“Come Rain Or Come Shine” – By Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer.

This song was first introduced by Ruby Hill in the musical St. Louis Woman in 1946. Unfortunately the show closed after only 113 performances, under the heat of much controversy. MGM wanted to back the show, and although Arlen had a huge success with lyricist Yip Harburg with The Wizard of Oz, MGM wanted to bring in their man, Johnny Mercer to write the lyrics, and leading lady Lena Horne. But the NAACP denounced the show and the acting roles as “detracting from the dignity of our race,” and Lena Horne backed out of the production. The show went up under a cloud and with Ruby Hill as the lead.

Johnny Mercer said “the song says ‘I love you’ the way a guy in a saloon would say it.”
When the two writers got together, Harold Arlen started to play the tune and Mercer sang “I’m gonna love you like nobody’s loved you…” and paused. Arlen added: “come hell or high water.” They both laughed, the Mercer said “why didn’t I think of that? – ‘come rain or come shine!’”

Harold Arlen was born in 1905 and in his 81 years of life he wrote over 400 songs. He was born Hyman Arluck, and his twin died the day after they were born. From 1926 to 1934 he was an accomplished vocalist with The Buffalodians, a jazz group which also included Red Nichols, Joe Venuti and Eddie Duchin. His first big hit was “Get Happy” in 1929. Later in the 30’s he wrote songs for the Cotton Club, developing his style mixing a bluesy feeling with a pop flair. Later in the 30’s he teamed with Yip Harburg in Hollywood, writing for the Wizard of Oz. For this they created their biggest song, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Arlen was a longtime friend and roommate of Ray Bolger’s, the “The Tin Man.” In the early 40’s Harold partnered with Johnny Mercer to create many masterpieces including “Blues In The Night,” “Ac-Cent-Tu-Ate The Positive,” “That Old Black Magic,” and of course “Come Rain or Come Shine.”
He also teamed with Ted Koehler on “Stormy Weather;” and Ira Gershwin for the production of A Star Is Born starring Judy Garland.

Johnny Mercer was born in 1909 in Savannah GA, and grew up in the Mercer House, the scene of the book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” As a teen, he was taken by the blues of Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. He learned to dance from Arthur Murray himself. Mercer moved to New York in 1928, and his first song was recorded by Joe Venuti. Johnny won a contest in 1932 to sing with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. He later apprenticed with Yip Harburg on the depression era musical Americana, including the song “Brother Can You Spare a Dime”. He later met Hoagy Charmichael and together they spent a year finishing “Lazy Bones,” which became a huge hit within a week of its first being broadcast. He moved to Hollywood in ’35, had a hit with “I’m an Old Cowhand,” writing the music and lyrics. Mercer wrote the lyrics for many songs including  “Too Marvelous For Words,” “Jeepers Creepers,” “You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby,” “Day In Day Out,” “Fools Rush In,” “I Remember You,” “One For My Baby,” “Skylark,” “In The Cool, Cool of the Evening,” “Autumn Leaves,” “Laura,” “Moon River,” “The Days of Wine and Roses,” “The Summer Wind,” and “Satin Doll.”
In 1975, Paul McCartney proposed a collaboration with Mercer, but Johnny was ill with a brain tumor and died before they could ever get together.