I am a fan of Johnny Mercer, both as a lyricist/songwriter and as a singer. And of course his career intersected with Bing's on many occasions.

One of my favorite Johnny Mercer albums is an old LP I have entitled "Jeepers Creepers" on the Glendale label (GLS-9005, 1983) from Legend records, which was owned by Wayne Knight (more about him below). It includes a nice version of the title song, as well as my favorite version of "Something's Gotta Give" despite nice versions by Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, and Bing.
 
Here is a track listing:
1. Jeepers Creepers (with Les Brown Orchestra)
2. Blues in the Night (with Paul Smith Quartet, Notables)
3. If I Had My Druthers (with Ray Bloch Orchestra)
4. Love is Just Around the Corner (with Paul Smith Quartet)
5. One For My Baby (with Ray Bloch Orchestra)
6. Something's Gotta Give (with Ray Bloch Trio)
7. Hear Them Bells (with Paul Smith Quartet, Notables)
8. Put on a Happy Face (with Ray Bloch Orchestra)
9. St. Louis Blues (with Paul Smith Quartet, Notables)
10. Witchcraft (with Ray Bloch Orchestra)
11. Them There Eyes (with Paul Smith Quartet, Notables)
12. The Facts of Life (with Ray Bloch Orchestra)
13. Java Jive (with Paul Smith Quartet, Notables)
14. Doodle-lee-doo (with Les Brown Orchestra)

I have been trying to track down the provenance of these recordings, but with limited success. All of the recordings with the Paul Smith Quartet (or Trio as listed on the Jupiter album) with and without the Notables are from an LP entitled "Johnny Mercer Sings Just For Fun" (Jupiter Records, JLP 1001, 1956). All the tracks from that LP which feature Mercer (four just feature the Notables) were reissued on the Sepia CD of the same title. However, I have not been able  to track down the source of the songs with the Les Brown Orchestra, and with the Ray Bloch Trio and Orchestra. And I have not found them on any other LPs or CDs.

Does anyone know the source of these recordings? Are they commercial recordings, private recordings, recordings made for radio or TV?

Related to that, does anyone know of a good discography of Johnny Mercer? It surprises me if there isn't one, but all I have found online are mostly just lists of his Capital records and perhaps some later LPs, nothing very detailed.

And finally, my understanding was that Ken Barnes inherited Johnny's personal archive of recordings. Johnny was known to make private recordings for his own enjoyment, some of which Ken issued on the CD "Johnny Mercer Sings Johnny Mercer and Friends" (Memoir Records, CDMOIR 407, 1991). Does anyone know what became of that archive after Ken passed away?

Regarding Wayne Knight, does anyone know if he is still alive? If he is, I imagine he is pretty old. I met him when I was in college. I had bought his two LPs  "Havin' Fun" and "More Fun" featuring the Bing Crosby radio shows from 1949-1951 with Louis Armstrong as a guest. I contacted him, because I was unhappy with the sound quality of some of the tracks, and he invited me down to his office/studio. I had recently purchased some Guard Sessions radio transcription discs at a garage sale featuring Sarah Vaughan, Woody Herman, Mel Torme, Shorty Rogers, Rosemary Clooney, Les Brown, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Jonah Jones, and The Kingston Trio, which he was interested in hearing. Anyway, we got together a couple of times and had an enjoyable time, and he played the Mercer LP for me, which I bought a copy of.

If anyone can help answer my questions, it would be greatly appreciated!

Last edited by Jim Determan (16/3/2025 4:50 pm)