- Collection:
- Johnny Mercer Oral History Project
- Title:
- Michael H. Goldsen oral history interview
- Creator:
- Goldsen, Michael H., 1912-2011
- Contributor to Resource:
- Paton, Christopher Ann, 1956-
- Publisher:
- Georgia State University Library
- Date of Original:
- 1998-01-20
- 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:
- At the beginning of the interview, Mr. Goldsen speaks of the first period of his acquaintance with Johnny Mercer during the early years of Capitol Records, when Goldsen was hired by Capitol to form the company's music publishing business. Goldsen talks about the first hits of Capitol Songs, particularly "G.I. Jive" and "Dream." Goldsen turns briefly to his personal and social relationship with Johnny Mercer during the 1940s, discussing a Palm Springs weekend in 1943 or 1944 and a visit to Mercer at Broadbeach about a year later, before speaking of his transition from Capitol Records to his own business in 1950. At this point Goldsen relates an anecdote about Mercer's work on the lyrics to "Autumn Leaves" and he briefly talks about the writing of "When the World Was Young" which leads to a discussion of Mercer's habit of writing both male and female versions of lyrics. More anecdotes about specific songs follow, including "Song of India" and "Save the Bones for Henry Jones."
Michael H. Goldsen (aka Steve Graham, Vernon Lee), who was born in New York City on September 5, 1912, had a long career in the music publishing business. He began his working life in New York, at Song Lyrics Magazine (1934-37), at Irving Mills (1937-39), and as the general manager of Leeds Music (1939-43). At the invitation of Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva, and Glenn Wallichs, in 1943 Goldsen became the publisher of Capitol Songs, the music publishing arm of Capitol Records. In 1950 Criterion Music Corporation was formed, with Goldsen as chief executive officer of the company. Also a noted lyricist and composer, Goldsen wrote the music for "Silhouette Hula" and the lyrics for "Save the Bones for Henry Jones" "Off Shore" and "I Got Hooked at a Hukilau." - Local Identifier:
- M155_GoldsenM
- Metadata URL:
- http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/merceroh/id/91
- IIIF manifest:
- https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/iiif/2/merceroh:91/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: M155_GoldsenM, Johnny Mercer Oral History Project, Popular Music and Culture Collection, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.
- Extent:
- Audio: 01:04:54, Transcript: 36 pages
- Holding Institution:
- Georgia State University. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
