So Nice (Johnny Mathis album)

Last updated
So Nice
Mathis-Nice.jpeg
Studio album by
Johnny Mathis
ReleasedSeptember 16, 1966 [1]
RecordedMay 31, 1966
June 23, 1966
July 7, 1966
July 11–12, 1966 [1]
Genre
Length36:16
Label Mercury
Producer Johnny Mathis [1]
Johnny Mathis chronology
The Shadow of Your Smile
(1965)		So Nice
(1966)		 Johnny Mathis Sings
(1967)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg link
Billboard positive [3]

So Nice is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis released through Mercury Records on September 16, 1966. [1] The singer included a trio of musical numbers from Man of La Mancha in this set as well as songs from Funny Girl , Kismet , and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever , shows that he had recognized on previous releases. Mathis also covers recent imports from France ("I Will Wait for You", "What Now My Love") and Brazil ("So Nice (Samba de Verao)") and offers a rendition of a 1944 hit record ("I Dream of You") as part of the mix.

Album collection of recorded music, words, sounds

An album is a collection of audio recordings issued as a collection on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78-rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP records played at ​33 1⁄3 rpm. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format widely used alongside vinyl from the 1970s into the first decade of the 2000s.

Johnny Mathis American singer

John Royce Mathis is an American singer-songwriter of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status and 73 making the Billboard charts to date. According to Guinness Music Chart historian Paul Gambaccini, Mathis has sold well over 360 million records worldwide, making him the third biggest selling artist of the 20th century. Mathis has received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for three separate recordings.

Mercury Records record label

Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. In the US, it operates through Island Records; in the UK, it is distributed by Virgin EMI Records.

Contents

The title track from the album had its first appearance on Billboard magazine's list of the 40 most popular Easy Listening songs in the US in the issue dated September 10, 1966, and stayed there for seven weeks, during which time it peaked at number 17. [4] The album So Nice debuted on the magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated October 8 of that year and made it to number 50 over the course of 18 weeks. [5]

<i>Billboard</i> (magazine) American music magazine

Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style, and is also known for its music charts, including the Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular songs and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows.

The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by Billboard magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to Billboard by stations that are members of the Adult Contemporary radio panel. The chart debuted in Billboard magazine on July 17, 1961. Over the years, the chart has gone under a series of name changes, being called Easy Listening(1961–1962; 1965–1979), Middle-Road Singles(1962–1964), Pop-Standard Singles(1964–1965), Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks(1979–1982) and Adult Contemporary(1983–present).

The Billboard 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Often, a recording act will be remembered by its "number ones", those of their albums that outperformed all others during at least one week. The chart grew from a weekly top 10 list in 1956 to become a top 200 in May 1967, and acquired its present title in March 1992. Its previous names include the Billboard Top LPs (1961–72), Billboard Top LPs & Tape (1972–84), Billboard Top 200 Albums (1984–85) and Billboard Top Pop Albums.

The So Nice LP was released for the first time on compact disc on December 4, 2012, as one of two albums on one CD, the second of the two being its 1967 follow-up, Johnny Mathis Sings . [6] Both were also included in Sony's Mathis box set The Complete Global Albums Collection , which was released on November 17, 2014. [7]

<i>Johnny Mathis Sings</i> 1967 studio album by Johnny Mathis

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.

<i>The Complete Global Albums Collection</i> 2014 box set by Johnny Mathis

The Complete Global Albums Collection is a 13-disc box set by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 2014 by Legacy Recordings. It includes the 11 studio albums recorded by Mathis's own production company, Global Records, and originally distributed by Mercury Records between 1963 and 1966, as well as 31 additional tracks, 16 of which were being made available for the first time.

History

The bulk of the arranging and conducting chores on this project were handled by Glenn Osser, and the inclusion of a song co-written by his wife Edna brought back memories of the couple for Mathis. "'She used to come to the sessions, and I was very fond of her. He and his wife were just the nicest people.'" [8] The singer also recalls his introduction to her composition "I Dream of You". "'I first heard it when I heard Johnny Nash sing it on his first album. And of course Glenn arranged it on my album. You know, I can always tell who arranged things by the horn section. On "The Music That Makes Me Dance" I can definitely hear Glenn Osser.'" [8]

Abraham "Glenn" Osser was an American musician, musical arranger, orchestra leader, and songwriter. His birthname was Abraham (Abe), but much of his work was under the name Glenn; he can be found with references under both names. He also worked under a number of other names: Arthur Meisel, Bob Marvel, Maurice Pierre, and others.

Edna Osser was an American songwriter.

Johnny Nash American pop singer-songwriter

John Lester "Johnny" Nash, Jr. is an American reggae and pop music singer-songwriter, best known in the US for his 1972 hit, "I Can See Clearly Now". He was also one of the first non-Jamaican singers to record reggae music in Kingston, Jamaica.

Mathis was exposed to the Man of La Mancha selections before they made it to Broadway. "'I went to the Village and saw Richard Kiley…It was the first time I had seen him…and he was brilliant. I always loved his voice…That's how I came to record the songs.'" [8] That early exposure led to live performances of some of the numbers from the show that he did sooner than most of his colleagues. "'I remember doing those songs while the show was still running, and I think I was one of the first ones to do some of the songs live in a nightclub act.'" [8] And he continued performing them long afterward. "'For many years I did a medley in concert. A high point was in London…I did it there, and it was the best version I ever did. I always remember it.'" [8]

Broadway theatre class of professional theater presented in New York City, New York, USA

Broadway theatre, also known simply as Broadway, refers to the theatrical performances presented in the 41 professional theatres, each with 500 or more seats located in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Along with London's West End theatre, Broadway theatre is widely considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world.

Greenwich Village Neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City

Greenwich Village, often referred to by locals as simply "the Village", is a neighborhood on the west side of Manhattan, New York City, within Lower Manhattan. Broadly, Greenwich Village is bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village also contains several subsections, including the West Village west of Seventh Avenue and the Meatpacking District in the northwest corner of Greenwich Village.

Richard Kiley American actor

Richard Paul Kiley was an American stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for his distinguished theatrical career in which he twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor In A Musical. Kiley created the role of Don Quixote in the original 1965 production of the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha and was the first to sing and record "The Impossible Dream", the hit song from the show. In the 1953 hit musical Kismet, he played the Caliph and was one of the quartet introducing the song "And This Is My Beloved". Additionally, he won three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards during his 50-year career and his "sonorous baritone" was also featured in the narration of a number of documentaries and other films. At the time of his death, Kiley was described as "one of theater's most distinguished and versatile actors" and as "an indispensable actor, the kind of performer who could be called on to play kings and commoners and a diversity of characters in between."

Reception

Allmusic's Joe Viglione was effusive in his praise, "The singer works with authority -- his pitch always perfect and his focus never missing the mark." [2] He singles out a few tracks in particular. "Mathis can always pull a 'The Music That Makes Me Dance' out of his hat to give his huge and faithful audience the style and sound he is best known for, with Glenn Osser's conducting and arrangement simply sublime. The dozen songs on So Nice range from pop to standards with touches of jazz, with an exquisitely quiet 'I Dream of You' uncovering the singer's uncanny ability to blend his tone with an air of mystery. Even a lesser song like 'Baubles, Bangles and Beads' comes off with a touch of majesty; it's not easy to do, but Mathis pulls it off effortlessly." [2]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" from Man of La Mancha (Joe Darion, Mitch Leigh) – 3:44
  2. "I Will Wait for You" from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, Norman Gimbel, Michel LeGrand) – 3:01
  3. "What the World Needs Now Is Love" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 2:37
  4. "Hurry! It's Lovely Up Here" from On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (Alan Jay Lerner, Burton Lane) – 2:47
  5. "Elusive Butterfly" (Bob Lind) – 2:08
  6. "So Nice (Samba de Verao)" (Gimbel, Marcos Valle, Paulo Sergio Valle) – 3:05

Side two

  1. "Dulcinea" from Man of La Mancha (Darion, Leigh) – 2:52
  2. "What Now My Love" (Gilbert Becaud, Carl Sigman) – 3:14
  3. "Man of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote)" from Man of La Mancha (Darion, Leigh) – 2:18
  4. "The Music That Makes Me Dance" from Funny Girl (Bob Merrill, Jule Styne) – 3:35
  5. "I Dream of You" (Marjorie Goetschius, Edna Osser) – 3:23
  6. "Baubles, Bangles & Beads" from Kismet (Robert Wright, George Forrest) – 3:32

Recording dates

From the liner notes for The Complete Global Albums Collection : [1]

Personnel

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 (2014) The Complete Global Albums Collection by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment 88843091432.
  2. 1 2 3 "So Nice – Johnny Mathis". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  3. ↑ "Album Reviews". Billboard . 1966-09-17. p. 72.
  4. ↑ Whitburn 2007 , p. 178.
  5. ↑ Whitburn 2010 , p. 503.
  6. ↑ "So Nice/Johnny Mathis Sings – Johnny Mathis". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  7. ↑ "The Complete Global Albums Collection – Johnny Mathis". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (2012) So Nice/Johnny Mathis Sings by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment RGM-0108.
  9. ↑ (1966) So Nice by Johnny Mathis [album jacket]. New York: Mercury Records SR-61091.

Bibliography

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