Mabel Mercer

Mabel Mercer (3 February 1900 – 20 April 1984) Her mother was a young, white English music hall performer, and her father was an itinerant black American musician, 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,

When World War II broke out, she traveled to America to sing in the finest supper clubs in New York. 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.

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. It 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 Tribute to Mabel Mercer on the Occasion of 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)

Works or publications Archival materials Mercer, Mabel. Mabel Mercer Papers, 1932–1984. 1932. Mercer, Mabel. Mabel Mercer Collection, 1932–1980. 1932.

Monographs Haskins, James. Mabel Mercer: A Life. New York: Atheneum, 1987. Cheney, Margaret. Midnight at Mabel's: The Mabel Mercer Story: Centennial Biography of the Great Song Stylist. Washington, DC: New Voyage, 2000.

Other "Mercer, Mabel." Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 4th ed. Ed. Colin Larkin. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. 2006. Spiller, David. Mabel Mercer, cabaret singer: a fictional biography. 2013, 229pp. Available from Amazon Kindle. Bourne, Stephen. Black Poppies: Britain's Black Community and the Great War. The History Press, 2019.