He was a country boy from Savannah, Georgia, but he could write very sophisticated lyrics whenever the occasion arose. Over a thirty-five year period he worked in partnership with many of America's best composers, including Hoagy Carmichael, Harry Warren, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, Richard Whiting and Duke Ellington, and he was eminently capable of writing his own melodies. In addition to being the lyricist most able to capture the flavor of American informal speech, Johnny Mercer was also a singer, actor and record producer.