Johnny | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 15, 1963 [1] | |||
Recorded | January 3, 1963 January 7–8, 1963 [2] | |||
Studio | CBS 30th Street Studio New York, NY [1] | |||
Genre | Vocal [3] | |||
Length | 39:12 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Ernie Altschuler [4] | |||
Johnny Mathis chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | link |
Billboard | positive [5] |
Johnny is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on July 15, 1963, [1] by Columbia Records and later described on Allmusic as "a nice blend of standards, show tunes and then-new compositions." [3]
The LP debuted on Billboard magazine's album chart in the issue dated August 24, 1963, and remained there for 27 weeks, during which time it got as high as number 20. [6] One song from the album, "No Man Can Stand Alone", had been released on May 7 of that year as the B-side of "Every Step of the Way". [2]
This album was "remixed and mastered from the original session tapes in 20-bit Super Bit Mapping" [1] for its first release on compact disc on May 7, 1996. [7]
Cub Koda of Allmusic described this Mathis outing as "one of his best… with Costa's arrangements fitting like a glove around Mathis's pipes." [3] He also mentions some standout performances. "Everything on here works just fine, but pay special attention to 'The Most Beautiful Girl in the World', 'I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me', Cole Porter's 'I Love You', and Duke Ellington's 'Jump for Joy'." [3] The reviewer concludes, "No big hits on here, maybe, but a more solid track-by-track Johnny Mathis album you'd be hard pressed to find." [3]
Upon its release, the review in Billboard was more focused upon his switch from Columbia to Mercury Records. "Mathis has departed the label, but his memory (in terms of sales and dollars and cents) is likely to linger on with this latest grouping, done up to Don Costa's slick arrangements." [5]
From the liner notes for The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection : [2]
That's What Friends Are For is an album by American singers Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams that was released in July 1978 by Columbia Records. The project was a continuation of the pairing of the artists that began on his previous LP, You Light Up My Life, which included "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late", the duet that was on its way to number one on three different charts in Billboard magazine as the recording sessions for this album got underway.
Johnny Mathis is the first studio album by vocalist Johnny Mathis that was released by Columbia Records in 1956. The subtitle A New Sound in Popular Song can be found on the back cover but not on the front of the album or the disc label; in fact, this Mathis LP has been referred to as "the jazz album".
Good Night, Dear Lord is the fourth album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Columbia Records on March 3, 1958, and is the first of many projects undertaken over the course of his career that have a specific focus, which here happens to be religion. Several musical styles are covered, including spirituals, classical works, songs from the Jewish tradition, and 20th-century offerings.
Open Fire, Two Guitars is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on January 5, 1959, by Columbia Records on which he opts for guitar and bass accompaniment instead of performing alongside an orchestra. Two new songs are mixed in with covers of popular standards.
Faithfully is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on December 21, 1959, by Columbia Records and continues his trend toward covering ballads alongside an orchestra. While his previous LPs usually offered one or two songs that had not been previously recorded, that number on this project leaped to five, and although the other seven selections were established by other artists, even some of those were lesser-known, such as Jeri Southern's number 30 pop hit "You Better Go Now" and the title song from the 1953 film The Blue Gardenia.
Rapture is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 17, 1962, by Columbia Records and returned him to singing a full line-up of the sort of ballads that he was known for.
Romantically is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on November 18, 1963, by Columbia Records and was also the final original studio album recorded by Mathis for the label prior to his moving to Mercury Records. Mathis had recorded exclusively for Columbia from 1956 to 1963. After a brief stint with Mercury, he returned to Columbia in 1967. His first Mercury project, Sounds of Christmas, was actually released six weeks before this one, on October 4.
The Great Years is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Columbia Records in July 1964. Billboard magazine described the two-LP set, which included chart hits and album tracks, as "the best of Mathis".
Tender Is the Night is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Mercury Records on January 23, 1964 and included selections from stage and screen as well as two new songs from "Fly Me to the Moon" composer Bart Howard.
Johnny Mathis Sings is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Mercury Records on March 10, 1967 and was the last of his 11 studio projects for the label. Eight of the twelve tracks were recorded since the completion of his previous LP, So Nice, while four of the tracks were leftovers from the recording sessions for previous Mercury albums. The finished product included a number from Broadway's The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd, a cover of the Beatles hit "Eleanor Rigby", two offerings from songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and three cuts that originated in film scores but had lyrics added later: the melody for "Strangers in the Night" was written for A Man Could Get Killed; "Somewhere My Love" began as "Lara's Theme" from Doctor Zhivago; and "Lovers in New York" started out as the instrumental title track from Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Those Were the Days is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on November 6, 1968, by Columbia Records. It followed the formula of including covers of recent hit songs, the oldest, in this case, being "The End of the World", which hadn't been on the charts since 1963. Two of the 10 tracks, however, had not been released as singles by other artists: "Every Time I Dream of You", which had appeared as an instrumental on Bert Kaempfert's 1967 album Love That Bert Kaempfert, and "You Make Me Think About You", which was first heard in the 1968 film With Six You Get Eggroll.
The Impossible Dream is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the summer of 1969 by Columbia Records at the same time as another Mathis compilation, People. Both releases include ten tracks from albums that he recorded during his time with Mercury Records between 1963 and 1967.
Love Theme from "Romeo and Juliet" is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on July 30, 1969, by Columbia Records. Of its 11 tracks, eight had been hits for other performers earlier that year, and one of the remaining three, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", would become a huge success for Dionne Warwick several months later.
Close To You is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 19, 1970, by Columbia Records and mostly included his recordings of hits that other artists had that year. The exceptions were the new movie theme "Pieces of Dreams" and the 1967 songs "Wave" by Antônio Carlos Jobim and "Yellow Days", which was an Easy Listening hit for former Mathis collaborator Percy Faith. In the UK the album was retitled after a different song Mathis covered on it, "The Long and Winding Road".
Love Story is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on February 10, 1971, by Columbia Records and included a recent Oscar nominee, a flashback to 1967 ("Traces"), a new song by Bacharach & David, a lesser-known one by Goffin & King, and two songs that originated in film scores from 1970 and had lyrics added later: the album closer, "Loss of Love", from Sunflower and the album opener from Love Story, which was subtitled "Where Do I Begin". The norm for Mathis projects from this era was to cover recent hits, and the title track of this one was so recent that the version by Andy Williams began a 13-week run to number nine on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in February 1971, coinciding with the release of this LP.
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 15, 1977, by Columbia Records and found him firmly planted in the cover album genre once again in that no original songs were included. Allmusic's Joe Viglione did feel, however, that "they seem to be trying to cover all the bases here," meaning that it had a variety of selections, including a standard from 1939, a hit that charted in both the 1950s and '60s, a country crossover, and recent offerings from stage and screen.
The Best Days of My Life is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on January 29, 1979, by Columbia Records and scaled back considerably on his more than decade-long practice of recording recent hit songs by other artists. He did, however, cover two standards: "As Time Goes By" and "Begin the Beguine", the latter of which is given a disco arrangement.
In the Still of the Night is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 8, 1989, by Columbia Records and continues the trend that began with his 1986 collaboration with Henry Mancini, The Hollywood Musicals, in that the project is devoted to a specific theme that ties the songs together. Mathis hints at the theme for this album in the liner notes for his 1993 box set The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection, where he gives his thoughts on the 1964 Little Anthony and the Imperials song "I'm on the Outside Looking In" that he covered for his 1988 album Once in a While: "That was group singers' kind of material. I was singing other stuff. It wasn't the picture of the lone crooner standing in the spotlight. That's what I was doing when all this other stuff was going on. I never listened to it until it was brought to my attention by [that album's producers] Peter Bunetta and Rick Chudacoff." Mathis chose to continue his work with Bunetta and Chudacoff on this project, which focuses on "this other stuff" that Mathis refers to: pop and R&B hits from the 1950s and 1960s.
Sending You a Little Christmas is the sixth Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 29, 2013, by Columbia Records. In addition to piano accompaniment on the title track by its composer Jim Brickman, this particular holiday release of original recordings is distinguished by duets with guest vocalists Susan Boyle, Natalie Cole, Gloria Estefan, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Billy Joel, and The Jordanaires.
The Christmas Album is the fifth Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 15, 2002, by Columbia Records and included his first recordings of three traditional carols, three new songs, and a handful of 20th-century offerings.