- Collection:
- Johnny Mercer Oral History Project
- Title:
- Billy May oral history interview
- Creator:
- May, Billy
- Contributor to Resource:
- Paton, Christopher Ann, 1956-
- Publisher:
- Georgia State University Library
- Date of Original:
- 1996-10-04
- Subject:
- Lyricists
Popular music
Composers
Sound recording executives and producers
Capitol Records, Inc. - People:
- Mercer, Johnny, 1909-1976
- Location:
- United States, 39.76, -98.5
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
- Type:
- Text
Sound - Format:
- application/pdf
audio/mpeg - Description:
- In this interview, May discusses his relationship to Mercer during the early days of Capitol Records, when May was employed frequently as an arranger/director for many of the major Capitol artists. May relates several anecdotes about Mercer during this period, and he talks about Mercer's assistance of other lyricists working in Hollywood. In the course of the discussion, he mentions "Hello Out There Hello" "I'll Remember You" "Mandy is Two" "G.I. Jive" and several other Mercer songs. May also discusses some technical aspects of sound recording, comparing the standards that Capitol maintained during the 1940s to other record companies and commenting upon the quality of modern technology in the production of CDs. He also talks about what it was like to do recording sessions during the 1940s. At the end of the interview, May suggests names of other contemporaries of Mercer who might be available to participate in the Johnny Mercer Oral History Project.
Billy May (born November 10, 1916) began his career as an arranger and trumpet player for Glenn Miller and other big bands in the late 1930s and early 1940s. After moving to California in 1943, May continued to work as an arranger. He was frequently employed by Capitol Records, where he wrote for and directed several major singers, including Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, and Nat King Cole. In addition to his work in radio, film, and television, May made several big band albums in the 1950s and 1960s, including a series titled Billy May and his Orchestra. - Local Identifier:
- M139_MayB
- Metadata URL:
- http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/merceroh/id/108
- IIIF manifest:
- https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/iiif/2/merceroh:108/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Copyright to items in this collection is owned by Georgia State University Library. Georgia State University Library has made this digital collection available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. Please see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ for more information.
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: M139_MayB, Johnny Mercer Oral History Project, Popular Music and Culture Collection, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.
- Extent:
- Audio: 00:40:44, Transcript: 28 pages
- Holding Institution:
- Georgia State University. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
