ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE ~ Johnny Mercer & The Pied Pipers (1945)

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE ~ Johnny Mercer & The Pied Pipers (1945) (live recording). Words by: Johnny Mercer - Music by: Harold Arlen - copyright: 1944 Though Johnny Mercer & The Pied Pipers did a studio version of this song in 1945 on the Capitol Records label, located in Hollywood, this is a live version recorded sometime in the same year. Johnny Mercer wrote ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE, as well as, several other songs, many of which, became hits of the day. He was an excellent singer , with a vocal style similar to that of Woody Herman or Tex Beneke. The term "Accentuate-The-Positive" had long been a term used in sermons by Baptist preachers, and possibly other ministers of other Christian sects, for many years prior to Mercer's song being recorded. It is long believed that Johnny Mercer either heard the term used while attending church one morning or heard it listening to a sermon on the radio, liked it, and thus, built a song around it.