According to Barry Day, author of The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer, what made Mercer so great was the range of people with him he collaborated.

Mercer collaborated with 230 different people throughout his career. To make his point, Barry cites Sadie Vimmerstedt as one of Mercer’s collaborators. She gave him the line, “pick up the pieces when somebody breaks your heart,” from the song I Wanna Be Around. It was one line from a relatively obscure person, but Mercer made certain she was credited with collaborating on the song.

Johnny Mercer was a romantic with a dark side, according to Barry. There is the well-known romantic connection with Judy Garland, with whom Mercer had an unfulfilled love affair.

Mercer is the “most American writer.” He was a composer, lyricist and singer.

When directly asked, Barry offered these songs as his most memorable Mercer melodies: 1) I Remember You 2) Laura 3) Skylark 4) Too Marvelous For Words and 5) My Shinning Hour.

Listen to the entire interview below: