MABEL MERCER
Mabel Mercer (3 February 1900 – 20 April 1984)] was an English-born cabaret singer who performed in the United States, Britain, and Europe with the greats in jazz and cabaret. She was a featured performer at Chez Bricktop in Paris, owned by the hostess Bricktop, and performed in such clubs as Le Ruban Bleu, Tony's, the RSVP, the Carlyle, the St. Regis Hotel, and eventually her own room, the Byline Club. Among those who frequently attended Mercer's shows was Frank Sinatra, who made no secret of his emulating her phrasing and story-telling techniques.
Early life
Mercer was born on 3 February 1900 in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. Her mother was a young, white English music hall performer, and her father was a black American musician who died before she was born. At the age of 14, she left her convent school in Manchester, and toured Britain and Europe with her aunt in vaudeville and music hall engagements. Her precise vocal styling was believed to be the result of diction training while a student at the convent.
Career
In 1928, she was an unknown member of the black chorus in the London production of Show Boat, but she had become the toast of Paris by the 1930s, with admirers who included Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Cole Porter.
When World War II broke out, she traveled to America to sing in the finest supper clubs in New York City. Her recording career began in 1942, with an album of selections from Porgy and Bess on the elite Liberty Music Shops label, featuring piano accompaniment by Cy Walter. Over the following decades, Mercer made many concert appearances across the U.S. In the late 1960s, she gave two concerts with Bobby Short at Town Hall in New York City. Both were released by Atlantic Records: Mabel Mercer & Bobby Short at Town Hall, in 1968, (Atlantic SD 2-604) and Mabel Mercer & Bobby Short Second Town Hall Concert, in 1969 (Atlantic SD 2-605). In 1969, she made two appearances on the television program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
Her original and reissued albums are collector's items. Atlantic Records reissued four of her early LPs in a boxed set in 1975, in honor of her 75th birthday. She was awarded Stereo Review Magazine's first Award for Merit, for her lifetime achievement and for "outstanding contributions to the quality of American musical life." This award was officially renamed the Mabel Mercer Award in 1984.
Late career
When Mercer returned on 4 July 1977 for her first performance in England in 41 years, the BBC filmed three evenings' performances and later broadcast it in a week-long late-night television program, a BBC first for an entertainer.
In 1978, "Midnight at Mabel Mercer's," her 1956 album on Atlantic, was praised as "one of the best recordings of the past twenty years" (although it was more than 20 years old at the time) by Stereo Review. That same year, Mercer played at San Francisco's Club Mocambo to sold-out audiences, in celebration of her 78th birthday.
In 1982. Mercer teamed up with her dear friend Eileen Farrell in concert as part of the Kool Jazz Festival. Farrell often said it was the one unlicensed record she wished she had.
Honors
In January 1981, she was honored by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York with "An American Cabaret," the only musical event of its kind at that point in the museum's history. Mercer was the first guest on Eileen Farrell's new program featuring great popular singers, on National Public Radio.
Mercer received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian medal, in 1983.
When President Ronald Reagan presented it to her in a ceremony at the White House, he called her "a singer's singer" and "a living testament to the artfulness of the American song". She also received two honorary Doctor of Music degrees: one from Boston's Berklee College of Music, the other from the New England Conservatory of Music.
Death
Mabel Mercer died on 20 April 1984, aged 84, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and is buried at Red Rock Cemetery near Chatham (town), New York.
The Mabel Mercer Foundation
In 1985, the Mabel Mercer Foundation was established with the efforts of her long-time friend and professional associate Donald F. Smith. This not-for-profit arts organization was formed to keep Mercer's memory alive, and to contribute to the art of cabaret performing by supporting artists and providing information resources. Its international activities include the debut of the London Cabaret Convention in 2004. The Foundation produced Noël Coward's 100th birthday celebration at Carnegie Hall, and also has a Young Person's Series to introduce young people to The Great American Songbook of popular classics.
Filmography
Live concerts
1990: View Video VHS: Mabel Mercer: A Singer's Singer (reissued 2005 on DVD)
1991: View Video VHS: Mabel Mercer: An Evening with Mabel Mercer (a.k.a. Cabaret Artist "Now and Always") (as yet unissued on DVD)
As actress
1936: Tropical Trouble
1936: Everything Is Rhythm
1961: The Sand Castle
Discography
1942: Porgy and Bess (3x10" 78-rpm set with Cy Walter & Todd Duncan; three songs by Mabel)
c. 1945: You Better Go Now (unreleased private recording)
1953: Songs by Mabel Mercer, Vol. 1
1953: Songs by Mabel Mercer, Vol. 2
1953: Songs by Mabel Mercer, Vol. 3 (Written Especially For Her)
1955: Mabel Mercer Sings Cole Porter
1956: Midnight at Mabel Mercer's
1958: Once in a Blue Moon
1960: Merely Marvelous Mabel Mercer
1964: Mabel Mercer Sings
1965: The Art of Mabel Mercer (2x12" reissue of three 1953 10" Songs by Mabel Mercer LPs with one added track)
1968: At Town Hall (live recording, with Bobby Short)
1969: Second Town Hall Concert (live recording, with Bobby Short)
1974: For Always (reissue of 1964 Mabel Mercer Sings)
1975: A Salute to Mabel Mercer on her 75th Birthday (4x12" reissue of four 1955–60 LPs in commemorative box)
1980: Echoes of My Life (her final studio recordings)
2002: Previously Unreleased Live Performances (Legendary Performers)
The sad and untimely death of Mark Burris, who lived
3 miles East of Gainesboro, occurred Sunday, July
20th, 1919, between 8 and 9 o'clock in the evening at
the bridge that spans Roaring River. If Mark had lived
until September 16th, he would have been twenty
years old. The community in which he lived certainly
sustained a great loss, since he was an ideal Christian
boy, ever ready and willing to do his share to make
the Sunday-school at Woodrow a success. He attended
all the church services, assisted in the choir, and was
a shining star in the great Christian activies of his
home community.
He accepted Christ as his Savior, and came out boldly
on the Lord's side at a meeting conducted by Rev. O.P.
Gentry at Woodrow more than a year ago. The bright
and happy expression that shown from his face that
night, was evidence that God's sunshine had swept
over him and spoken peace to a troubled soul, and
that sunshine he wore until that tragedy, which usher-
ed him out of a world of sorrow into a Heaven of rest.
He never had his name attached to any church register,
save the Lamb's Book of Life, but lived a life worthy
of membership into any earthly organization.
He was a shining light to the lovely Christian home
from which he was taken, perhaps the favorite son of
that home. He was idolized by the entire family, and
especially by the splendid Christian sisters that
always looked to Mark to carry them around and be
their protection. He was ever thoughtful of their wel-
fare and happiness, and would sacrifice his own de-
sires that they might be happy. As a son, he was obed-
ient in all things, and always performing his duties
about the home and farm in a cheerful, pleasant man-
ner. He early learned that the best way to show his
love and respect for his parents was to do their bid-
ding. This he adhered to throughout his life, being
one of the strongest traits of his noble character.
He was as a brother to the many young people of his
community, who respected him highly, and looked up
to him as their leader in social circles. They, too, feel
that a "Prince of Israel has fallen."
We mourn, not as those who have no hope, but look
forward to that happy reunion where there will be no
more good byes, no tears, nor heartaches and sorrows,
but where the former things have past away and all
things have become new. There God shall wipe all the
tears from our eyes.
He is gone but not forgotten,
Never will his memory fade.
Sweet thoughts will ever linger,
Around the grave where he is laid.