his lyrical hand and four Academy Awards testify to his place in Hollywood's sphere of stars. But while Johnny Mercer's songs remain well known, the man behind them often remains in near-obscurity. So who was Johnny Mercer? Jazz singer, Maggie Worsdale, shares the talent of Mercer through his songs and through stories that he often told about himself. He was one of those Mercers, one of Savannah's first families, with two generals and two colonels, evenly divided between the Union and the Confederacy, in the previous five generations. His father was a financial failure. Johnny had to rescue the family's name and fortune. All his comedy, his wit, his passion, his ability with words and music were part of an attempt to reconstruct an idyllic world of love and warm apple pies.