Jim Ralph offers an overview of the intertwining careers of Hoagy Carmaichael and Johnny Mercer from their first work together in New York (which resulted in the standard "Lazy Bones") and onto Hollywood, where they had both relocated by the mid-1930s. Lifelong friends, the master composer and extraordinarily facile lyricist who largely worked apart throughout their careers, crossed paths on a number of occasions with a clutch of excellent songs, beginning with "Skylark" and ending with "In The Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening".