![]() In a strange twist of fate, when Ginger died in 1994, the program for the memorial service showed her picture with the caption “I Remember You.” I always had such a crush on Garland I couldn’t think straight, so I wrote this song.”Ī posthumous publication of Mercer’s lyrics, assembled by widow Ginger Mercer and friend Bob Bach, omitted “I Remember You.” When Mercer passed away in 1976 someone suggested to Ginger that some of the lyrics to “I Remember You” would be a fitting epitaph, and she exploded in a rage. Both writers’ biographies detail the liason and the fact that many of Mercer’s lyrics were clearly inspired by Garland, including “ Skylark,” “ That Old Black Magic,” and “I Remember You.” A quote in Furia’s book, relating a conversation Mercer had with a hometown Savannah, Georgia, friend, details Mercer’s inspiration: “I wrote it for Judy Garland. Mercer had been infatuated with actress/vocalist Judy Garland for years, and the two had an off-again, on-again relationship, despite the fact that Mercer was married, as was Garland at times. Gene Lee’s biography, Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer, includes Mercer’s comments about writing “I Remember You:” “I wrote it very fast, ten minutes, half an hour at most.” But Philip Furia’s bio, Skylark: The Life and Times of Johnny Mercer, reveals the real inspiration for Mercer’s lyric. The two wrote “I Remember You,” ”Tangerine,” and “Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurray,” all three of which would be big hits for Jimmy Dorsey’s band. He teamed with superb lyricist Johnny Mercer for the music for The Fleet’s In, which would be Schertzinger’s last picture. Harry James and His Orchestra (1942, Helen Forrest, vocal, #24)Ĭhart information used by permission from Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954ĭirector Schertzinger was a multi-talented man, both a master of music and the film arts.Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra (1942, Bob Eberly, vocal, #9).Dorsey’s recording, with a vocal by Eberly, made it into the charts. This collaboration of Victor Schertzinger and Johnny Mercer was introduced in the 1942 motion picture The Fleet’s In, starring Dorothy Lamour, William Holden, and Jimmy Dorsey’s Orchestra with vocalists Helen O’Connell and Bob Eberly. I always had such a crush on Garland I couldn’t think straight, so I wrote this song.”
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