Mabel Mercer (3 February 1900 – 20 April 1984)^[1] was an English-borncabaret singer who performed in the United States, Britain, and Europe with the greats injazz and cabaret. She was a featured performer at Chez Bricktop inParis, owned by the hostessBricktop, and performed in such clubs as Le Ruban Bleu, Tony's, the RSVP, the Carlyle, the St. Regis Hotel, and eventually her own room, the Byline Club. Among those who frequently attended Mercer's shows wasFrank Sinatra, who made no secret of his emulating her phrasing and story-telling techniques.

Mabel Mercer
Background information
Born	(1900-02-03)3 February 1900 Burton upon Trent,Staffordshire, England
Died	20 April 1984(1984-04-20) (aged 84) Pittsfield,Massachusetts, US
Genres	Jazz,cabaret
Occupation	Singer
Labels	Liberty Music Shop
Website	mabelmercer.org

Mabel Mercer was born on 3 February 1900 inBurton upon Trent,Staffordshire, England.^[2] Her mother was a young, white English music hall performer, and her father was an itinerant black American musician,^[2] who died before she was born.^[3] At the age of 14, she left her convent school inManchester, and toured Britain and Europe with her aunt invaudeville andmusic hall engagements.^[3] Her precise vocal styling was believed to be the result of diction training while a student at the convent.^[4]

In 1928, she was an unknown member of the black chorus in the London production ofShow Boat,^[2] but she had become the toast of Paris by the 1930s, with admirers who includedErnest Hemingway,Gertrude Stein,F. Scott Fitzgerald, andCole Porter.^[5]

WhenWorld War II broke out, she traveled to America to sing in the finest supper clubs inNew York.^[5] Mercer's earliest recordings were selections fromPorgy and Bess,^[2] released in 1942 on the eliteLiberty Music Shops label, featuring piano accompaniment byCy Walter.

It was not until the following decade that she began recording more consistently. The years 1952 to 1954 saw the release of her first full-length albums,Songs by Mabel Mercer, volumes 1-3. By 1960, four more LPs had followed. In the late 1960s, she gave two concerts withBobby Short atTown Hall in New York City.^[1] Both were released byAtlantic Records:Mabel Mercer & Bobby Short at Town Hall, in 1968, (Atlantic SD 2-604) andMabel Mercer & Bobby Short Second Town Hall Concert, in 1969 (Atlantic SD 2-605).^[2] In 1969, she made two appearances on the television programMister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Her original and reissued albums are collectors' items. Atlantic Records reissued four of her early LPs in a boxed set in 1975, in honor of her 75th birthday. She was awardedStereo Review Magazine's first Award for Merit, for her lifetime achievement and for "outstanding contributions to the quality of American musical life." This award was officially renamed theMabel Mercer Award in 1984.

When Mercer returned on 4 July 1977 for her first performance in England in 41 years, theBBC filmed three evenings' performances and later broadcast them in a week-long late-night television program, a BBC first for an entertainer. It was titledMiss Mercer in Mayfair.^[5]

In 1978,Midnight at Mabel Mercer's, her 1956 album on Atlantic, was praised as "one of the best recordings of the past twenty years" (although it was more than 20 years old at the time) byStereo Review. That same year, Mercer played atSan Francisco's Club Mocambo to sold-out audiences, in celebration of her 78th birthday.

In 1982, Mercer teamed up with her friendEileen Farrell in concert as part of the Kool Jazz Festival.^[5]

In January 1981, she was honoured by theWhitney Museum of American Art in New York with "An American Cabaret," the only musical event of its kind at that point in the museum's history. Mercer was the first guest on Eileen Farrell's new program onNational Public Radio featuring great popular singers.

Mercer received thePresidential Medal of Freedom, the US's highest civilian medal, in 1983.^[1] When PresidentRonald Reagan presented it to her in a ceremony at theWhite 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'sBerklee College of Music, the other from theNew England Conservatory of Music.^[2]

Mercer died on 20 April 1984, aged 84, inPittsfield,Massachusetts,^[1] and is buried at Red Rock Cemetery nearChatham, New York.^[6]

In 1985, theMabel 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 producedNoël Coward's 100th birthday celebration atCarnegie Hall. It also has a Young Person's Series to introduce young people toThe Great American Songbook of popular classics.

• 1990: View Video VHS:Mabel Mercer: A Singer's Singer (reissued 2005 on DVD)^[7][8]
• 1991: View Video VHS:Mabel Mercer: An Evening with Mabel Mercer (a.k.a.Cabaret Artist "Now and Always") (as yet unissued on DVD)

• 1936:Tropical Trouble^[9]
• 1936:Everything Is Rhythm^[10]
• 1961:The Sand Castle^[11]

• 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 1964Mabel 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)

• Mercer, Mabel.Mabel Mercer Papers, 1932–1984. 1932.OCLC 122534577
• Mercer, Mabel.Mabel Mercer Collection, 1932–1980. 1932.OCLC 122486173

• Haskins, James.Mabel Mercer: A Life. New York: Atheneum, 1987.ISBN 978-0-689-11595-0OCLC 16833675
• Cheney, Margaret.Midnight at Mabel's: The Mabel Mercer Story: Centennial Biography of the Great Song Stylist. Washington, DC: New Voyage, 2000.ISBN 978-0-615-11345-6OCLC 44998437

• "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.

• The Mabel Mercer Foundation
• Mabel Mercer atIMDb