Johnny Mathis recorded "The Best of Everything" on September 8, 1959, with an orchestra conducted by Glenn Osser. It was produced by Al Ham and released as a single three weeks later, on September 28,[1] ten days before the film's New York premiere.[2]
Chart performance
"The Best of Everything" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue of the magazine dated November 16, 1959. The song charted there for five weeks.[3] Mathis's previous single, which contained the songs "Misty" and "The Story of Our Love", had been released two weeks before "The Best of Everything", on September 14.[1] All three songs peaked within a week of each other, with "The Story of Our Love" reaching number 93 the week ending November 23, 1959, and "Misty" and "The Best of Everything" topping out at numbers 12 and 62, respectively, the week ending November 30.[3] "The Best of Everything" reached number 67 on Cash Box magazine's best seller list.[4] On the UK Singles Chart it peaked at number 30.[5]
Critical reception
In their review column, the editors of Cash Box magazine featured the single as their Pick of the Week, which was their equivalent to a letter grade of A for both "The Best of Everything" and its B-side, "Cherie". They described "The Best of Everything" as "beautiful" and wrote, "Superb Glenn Osser ork and choral backdrop."[6] The editors of Billboard categorized the single as a "Spotlight Winner", one of the best of the week's new releases, and described "The Best of Everything" as "a lovely ballad".[7]
In the liner notes for his 1993 box set The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection regarding "The Best of Everything", Mathis wrote, "This is one of my favorite songs. It has such brilliance. I sang it over the opening credits, and then the action of the movie took over. It was one of the thrills of my life."[10]
Charts
Weekly chart performance for "The Best of Everything"
↑ The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection (Liner notes). Johnny Mathis. Columbia Records. 1993. C4K-48932.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
Bibliography
Whitburn, Joel (2014), Joel Whitburn's Cash Box Pop Hits 1952-1996, Record Research Inc., ISBN978-0-89820-209-0
Wiley, Mason; Bona, Damien (1996), Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards, Ballantine Books, ISBN0-345-40053-4
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