Portrait of Johnny : The Life of John Herndon Mercer

Rating:
Summary: A LAZY Portrait of Johnny
Review: I just bought and began reading "Portrait of Johnny" by Gene Lees, and I am furious.

What a lazy book.

Page seven: "Whether Lerner set the words to Loewe's music or Loewe set the music to Lerner's words I don't know." HOW HARD CAN THAT BE TO FIND OUT?

Page eleven: "And to this day I do not know if Johnny Mercer knew that Patton was his distant cousin." WELL, DID HE EVER MENTION IT TO HIS DAUGHTER OR ANYONE ELSE YOU INTERVIEWED?

Page fourteen: "...Mercer grew up...at the intersection of Lincoln and Gwuinnett Streets. Street names in Savannah predate the Civil War: the Lincoln in question is not Abraham, and Button Gwuinnett was Georgia's delegate to the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence." AND FOR WHOM IS LINCOLN STREET NAMED?

I read a positive review of this book and was looking forward to reading it. I am ready to throw it out the window, and I want my money back.

Kathy Moore

Rating:
Summary: More of the same old, same old.
Review: This is a typical Gene Lees book in which his opinions and his outlandish takes on the jazz people he adores comes through, rather than reporting the facts and telling the reader something new and revealing. I knew Johnny's wife Ginger, and was a confidante of hers for years. She was a lovely woman who adored Johnny, yet was insecure about whether the feeling was reciprocal. For Lees to call their long marraige 'loveless' is an insult to the Mercer's life together and to their children. Yes, Johnny strayed, he was confused about his sexuality (which is not explored in depth because Gene Lees didn't want to open a Pandora's box about his idol), and he always felt there was a black man living inside of him (his impetus for writing Southern jazz. Gene Lees writes as if he personally knows his subjects, but nothing knew is ever tackled, and it becomes the same old, same old story about the author's feelings instead of the research and reporting that is the cornerstone of any good bio. This book was a waste of time and money. There are other books about Johnny Mercer that will inform you, and entertain you. This one definitely does not.