- Collection:
- Johnny Mercer Collections
- Title:
- Alan Livingston oral history interview, 1996-10-03
- Creator:
- Livingston, Alan W., 1917-2009
- Contributor to Resource:
- Paton, Christopher Ann, 1956-
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia State University Library
- Date of Original:
- 1996-10-03
- Subject:
- Lyricists
Lyric writing (Popular music)
Capitol Records, Inc. - People:
- Livingston, Alan W., 1917-2009
Mercer, Johnny, 1909-1976 - Location:
- United States, 39.76, -98.5
- Medium:
- oral histories (document genres)
- Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Alan Wendell Livingston was born 15 October 1917 in McDonald, Pennsylvania. After completing a bachelor's degree in economics at the Wharton School, he moved to California, where he began his career as a writer and producer at Capitol Records (1946-1950). In 1950 he was promoted to vice-president in charge of Artists and Repertoire, a position he held until moving to NBC in 1955. He stayed at NBC as vice-president of TV programming for the next five years. In 1960 he returned to Capitol Records as president and chairman of the Board, remaining in that position until 1968. Livingston went on to become president and chairman of other major arts and film organizations, including Mediarts Inc. (1968-1976) and 20th Century Fox-Film Corporation (1976-1980). He produced and wrote several children's records during his career, notably "Woody Woodpecker's Picnic" and "Yosemite Sam." He was the creator of Bozo the Clown.
In this interview, Livingston talks about his early days at Capitol Records when he first became acquainted with Johnny Mercer. He speaks of the business operations at Capitol in the late 1940s and Mercer's gift for finding good artists to record for the label. Livingston discusses Mercer's character and personality, his attitude toward business, his working methods during recording sessions, and his social life. Livingston then moves on to talk about the advent of rock and its influence on Mercer and the music business. Before the discussion turns to Mercer's wife Ginger and the Mercers' relationship, Livingston and Paton touch briefly on the Johnny Mercer Foundation and the re-release of some of Mercer's recordings on CD. At the conclusion of the conversation, Livingston returns to the subject of Mercer's personality and their friendship, Mercer's relationships with others, and his social life. He also mentions again Mercer's extraordinary talent for finding good singers and musicians to record for Capitol Records. - Metadata URL:
- http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/music/id/1955
- 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):
- M138_LivingstonA, Johnny Mercer Oral History Project, Popular Music and Culture Collection, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.
- Extent:
- 38:27
- Original Collection:
- Popular Music and Culture Collection
Johnny Mercer Papers - Holding Institution:
- Georgia State University. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
