It's Not for Me to Say

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"It's Not for Me to Say"
US 78 its not for me to say mathis.jpg
Single by Johnny Mathis and Ray Conniff and his Orchestra
from the album Johnny's Greatest Hits
B-side "Warm and Tender"
ReleasedFebruary 25, 1957
Recorded1956
Studio Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City
Length3:01
Label Columbia
Songwriter(s) Robert Allen, Al Stillman
Producer(s) Ray Conniff
Johnny Mathis singles chronology
"Wonderful! Wonderful!"
(1956)
"It's Not for Me to Say"
(1957)
"Chances Are"
(1957)

"It's Not for Me to Say" is a 1957 popular song with music by Robert Allen and lyrics by Al Stillman. [1] It was written for the 1957 movie Lizzie (starring Eleanor Parker), and was sung by Johnny Mathis [2] in the film. [3]

Mathis' recording of the song, arranged by Ray Conniff, was the most successful version, reaching number 5 on the Billboard Top 100 singles chart. [4]

In Canada, the song was number two for seven weeks (June 24 - August 5), kept out of number one for six of those weeks by Elvis Presley's (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear. [5]

Other film appearances

Related Research Articles

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Lizzie is a 1957 American film noir drama film directed by Hugo Haas. The film is based on the 1954 novel The Bird's Nest by Shirley Jackson and stars Eleanor Parker, Richard Boone and Joan Blondell. The popular songs "It's Not for Me to Say" and "Warm and Tender" were written for this film, and performed by Johnny Mathis, who played a piano player/singer in the film.. The film was produced by MGM Studios.

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Johnny's Greatest Hits is a compilation album by vocalist Johnny Mathis that was released by Columbia Records on March 17, 1958, and has been described as the "original greatest-hits package". The LP collected all but one of the songs from the first six singles he recorded, including eight A- and B-sides that made the singles charts in The Billboard as well as three B-sides that did not chart and one new track that was co-written by Mathis but not released as a single.

<i>The Great Years</i> 1964 greatest hits album by Johnny Mathis

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<i>Johnny Mathis All-Time Greatest Hits</i> 1972 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

Johnny Mathis' All-Time Greatest Hits is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the spring of 1972 by Columbia Records and, despite its title, overlooks a good number of his Top 40 hits in favor of his singles that did not make the Billboard Hot 100 and album tracks that were not released as singles.

<i>The First 25 Years – The Silver Anniversary Album</i> 1981 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

The First 25 Years – The Silver Anniversary Album is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 1981 by Columbia Records. The back cover of the album notes that there are four new tracks. A cover of the Commodores hit "Three Times a Lady" had been released on the UK version of his 1980 album Different Kinda Different, which was retitled All for You, but the Mathis rendition of the song makes its US debut here.

<i>Live</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1984 live album by Johnny Mathis

Live is a live album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in October 15, 1984, by Columbia Records and includes performances of some of his classics, songs from recent albums, and three selections that have never appeared on a Mathis studio album.

<i>Live by Request: Johnny Mathis</i>

Live by Request: Johnny Mathis is a live television concert by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that aired on May 28, 1998, on the A&E Network as part of its Live by Request series. According to the television industry magazine Broadcasting & Cable, the network "recorded its best ratings ever--a 2.3 rating/1.6 million homes according to Nielsen Media Research"—for the broadcast.

<i>Johnny Mathis: Wonderful, Wonderful!</i> 2007 television programme

Johnny Mathis: Wonderful, Wonderful! is a television concert by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was recorded on October 27, 2006, at the Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City and aired that December on most PBS stations. In addition to singing some of his biggest hits, he covers tracks from his live albums, songs from Brazil, and two exclusives that have never appeared on a Mathis album. Interview clips with Mathis were inserted at intervals throughout the concert along with live performance excerpts from programs such as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Andy Williams Show.

<i>The Singles</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 2015 box set by Johnny Mathis

The Singles is a four-disc box set by the American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 2015 by Columbia Records to commemorate the singer's 80th birthday. In his review of the collection Joe Marchese explains that it "doesn't bring together every track released by the legendary artist on 45 RPM; such an endeavor would take far more than four discs. Instead, it features the tracks originally released by Mathis on Columbia in the singles format – in other words, non-LP sides – between the years of 1956 and 1981, in their original single mixes." His description of the compilation echoes that of the compilation's producer Didier C. Deutsch in the liner notes as explanation for the exclusion of the hit singles "Misty" from Heavenly (1959) and his "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" duet with Deniece Williams from You Light Up My Life (1978). Deutsch excuses these as "songs extracted from specific albums to call attention to these albums." The set does, however, include "Ten Times Forever More" and "I Was There" from his 1971 LP, Love Story, and a shorter version of "If We Only Have Love" than the one that was included on his other 1971 album, You've Got a Friend.

References

  1. "Original versions of It's Not for Me to Say written by Robert Allen, Al Stillman". Secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  2. Johnny Mathis interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
  3. "Johnny Mathis - It's Not For Me to Say (Lizzie, 1957)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  4. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (8th ed.). New York: Billboard Books. p. 405. ISBN   0-8230-7499-4.
  5. "CHUM Hit Parade - June 24, 1957".
  6. "Tin Men (1987) - IMDb". IMDb.com. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  7. "Everybody's All-American (1988) Soundtrack". Ringostrack.com. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  8. "Every Song in the Goodfellas Soundtrack". Screenrant.com. 8 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  9. "Zodiac Soundtrack - Listen to all 20 songs with scene descriptions". Soundtrackradar.com. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  10. "All 15 songs from the A Case Of You (2013) Soundtrack". What-song.com. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  11. "Every Secret Thing (2014) - IMDb". IMDb.com. Retrieved 27 April 2021.