{{Short description|American musician, arranger, and record producer}} {{Redirect|Bob Mersey|text="Bob Mersey" was also one of the pseudonyms of Finnish singer Irwin Goodman}} '''Robert David Mirsky''' (April 7, 1917 – December 14, 1994), known as '''Robert Mersey''',<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10002/us-social-security-death-index-ssdi?itemId=7433681&action=showRecord |title=Robert D Mirsky - U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI) - MyHeritage |access-date=2016-04-17 |archive-date=2016-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425235734/https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10002/us-social-security-death-index-ssdi?itemId=7433681&action=showRecord |url-status=dead }}</ref> was an American musician, arranger, and record producer.
==Life and career== In the 1950s, Mersey worked as an arranger with Leiber and Stoller.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P9WKBHCxRocC&dq=%22robert+mersey%22&pg=PT59|title=Phil Spector: Wall Of Pain|first=Dave|last=Thompson|date=4 March 2010|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=9780857122162|access-date=8 October 2021|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKaQgGo9USYC&dq=%22robert+mersey%22&pg=PA75|title=He's a Rebel: Phil Spector--Rock and Roll's Legendary Producer|first=Mark|last=Ribowsky|page=75|date=2 May 2000|publisher=Cooper Square Press|isbn=9781461661030|access-date=8 October 2021|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1959, he recorded "Tracy's Theme", an instrumental written by Robert Ascher which was used in a new NBC production of ''The Philadelphia Story''. The production company thought the tune had hit potential, so they worked out a deal with Columbia Records to issue it as a single. However, Mersey was under contract with the new Big Top label as its musical director and had already released a single, "Bittersweet September," on the label. Devon Music, the publishing firm of Talent Associates owned by David Susskind and Howie Richmond at the time, created a fictitious artist named Spencer Ross, and retained ownership of the pseudonym for potential future use. Mersey's recording, under the pseudonym "'''Spencer Ross'''", peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. After "Tracy's Theme" became a hit, Mersey received permission to use the name Spencer Ross on his next Big Top single, "Theme of a Lonely Evening", but after that, the rights to the Ross name reverted to Devon Music.<ref name=bigtop>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/Archive-Billboard-IDX/IDX/60s/1960/Billboard%201960-03-28-OCR-Page-0017.pdf | title=Bob Mersey to Big Top|magazine=Billboard|date=March 28, 1960|page=17|access-date=28 July 2015}}{{dead link|date=May 2026|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
Mersey married English lyricist Pam Sawyer in May 1956; they later divorced.<ref name=betts>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RG_LAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22pam+sawyer%22+writer+motown&pg=PT543|title=Motown Encyclopedia|first=Graham|last=Betts|date=2 June 2014|publisher=AC Publishing|isbn=9781311441546|access-date=8 October 2021|via=Google Books}}</ref> From the early 1960s he was employed as an arranger and producer at Columbia Records, where he was responsible for records by singers such as Andy Williams, Barbra Streisand, Bobby Vinton, Dion, Johnny Mathis, Julie Andrews, Mel Tormé, Patti Page and Ray Peterson.<ref>[http://www.45cat.com/45_arranger.php?ta=Robert+Mersey Robert Mersey at 45cat.com]. Retrieved 19 February 2014</ref><ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/robert-mersey-mn0000282911/credits Credits at Allmusic.com]. Retrieved 19 February 2014</ref><ref name=space/> In 1960, he conducted the orchestra in the song "Good Timin'", sung by Jimmy Jones. The song also later became a hit for Kyu Sakamoto. He was also responsible for many of Aretha Franklin's early recordings at Columbia, including her 1964 tribute album to Dinah Washington, ''Unforgettable''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y5uyLgEfk34C&dq=%22robert+mersey%22&pg=PT90|title=Higher Ground: Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, and the Rise and Fall of American Soul|first=Craig|last=Werner|date=18 December 2007|publisher=Crown|isbn=9780307420879|access-date=8 October 2021|via=Google Books}}</ref> According to writer Ursula Rivera, Mersey "was able to provide musical arrangements that highlighted Aretha's unique voice whether she was singing a noisy blues number or a heartbreaking ballad."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eBUjNNuVNmwC&dq=%22bob+mersey%22&pg=PT40|title=Aretha Franklin|first=Ursula|last=Rivera|date=15 December 2002|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc|isbn=9780823936397|access-date=8 October 2021|via=Google Books}}</ref> Mersey also arranged and composed for CBS Television and films, and produced several albums of incidental music, including ''Great Jazz from Great TV'', credited to "Det Moor".<ref name=space>[http://www.spaceagepop.com/mersey.htm Bob Mersey at SpaceAgePop.com]. Retrieved 19 February 2014</ref>
He died in Baltimore, Maryland, at the age of 77.
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mersey, Robert}} Category:1917 births Category:1994 deaths Category:American music industry executives Category:American music arrangers Category:Columbia Records Category:20th-century American musicians Category:20th-century American businesspeople