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Press Room New York, NY, 2006 - Before Jessica and Nick, before the days of Reality TV, there was Judy and John. Heartbreaker (Kensington) a memoir by songwriter John Meyer, recounts the story of Judy Garland's penultimate love affair just seven months before her life was cut short by her drug habit at age 47. If you're wondering what life with a true diva is like, John Meyer gives us a magnifying-mirror close-up. Instantly smitten by her exuberance and energy, John found himself involved in Judy's whirlwind life — a potent mix of humor, drug procurement and her own personal brand of kleptomania. Judy's fallen position in the entertainment industry resulted in desperate measures. With literally a five-dollar-bill in her purse, Judy accepted a fee of a hundred dollars to appear in a club run by one of her friends — an appearance John arranged. In rehearsing for this booking, the pair turned on the tape recorder, and their rehearsal — now transferred to CD accompanies the book. A unique aural document, it features a tantalizing look into the great entertainer's working method, as -relaxed and telling funny stories- she runs through her repertoire and learns John's song in one hearing. This CD opens a fascinating window into Judy's persona, and it has been kept under wraps for thirty-eight years — it's never been heard before! This kind of book-and-CD package would not have been available even four or five years ago. "Judy's spirit, voice, and sense of humor was intact to the very end," Meyer explains. "Everyone had given up on her — they said she was 'washed up' but the Judy I met was still the brilliantly talented girl who sang Over the Rainbow and captured America's heart. I made it my mission to revitalize her and put her back up there. But it didn't work out that way." Heartbreaker, packaged with its CD, will be released in May, 2006, available at bookstores, national retail outlets and on the Web.
NEWSMAKERS The congenial and energetic John Meyer recently visited our Wabash store to auto-graph copies of his current book, Heartbreaker and to chat about his present activities with Doris Laufer and me. Heartbreaker is the poignant, intimate day- by-day account of John Meyer's brief relationship with Judy Garland and their life in the fast lane during her last months. The story begins in October 1968 when Meyer and Judy initiated their romance and concludes shortly after her marriage to Mickey Deans. Meyer, then an un- known songwriter working as a pianist/ singer in a New York bar, tells of his ex- periences dealing with Judy's debts, drug addiction, alcoholism, attempted suicides, and life on the all-night party circuit. Through this whirlwind of activity and tragedy, Meyer was determined to rescue "The Legend" from unhappiness and help her to achieve stage success once again. However, Judy's equal determination to test his loyalty beyond endurance and to continue her head-long rush to self- destruction prevailed. John Meyer is now a recognized song- writer who still performs at parties and cabarets in New York. His song, I'd Like to Hate Myself in the Morning was introduced by Judy and later recorded by Shirley Bassey. After the Holidays, introduced by Judy, has been recorded by Margaret Whiting. In addi tion to his songwriting, Mr. Meyer informed us he has just finished writing a screenplay for a movie entitled Not For Publication. This movie, to be directed by Paul Bartel, will contain two musical numbers composed by Mr. Meyer. |
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