Johnny Mathis discography

Last updated
Johnny Mathis discography
Johnny Mathis.JPG
Mathis in 2006
Studio albums73
Live albums3
Compilation albums30
Singles113
Video albums3

Johnny Mathis has recorded 73 studio albums, 10 of which achieved sales of 500,000 units and were awarded Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. [1] Six of his compilation albums also accomplished this, and of these 16 Gold albums, six eventually went Platinum by reaching sales of one million copies. [1] In 1999, sales figures totaled five million for his first holiday LP, Merry Christmas , and three million for Johnny's Greatest Hits , [2] a 1958 collection that has been described as the "original greatest-hits package" [3] and once held the record for most weeks on Billboard magazine's album chart with a total of 490 [4] (three of which were spent at number one). [1] His second longest album chart run was the 295 weeks belonging to his Platinum 1959 album Heavenly , which gave him five weeks in the top spot. [1] In a ranking of the top album artists of the last half of the 1950s in terms of Billboard chart performance, he comes in at number two, for the 1960s, number 10, [5] and for the period from 1955 to 2009 he is at number six. [6]

Contents

The recurring appearance of Mathis holiday releases on the various album charts in Billboard began with 1958's Merry Christmas, which peaked at number three during the four weeks it spent that holiday season on the magazine's biggest album chart (now known as the Billboard 200) and returned to place at various positions within the top 40 slots there for the next four years. [7] When the magazine first had a separate chart for Christmas albums from 1963 to 1973, Merry Christmas ranked somewhere in the top 10 on it for another seven years, and on the Top Pop Catalog chart that was created for older titles, it had eight return appearances during the 1990s. [7] His Sounds of Christmas LP spent two weeks at number two on the Christmas Albums chart upon its 1963 release and re-charted for the next five years, and 1969's Give Me Your Love for Christmas reached number one there during its first of several annual chart showings before achieving Platinum certification. [7] Other notable holiday projects include Home for Christmas, a 1990 home video special that went platinum, [2] and Sending You a Little Christmas , a 2013 release that earned him a Grammy nomination in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. [8]

Mathis also recorded 43 songs that reached Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in the United States and another nine that "bubbled under" the Hot 100. [9] Six of these 52 recordings made the top 10, including 1957's "Chances Are" and the 1978 Deniece Williams duet, "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late", which each spent a week at number one, [9] and 32 of them are also on the list of 50 entries that Mathis had on the magazine's Easy Listening chart, [10] which was started in 1961. [11] 19 of those 50 songs made the top 10 on that list, and two of them ("I'm Coming Home" and "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late") went on to number one. [12] The Williams duet also spent four weeks at number one on the magazine's R&B chart [13] and was certified Gold after selling one million copies. [9]

In the UK Mathis spent three weeks at number one on the singles chart in 1976 with "When a Child Is Born" and had two compilations reached the top spot on the albums chart: 1977's The Mathis Collection and 1980's Tears and Laughter . [14] "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" and "When a Child Is Born" both achieved Silver certification for singles by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of 250,000 units in the UK, and the latter eventually reached the 500,000 mark to earn Gold certification. [15] 16 of his LPs met the 60,000 album sales mark in the UK to be certified Silver, with eight of those going on to sell 100,000 copies for Gold certification and one of those eight ( The Johnny Mathis Collection , 1976) making it to the 300,000 total necessary for the Platinum award. [2]

The first Columbia phase

Mathis's self-titled 1956 debut album was produced by George Avakian, [16] who was then the head of the Popular department at Columbia Records [17] and signed Mathis to the label after seeing him perform in San Francisco. [16] For the liner notes on the back cover of the album he wrote, "Johnny's singing is thoroughly jazz-oriented, so naturally arrangers were chosen who had a thorough command of the jazz idiom, as well as the ability to write imaginatively for a pop vocalist." [16] Although the album received good reviews from jazz critics, [17] it did not make any chart appearances in Billboard magazine. [1]

The young performer's presence at Columbia then gained the attention of another executive, the chief of the popular music division, Mitch Miller, who presented Mathis with a stack of demonstration recordings and sheet music when they met so that the singer could choose what he wanted to record. [17] The resulting session on September 21, 1956, produced his first two pop chart entries, "Wonderful! Wonderful!", which peaked at number 14, and "It's Not for Me to Say", which got as high as number five. [9] Avakian helmed a second LP, Wonderful, Wonderful , in March 1957, [17] and another session with Miller on June 16 of that year [17] produced his next two hits: the number one recording "Chances Are" and its flip side, "The Twelfth of Never", which made it to number nine. [9] Both the sophomore effort and the double-sided single made their respective album and pop chart debuts in September of that year, with the Wonderful, Wonderful album reaching number four without having the song that it was named for or any of his past or present hits included on it. [1]

Despite the fact that Mathis did not have another song make the top 10 on the pop chart until 1962, [9] his next 11 LPs, including Johnny's Greatest Hits, Merry Christmas, and Heavenly, all reached the top 10 on the album chart, and several of them were awarded certification for their healthy sales figures. [1] The number of weeks these albums were able to maintain a chart position is especially impressive when considering the fact that Billboard only ranked anywhere between 15 and 50 LPs until 1961 when their chart for mono albums expanded to 150 positions. [18] Heavenly's 1960 follow-up Faithfully lasted 75 weeks and was followed by Johnny's Mood , which entered the chart in the issue dated August 29, 1960, and remained there for 65 weeks. [1] His next release was his last in the string of top-tens, The Rhythms and Ballads of Broadway , a double album that debuted just five weeks later in the issue dated October 3 and made it as high as number six but only charted for 27 weeks, dropping off the list 33 weeks before its predecessor did. [1] After that he returned to single LPs with I'll Buy You a Star , which had its first chart appearance in the May 15, 1961, issue on the newly expanded list but only got as high as number 38 during its 23 weeks there. [1] The rest of his album output during this first era at Columbia fell short of the performance in terms of sales, peak chart positions, and number of weeks charted that the earlier records achieved. [1]

The Mercury years

When Mercury Records invited him to join their label in 1963, they offered him what he described as "an awful lot of money" in addition to total control over his recording activities and ownership of the recording masters. [19] He said, "I was the product of a very strong, determined woman named Helen Noga who did all my business transactions. She was the one who was adamant about me getting more money for my work. I had no idea that I was going to go to Mercury until it really happened." [19] Since the new surroundings came with the option to produce his own albums, he took advantage of the opportunity to expand his duties, starting with his first release of 1964, Tender Is the Night , and continuing on through several LPs. [19] "But I wasn't a producer," he admitted, " and I didn't really realize until then how important producers were and how much they assisted me in my work." [20] While his first three projects as producer all made the top half of the album chart, his 1964 album of Latin American recordings, Olé , did not appear there at all. [1]

In the fall of 1964 he recorded what he thought would be his next release, a collection of songs that came to be known as Broadway because of their inclusion in musicals, [1] but it was shelved by Mercury and not available until 2012, when most of the masters he owned from this period were issued on compact disc for the first time. [21] In his review for AllMusic, Al Campbell writes, "At the time, Mercury felt the album was too upbeat and not the type of romantic material Mathis had been so successful with during his previous tenure with Columbia." [21] For his next three projects, Love Is Everything , The Sweetheart Tree , and The Shadow of Your Smile , the role of producer was filled by someone else. The album jacket for Love Is Everything supplied a credit reading, "Produced by Global Records, Inc.," [22] which was his production company, but in the liner notes for The Complete Global Albums Collection , the album's credits list Al Ham as the producer. [20] Norman Newell is acknowledged in the box set as the one taking on those duties for The Sweetheart Tree, and for The Shadow of Your Smile the credit goes to Don Rieber. [20]

Mathis produced the two final albums in his contract and was ready for a change. In the liner notes for the compact disc release of those two albums, So Nice and Johnny Mathis Sings , he is quoted as saying, "'The only time I was not secure in what I was doing was during the three years I was with Mercury.'" [23] Having started out with the clear guidance he received in the early years that he recorded made the absence of it at Mercury unpleasant. "'It just didn't work as well as it did at Columbia.'" [23]

The second Columbia phase

Steve Ritz describes how the music industry had changed by the time Mathis returned to Columbia in the late 60s: "Pop singers, if they were to continue to be viable, were expected to record what became known in the industry as 'cover' albums, collections whereby a certain artist would 'cover' -- or record his/her own version of -- recent tunes that had been successful for other performers." [24] His first album upon returning was named after the biggest hit song that he was covering on it, "Up, Up and Away", which The 5th Dimension took to number seven on the pop chart just months earlier. [25] Several more cover albums named after other people's hit songs made the album charts throughout the 1970s, his most successful one being You Light Up My Life from 1978, which had the original number one hit song "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" to help it reach number nine on the album chart and Platinum certification. [1] He tried more duets and new songs on subsequent releases but was unable to re-create this sort of magic with the lightweight pop he was used to offering.

Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards were the production team behind their own band Chic's number ones "Le Freak" and "Good Times as well as the Sister Sledge hits "He's the Greatest Dancer" and "We Are Family". In February 1981 Mathis entered the studio to record songs that the duo had written and were producing as his next album, which was given the same name as one of the tracks, I Love My Lady . [26] The project was completed, but "nobody said anything over at Columbia, and a best-of album [ The First 25 Years – The Silver Anniversary Album ] came out instead." [27] When asked in a 2011 radio interview as to why the album had never been released, Mathis gave a brief chuckle as he replied, "Probably because the record company is almighty when you're making music to sell. They have their likes and dislikes....I guess because they didn't think it would sell." [28] The singer pressed on through the early 1980s with more albums of new material that had unimpressive sales, as was the case with Right from the Heart , which became only his third out of 55 studio releases that did not make one of the album charts in Billboard. [1]

In 1983 Linda Ronstadt took a break from recording contemporary music in order to make an album of standards with conductor Nelson Riddle, and their collaboration, What's New went triple Platinum. [29] Barbra Streisand's 1985 release The Broadway Album reached number one and went on to quadruple Platinum certification, so a renewed interest in what came to be known as traditional pop was evident. [30] Mathis had not tried a studio album without current hits or new songs since the ill-fated Broadway project in 1965, so his choice to collaborate with Henry Mancini in 1986 for The Hollywood Musicals , which had a lineup of classics that were mostly from the 1940s, was quite a change of pace. And while he has done some albums of contemporary pop songs since then, the category in which he has received four Grammy nominations since 1992 has been Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, [31] and the industry has recognized his past work as well. Three of his recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame ("Chances Are" in 1998, "Misty" in 2002, and "It's Not for Me to Say" in 2008), [32] and in 2003 he was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. [33]

Albums

Studio albums

Columbia albums (1956-1963)
YearTitlePeak chart positions Certifications
US [1] UK [14] Billboard Christmas Albums [7]
1956 Johnny Mathis
  • Released: July 16, 1956
1957 Wonderful, Wonderful
  • Released: July 8, 1957
4
Warm
  • Released: November 11, 1957
26 RIAA: Gold [2]
1958 Good Night, Dear Lord
  • Released: March 3, 1958
10
Swing Softly
  • Released: July 28, 1958
610RIAA: Gold [2]
Merry Christmas
  • Released: October 6, 1958
32 [a] RIAA: 5× Platinum [2]
1959 Open Fire, Two Guitars
  • Released: January 5, 1959
4RIAA: Gold [2]
Heavenly
  • Released: August 10, 1959
110RIAA: Platinum [2]
Faithfully
  • Released: December 21, 1959
2RIAA: Gold [2]
1960 Johnny's Mood
  • Released: July 18, 1960
4
The Rhythms and Ballads of Broadway
  • Released: September 1960
66
1961 I'll Buy You a Star
  • Released: February 27, 1961
3818
1962 Live It Up!
  • Released: December 11, 1961
14
Rapture
  • Released: September 17, 1962
12
1963 Johnny
  • Released: July 15, 1963
20
Romantically
  • Released: November 18, 1963
23
"—" denotes a title that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Mercury albums
YearTitlePeak chart positions Certifications
US [1] UK [14] Billboard Christmas Albums [7]
1963 Sounds of Christmas
  • Released: October 4, 1963
2
1964 Tender Is the Night
  • Released: January 23, 1964
13
The Wonderful World of Make Believe
  • Released: July 10, 1964
75
This Is Love
  • Released: September 18, 1964
40
Olé
  • Released: November 1964
Broadway
  • Released: August 28, 2012
1965 Love Is Everything
  • Released: March 5, 1965
52
The Sweetheart Tree
  • Released: September 30, 1965
71
1966 The Shadow of Your Smile
  • Released: March 1966
9
So Nice
  • Released: September 16, 1966
50
1967 Johnny Mathis Sings
  • Released: March 10, 1967
103
"—" denotes a title that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Columbia albums (1967–present)
YearTitlePeak chart positions Certifications
US [1] AUS [34] UK [14] Billboard Christmas Albums [7] R&B [35]
1967 Up, Up and Away
  • Released: October 23, 1967
6019
1968 Love Is Blue
  • Released: March 6, 1968
2644
Those Were the Days
  • Released: November 6, 1968
6048 [b]
1969 Love Theme from "Romeo And Juliet" (A Time for Us)
  • Released: July 30, 1969
52
Give Me Your Love for Christmas
  • Released: October 13, 1969
1 RIAA: Platinum [2]
1970 Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head
  • Released: February 25, 1970
3823
Close to You
  • Released: August 19, 1970
61
Johnny Mathis Sings the Music of Bacharach & Kaempfert
  • Released: Autumn 1970
169
1971 Love Story
  • Released: February 10, 1971
4727
You've Got a Friend
  • Released: August 11, 1971
80
1972 The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face)
  • Released: May 10, 1972
7140
Song Sung Blue
  • Released: September 13, 1972
8349
1973 Me and Mrs. Jones
  • Released: January 1973
83
Killing Me Softly with Her Song
  • Released: May 25, 1973
120
I'm Coming Home
  • Released: September 21, 1973
1157318 BPI: Silver [15]
1974 The Heart of a Woman
  • Released: November 25, 1974
13939
1975 When Will I See You Again
  • Released: March 1975
9913BPI: Silver [15]
Feelings
  • Released: October 20, 1975
97RIAA: Gold [2]
BPI: Silver [15]
1976 I Only Have Eyes for You
  • Released: May 10, 1976
7914BPI: Gold [15]
1977 Mathis Is...
  • Released: February 21, 1977
139
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me
  • Released: August 15, 1977
20155BPI: Silver [15]
1978 You Light Up My Life
  • Released: March 13, 1978
94234RIAA: Platinum [2]
BPI: Gold [15]
That's What Friends Are For
  • Released: July 1978
191614RIAA: Gold [2]
BPI: Gold [15]
1979 The Best Days of My Life
  • Released: January 29, 1979
12238
Mathis Magic
  • Released: September 17, 1979
5968BPI: Silver [15]
1980 Different Kinda Different
  • Released: June 16, 1980
16420
1981 I Love My Lady
  • Released: December 8, 2017
1982 Friends in Love
  • Released: April 5, 1982
1473461
1984 A Special Part of Me
  • Released: January 22, 1984
1574560
1985 Right from the Heart
  • Released: March 18, 1985
1986 Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis
  • Released: September 23, 1986
29
The Hollywood Musicals
  • Released: October 17, 1986
19746BPI: Silver [15]
1988 Once in a While
  • Released: May 23, 1988
1989 In the Still of the Night
  • Released: August 8, 1989
The Island
  • Released: December 8, 2017
1990 In a Sentimental Mood: Mathis Sings Ellington
  • Released: October 9, 1990
1993 How Do You Keep the Music Playing?
  • Released: May 4, 1993
1996 All About Love
  • Released: May 3, 1996
119
1998 Because You Loved Me: The Songs of Diane Warren
  • Released: October 20, 1998
2000 Mathis on Broadway
  • Released: April 25, 2000
2002 The Christmas Album
  • Released: October 22, 2002
1432
2005 Isn't It Romantic: The Standards Album
  • Released: February 1, 2005
2008 A Night to Remember
  • Released: April 29, 2008
29
2010 Let It Be Me: Mathis in Nashville
  • Released: September 21, 2010
2013 Sending You a Little Christmas
  • Released: October 29, 2013
5313
2017 Johnny Mathis Sings the Great New American Songbook
  • Released: September 29, 2017
2023Christmas Time Is Here
  • Released: October 13, 2023
"—" denotes a title that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Album reissues

Many of the albums that Mathis recorded were originally available in the vinyl LP, 8-track tape, Reel-to-reel, and audio cassette formats but were later reissued on compact disc. With close to 80 minutes of space available on each disc, it was possible to combine two albums on one CD, and several Mathis albums have been paired up and reissued in this format, as shown in the collapsed table below:

Compilation albums

YearTitlePeak chart positions Certifications
US
[1]
AUS
[34] [37]
UK
[14]
US
Christmas
[7]
1958 Johnny's Greatest Hits
  • Label: Columbia
1 RIAA: 3× Platinum [2]
1959 More Johnny's Greatest Hits
  • Label: Columbia
2RIAA: Gold [2]
1961 Portrait of Johnny
  • Label: Columbia
2
1963 Johnny's Newest Hits
  • Label: Columbia
6
1964 I'll Search My Heart and Other Great Hits
  • Label: Columbia
35
The Great Years
  • Label: Columbia
88
1969 The Impossible Dream
  • Label: Columbia
163
People
  • Label: Columbia
192
1972 Johnny Mathis' All-Time Greatest Hits
  • Label: Columbia
141RIAA: Platinum [2]
BPI: Gold [15]
1974 Johnny Mathis Sings the Great Songs BPI: Silver [15]
1976 The Johnny Mathis Collection /The Best of Johnny Mathis21BPI: Platinum [15]
1977 The Mathis Collection
  • Label: CBS
1
1980 Tears and Laughter
  • Label: CBS
1BPI: Gold [15]
The Best of Johnny Mathis 1975–1980
  • Label: Columbia
14020RIAA: Gold [2]
1981 The First 25 Years – The Silver Anniversary Album
  • Label: Columbia
17388
Celebration – The Anniversary Album
  • Label: Columbia
9BPI: Gold [15]
1986 16 Most Requested Songs
  • Label: Columbia
RIAA: Gold [2]
1990The Very Best of Nat King Cole & Johnny Mathis
  • Label: J&B Records
33
1991 Better Together: The Duet Album
  • Label: Columbia
189
1993 The Christmas Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection
  • Label: Columbia
16229RIAA: Gold [2]
199420 Greatest Hits
  • Label: Columbia
56
1995 The Hits of Johnny Mathis
  • Label: Columbia
BPI: Gold [15]
1998 The Ultimate Hits Collection
  • Label: Columbia
2004 The Essential Johnny Mathis
  • Label: Columbia
2006 The Very Best of Johnny Mathis 156
Gold: A 50th Anniversary Christmas Celebration
  • Label: Columbia
10411
Gold: A 50th Anniversary Celebration
  • Label: Columbia
171
2011 The Ultimate Collection 17
2014 The Classic Christmas Album
  • Label: Columbia
2020Gold
  • Label: Crimson
70
"—" denotes a title that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Live albums

YearTitlePeak chart positions Certifications
US [1] UK [14]
1972 Johnny Mathis in Person: Recorded Live at Las Vegas
  • Label: Columbia
128
1983 Unforgettable – A Musical Tribute to Nat King Cole 5 BPI: Gold [15]
1984 Live
  • Label: Columbia
"—" denotes a title that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

YearSingle (A-side, B-side)
Both sides from same album except where indicated
Chart positionsAlbum
US CB US
AC
US
R&B
UK [38]
1956"Wonderful! Wonderful!"
b/w "When Sunny Gets Blue"
1412Johnny's Greatest Hits
1957"It's Not for Me to Say"
b/w "Warm and Tender"
52
"Chances Are" [39] /1112
"The Twelfth of Never"938
"No Love (But Your Love)" /2126
"Wild Is the Wind"2220
1958"Come to Me"
b/w "When I Am with You"
2223
"All the Time" /2135
"Teacher, Teacher"212027More Johnny's Greatest Hits
"A Certain Smile"
b/w "Let It Rain"
14154
"Call Me"
b/w "Stairway to the Sea (Scalinatella)"
2114
"Winter Wonderland"
b/w "Sleigh Ride"
17Merry Christmas (single released outside the U.S.)
1959"Let's Love" /4440More Johnny's Greatest Hits
"You Are Beautiful"606038
"Someone" /35336
"Very Much in Love"88
"Small World" /2019
"You Are Everything to Me"109
"Misty /12141012Heavenly
"The Story of Our Love"93104Portrait of Johnny
"The Best of Everything"
b/w "Cherie" (from Portrait of Johnny)
626730I'll Search My Heart and Other Great Hits
1960"Starbright" /252447Portrait of Johnny
"All Is Well"106
"Maria"
b/w "Hey Love" (from Portrait of Johnny)
7850Faithfully
"My Love for You"
b/w "Oh That Feeling"
47359Portrait of Johnny
"How to Handle a Woman"
b/w "While You're Young"
6483
1961"You Set My Heart to Music" /10795
"Jenny"118tag
"Laurie My Love"
b/w "Should I Wait (or Should I Run to Her)" (from Portrait of Johnny)
Non-album track
"Wasn't the Summer Short?"
b/w "There You Are"
89117Johnny's Newest Hits
"Christmas Eve"
b/w "My Kind of Christmas"
Non-album tracks
1962"Sweet Thursday"
b/w "One Look"
9975Johnny's Newest Hits
"That's the Way It Is" /135
"I'll Never Be Lonely Again"tag
"Marianna"
b/w "Unaccustomed As I Am"
86113
"Gina"
b/w "I Love Her That's Why"
682
1963"What Will Mary Say"
b/w "Quiet Girl"
9932149
"Every Step of the Way"
b/w "No Man Can Stand Alone" (from Johnny)
304010I'll Search My Heart and Other Great Hits
"Sooner or Later"
b/w "In Wisconsin" (from Romantically)
84105
"Come Back" /6150Non-album tracks
"Your Teenage Dreams"686919
"I'll Search My Heart"
b/w "All the Sad Young Men"
90111I'll Search My Heart and Other Great Hits
"The Little Drummer Boy"
b/w "Have Reindeer Will Travel"
108The Sounds of Christmas
1964"Bye Bye Barbara"
b/w "A Great Night for Crying"
535517Non-album tracks
"The Fall of Love"
b/w "No More"
120114
"Taste of Tears"
b/w "White Roses from a Blue Valentine"
87125
"Listen Lonely Girl"
b/w "All I Wanted"
626411
1965"Take the Time"
b/w "Dianacita"
1049832
"Sweetheart Tree"
b/w "Mirage"
1087521The Sweetheart Tree
"On a Clear Day You Can See Forever"
b/w "Come Back to Me"
986The Shadow of Your Smile
1966"Moment to Moment"
b/w "Glass Mountain" (Non-album track)
"The Shadow of Your Smile"
b/w "The Sweetheart Tree" (from The Sweetheart Tree)
"So Nice (Samba de Verao)"
b/w "The Impossible Dream"
17So Nice
1967"Two Tickets and a Candy Heart"
b/w "Saturday Sunshine" (from Johnny Mathis Sings)
38Non-album tracks
"Don't Talk to Me" /21
"Misty Roses"40Up, Up and Away
"Among the First to Know"
b/w "Long Winter Nights"
Non-album tracks
1968"Venus"
b/w "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart"
1119723Love Is Blue
"You Make Me Think About You"
b/w "Night Dreams" (Non-album track)
35Those Were the Days
1969"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)"
b/w "The End of the World"
39
"I'll Never Fall in Love Again"
b/w "Whoever You Are, I Love You" (Non-album track)
12235Love Theme from "Romeo and Juliet" (A Time for Us)
"Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet (A Time For Us)"
b/w "The World I Threw Away"
961008
"Midnight Cowboy"
b/w "We" (from Love Theme from "Romeo and Juliet" (A Time for Us))
20Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head
"Give Me Your Love for Christmas"
b/w "Calypso Noel"
Give Me Your Love for Christmas
1970"Odds and Ends"
b/w "For All We Know" (Non-album track)
30Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head
"Wherefore and Why"
b/w "The Last Time I Saw Her"
12817Non-album tracks
"Pieces of Dreams"
b/w "Darling Lili" (Non-album track)
1299Close to You
"Evil Ways"
b/w "Until It's Time for You to Go"
11830
"Christmas Is"
b/w "Sign of the Dove"
Non-album tracks
1971"Ten Times Forever More"
b/w "I Was There"
32Love Story
"Evie"
b/w "Think About Things"
Non-album tracks
"Long Ago and Far Away"
b/w "For All We Know"
You've Got a Friend
"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?"
b/w "If We Only Have Love"
1972"If We Only Have Love"
b/w "This Way Mary" (Non-album track)
"Make It Easy on Yourself"
b/w "Sometimes" (Non-album track)
10316Song Sung Blue
"Soul and Inspiration/Just Once in My Life"
b/w "I" (Non-album track)
37Me and Mrs. Jones
1973"Take Good Care of Her"
b/w "Walking Tall"
40Non-album tracks
"Show and Tell"
b/w "Happy (Love Theme from Lady Sings the Blues)" (from Me and Mrs. Jones)
36Killing Me Softly with Her Song
"I'm Coming Home"
b/w "Stop Look and Listen to Your Heart"
7572192I'm Coming Home
"Life Is a Song Worth Singing"
b/w "I Just Wanted to Be Me"
5464865
1974"Sweet Child"
b/w "I'm Stone in Love with You"
11735
1975"Sail on White Moon"
b/w "The Heart of a Woman"
39The Heart of a Woman
"I'm Stone in Love with You"
b/w "Foolish"
1610I'm Coming Home
"Stardust"
b/w "What I Did for Love"
4Feelings
1976"One Day in Your Life"
b/w "Midnight Blue"
36
"Yellow Roses on Her Gown"
b/w "Every Time You Touch Me (I Get High)"
44I Only Have Eyes for You
"Do Me Wrong, But Do Me"
b/w "Send in the Clowns"
25
"When a Child Is Born"
b/w "Turn the Lights Down" (Non-album track)
1
1977"Loving You-Losing You"
b/w "World of Laughter"
29Mathis Is...
"Arianne"
b/w "99 Miles from L.A." (from Feelings)
24Killing Me Softly with Her Song
1978"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" *
b/w "Emotion" *
12113You Light Up My Life
"You're All I Need to Get By" *
b/w "You're a Special Part of My Life" *
4767161045That's What Friends Are For
Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams
"That's What Friends Are For" *
b/w "I Just Can't Get Over You" *
1979"The Last Time I Felt Like This" **
b/w "As Time Goes By"
15The Best Days of My Life
"Begin the Beguine" /37
"Gone, Gone, Gone"15
"No One Else but the One You Love" ***
b/w "To the Ends of the Earth"
Mathis Magic
"Christmas in the City of the Angels"
b/w "The Very First Christmas Day"
Non-album tracks
1980"Different Kinda Different" ****
b/w "The Lights of Rio" ****
81Different Kinda Different
"When a Child Is Born" #
b/w "The Lord's Prayer" #
Non-album tracks
1981"Nothing Between Us but Love"
b/w "Deep Purple " (from Different Kinda Different)
1982"When the Lovin' Goes Out of the Lovin'"
b/w "Warm"
Friends in Love
"Friends in Love" ##
b/w "What Is This" (by Dionne Warwick, non-album track)
3848522
1984"Love Won't Let Me Wait" *
b/w "Lead Me to Your Love" *
1061432A Special Part of Me
"Simple"
b/w "Lead Me to Your Love"
81643
1985"Right from the Heart"
b/w "Hold On"
38Right from the Heart
"Just One Touch"
b/w "I Need You (The Journey)"
1986"Where Can I Find Christmas"
b/w "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"
Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis
1988"I'm on the Outside Looking In "
b/w "Just Like You"
27Once in a While
"Daydreamin'"
b/w "Love Brought Us Here Tonight"
90
1992"Better Together" ###
CD single
68Better Together - The Duet Album
2003"Frosty the Snowman"
CD single
29The Christmas Album
2013"Sending You a Little Christmas"4Sending You a Little Christmas

Duet partners:
* Deniece Williams
** Jane Olivor
*** Stephanie Lawrence
**** Paulette
# Gladys Knight
## Dionne Warwick
### Regina Belle

Holiday 100 chart entries

Since many radio stations in the US adopt a format change to Christmas music each December, many holiday hits have an annual spike in popularity during the last few weeks of the year and are retired once the season is over. [40] In December 2011, Billboard began a Holiday Songs chart with 50 positions that monitors the last five weeks of each year to "rank the top holiday hits of all eras using the same methodology as the Hot 100, blending streaming, airplay, and sales data", [41] and in 2013 the number of positions on the chart was doubled, resulting in the Holiday 100. [42] A handful of Mathis recordings have made appearances on the Holiday 100 and are noted below according to the holiday season in which they charted there.

TitleHoliday season peak chart positionsAlbum
20112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"27 [43] 17 [44] 17 [45] 22 [46] 18 [47] 15 [48] 15 [49] 37 [50] 38 [51] 46 [52] 43 [53] 48 [54] 55 [55] 55 [56] Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis
"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"83 [45] 76 [46] 77 [48]
"O Holy Night"75 [57] Merry Christmas
"Sleigh Ride"48 [44] 93 [47] 59 [49] 86 [58] 96 [51] 100 [55]
"We Need a Little Christmas"86 [48] 86 [49] 84 [59] 82 [60] 76 [61] Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis
"Winter Wonderland"38 [62] 73 [63] 72 [47] 80 [64] 75 [49] Merry Christmas

Box sets

Video releases

Notes

  1. Peak position from 1963 when the Christmas Albums chart began
  2. Joel Whitburn's Top R&B Albums, 1965-1998 lists Those Were the Days as having peaked on the Best Selling Rhythm & Blues LP's chart at number two for two weeks out of the four that it spent there. [35] The four corresponding weekly issues of Billboard, which is their source for this information, however, indicate that it only made it to number 48. [36]

Related Research Articles

<i>Johnnys Greatest Hits</i> 1958 greatest hits album by Johnny Mathis

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>Heavenly</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1959 studio album by Johnny Mathis

Heavenly is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 10, 1959, by Columbia Records and marked his return to recording ballads with orchestral accompaniment. Along with the material that others had covered before are two new songs: the title track and "I'll Be Easy to Find".

<i>Youve Got a Friend</i> (Andy Williams album) 1971 studio album by Andy Williams

You've Got a Friend is the twenty-eighth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in August 1971 by Columbia Records. The album bears a striking resemblance to the Johnny Mathis album You've Got a Friend released that same month. Besides sharing their name, the two albums are both made up of covers of easy listening hits of the time, with 11 songs each, and the two albums have seven songs in common that are positioned in a similar order.

<i>Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis</i> 1986 studio album by Johnny Mathis

Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis is the fourth Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 23, 1986, by Columbia Records. This was Mathis's fourth holiday-themed LP and focused exclusively on secular material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Williams discography</span>

Andy Williams recorded 43 studio albums, 17 of which received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for selling 500,000 units. Andy Williams has sold over 11 million records in the US alone. Three of those recipients went on to reach one million in sales, for which they were awarded Platinum certification. Between studio, Christmas, and compilation albums he had 37 entries on the pop albums chart in Billboard magazine with 12 of those making the top 10. One of those 12, his 1963 album Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests, spent 16 weeks at number one and comes in at number five on the list of the top albums released in the 1960s in terms of Billboard chart performance. During the 1960s and early 1970s two of his Platinum LPs, The Andy Williams Christmas Album and Merry Christmas, made annual appearances on the magazine's Christmas Albums chart, where they each reached the number one position in multiple holiday seasons. In a ranking of the top album artists of the 1960s in terms of Billboard chart performance, he comes in at number eight.

<i>Youve Got a Friend</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1971 studio album by Johnny Mathis

You've Got a Friend is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 11, 1971, by Columbia Records. The phrase "Today's Great Hits" can be found above the title on both sides of the record jacket as well as both sides of the LP label as if to emphasize that this is essentially an album covering songs that were recently on the charts. This was a common practice of many vocalists of the period, so much so in fact that fellow Columbia artist Andy Williams also released an album titled You've Got a Friend in August 1971 on which he coincidentally covers seven of the 11 tracks that Mathis recorded for this album.

<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>Song Sung Blue</i> (album) 1972 studio album by Johnny Mathis

Song Sung Blue is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 13, 1972, by Columbia Records and featured his renditions of mostly recent chart hits.

<i>Me and Mrs. Jones</i> (album) 1973 studio album by Johnny Mathis

Me and Mrs. Jones is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in January 1973 by Columbia Records. While it does cover several big chart hits of the day like his last album, Song Sung Blue, did, it also includes songs that didn't make the US Top 40 or had never charted.

<i>When Will I See You Again</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1975 studio album by Johnny Mathis

When Will I See You Again is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in March 1975 by Columbia Records and was again predominantly composed of covers of recent hit songs by other artists.

<i>Feelings</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1975 studio album by Johnny Mathis

Feelings is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 20, 1975, by Columbia Records and strayed slightly from the singer's usual practice of covering hits by other artists by including two new songs, both written by Jerry Fuller: "Hurry Mother Nature" and "That's All She Wrote", which Ray Price took to number 34 on the Country chart the following spring.

<i>I Only Have Eyes for You</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1976 studio album by Johnny Mathis

I Only Have Eyes for You is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on May 10, 1976, by Columbia Records and included two new songs, "Yellow Roses on Her Gown" and "Ooh What We Do", which was written specifically for him, as well as a contemporary arrangement of the 1934 title track that foreshadowed his recordings of standards that incorporated a disco beat a few years later.

<i>You Light Up My Life</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1978 studio album by Johnny Mathis

You Light Up My Life is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis, released on March 13, 1978, by Columbia Records. While this LP includes three new songs, it doesn’t stray too far from the format of his albums of recent years in covering established material, including a standard, a country number, something from Broadway, and a few soundtrack tunes.

<i>Different Kinda Different</i> 1980 studio album by Johnny Mathis

Different Kinda Different is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis, released on June 16, 1980, by Columbia Records. It included covers of two standards and two recent hits. It also continued the trend of recording duets with a female singer; for this project Paulette McWilliams shared vocal duties on two of the six new songs.

<i>The Best of Johnny Mathis 1975–1980</i> 1980 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

The Best of Johnny Mathis 1975–1980 is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the fall of 1980 by Columbia Records. This collection is similar to his last major compilation, 1972's Johnny Mathis' All-Time Greatest Hits, in that it excludes many of his American radio hits of this period in favor of songs that made the UK singles chart or contemporary hits by other people.

<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>Unforgettable – A Musical Tribute to Nat King Cole</i> 1983 live album by Johnny Mathis

Unforgettable – A Musical Tribute to Nat King Cole is a soundtrack album released in the UK in 1983 by the CBS Records division of Columbia in conjunction with the broadcast of American pop singer Johnny Mathis's BBC television concert special of the same name that featured Cole's daughter Natalie. The front of the original album jacket credits the concert performers as "Johnny Mathis and Natalie Cole", whereas the CD booklet reads, "Johnny Mathis with special guest Natalie Cole".

<i>Sending You a Little Christmas</i> (album) 2013 studio album by Johnny Mathis

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.

<i>The Christmas Album</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 2002 studio album by Johnny Mathis

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.

<i>Gold: A 50th Anniversary Christmas Celebration</i> 2006 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

Gold: A 50th Anniversary Christmas Celebration is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 19, 2006, by Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings. It includes selections from four of the first five Christmas albums that he had recorded: Merry Christmas, Sounds of Christmas, Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis, and The Christmas Album. Two tracks that were recorded with other artists are also included: "O Tannenbaum", which comes from Mannheim Steamroller's 2001 album Christmas Extraordinaire, and a medley duet of "Winter Wonderland" and "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" with Bette Midler from her 2006 holiday album Cool Yule.

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Bibliography