The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face) | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 10, 1972 [1] | |||
Recorded | January–April 1972 [2] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 35:35 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Jerry Fuller [4] | |||
Johnny Mathis chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [3] |
Billboard | positive [5] |
The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face) is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis released on May 10, 1972, [1] by Columbia Records and continues in the tradition set by his recent studio releases of covering mostly current chart hits. A trio of selections on side one ("Love Theme from 'The Godfather' (Speak Softly Love)", "Theme from 'Summer of 42' (The Summer Knows)", and "Brian's Song (The Hands of Time)") originated as film scores and had lyrics added later.
The album made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's & Tapes chart in the issue dated June 10, 1972, and remained there for 15 weeks, peaking at number 71. [6]
This LP was released as a DTS Surround Sound CD on May 23, 2000. [7] The reason for the selection of this particular album for DTS release is suggested in a message in the liner notes from the CD's producer, Patricia Miller: "I dedicate this to the memory of my loving Brad. Thank you for all the strength and passion you gave me during our time together and forever. These love songs tell a story of our everlasting love." [8]
Billboard was complimentary. "Mathis is one of the best contemporary balladeers around, and here he wisely sticks to his forte." [5]
This album's CD release as part of the 2017 box set The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection included a bonus track that was previously unavailable:
From the liner notes for The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection : [2]
The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face) is a 1972 album by pop vocalist Vikki Carr. The album was issued in the UK as "Song Sung Blue" with the same artwork (except for the album title) and "Big Hurt" replacing "The Hands of Time".
Flying High Together is an album by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla label, released in 1972. It is noted as The Miracles' last studio album with original lead singer Smokey Robinson, who retired from the act to concentrate on his duties as vice president of Motown. The album charted at #46 on the Billboard Pop Album chart, and featured two singles: the appropriately named "We've Come Too Far to End It Now", which matched the parent album's chart position on the Billboard singles chart, charting at #46, and reached the Top 10 of the Billboard R&B singles chart, charting at #9, and "I Can't Stand to See You Cry", which charted at #45 Pop, and #21 R&B.
Warm is the third album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on November 11, 1957, by Columbia Records and, as with his previous LP, Wonderful Wonderful, does not include any of his hit singles but instead focuses primarily on his interpretations of romantic ballads that were already hits for other artists. Two new songs made the final cut, however: the title track and "The Lovely Things You Do".
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'll Buy You a Star is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on February 27, 1961, by Columbia Records and was the first of two album collaborations with arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle. This LP includes both ballads and swinging uptempo material throughout a mix of songs that range from the new to the familiar and obscure.
Live It Up! is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on December 11, 1961, by Columbia Records and was the second of two album collaborations with arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle. The singer again eschewed ballads as he had on Swing Softly and selected a balance of new and established material.
Up, Up And Away is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 23, 1967, and was the first LP he recorded upon returning to his first record label, Columbia Records, where he then stayed for several decades after having just completed a four-year sojourn with Mercury Records. The title track starts the album on the contemporary end of the spectrum of material covered here, but Mathis also includes a standard from the 1940s, a hit that charted twice for the same artist in the 1950s, a trio of songs from Doctor Dolittle, and two songs that had lyrics added after originating as instrumentals: "Drifting" began as part of the score to the 1958 film Auntie Mame, and "Far Above Cayuga's Waters" was "a theme song of Cornell University before saxophonist Dave Pell retooled it and Sammy Cahn adapted the delightful fairytale-like lyrics."
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 Theme from "The Godfather" is the twenty-ninth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released on March 21, 1972, by Columbia Records. The two new songs on what was otherwise another LP of covers of hits by other artists were the title track and "Music from Across the Way", which came from the songwriters behind his recent hits "Happy Heart" and "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story".
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.
Reflections is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the UK on December 30, 1977, by the CBS Records division of Columbia. The subtitle on the cover reads, "A collection of 20 of my favorite songs", and a statement from Williams in the liner notes says, "Songs have very special memories for all of us. They pinpoint moments in our time. On this album I have chosen 20 songs that do just that. I hope you like them." While there was one new song ("Sad"), the collection was otherwise a balanced mix of album cuts and chart hits from his years with Columbia Records, including the seven top 10 UK singles he'd had during this period.
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.
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'm Coming Home is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 21, 1973, by Columbia Records and was mainly composed of material written by the songwriting team of its producer, Thom Bell, and Linda Creed. Unlike several of the Mathis albums before it, I'm Coming Home relied primarily on new songs and included only two covers of established chart hits, both of which were by The Stylistics.
Mathis Is... is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on February 21, 1977, by Columbia Records and reunited the singer with producer Thom Bell for the first time since their collaboration on I'm Coming Home in 1973. As with that project, Mathis Is... focuses primarily on new songs, the one exception being a cover of "Sweet Love of Mine" from the 1975 Pick of the Litter album by The Spinners.
Tears and Laughter is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the UK in 1980 on the CBS Records label. The title summarizes how the album is thematically organized, with the back cover labeling side one as "Tears" and side two as "Laughter".
How Do You Keep the Music Playing? is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on May 4, 1993, by Columbia Records and included the subtitle The Songs of Michel Legrand and Alan & Marilyn Bergman on its cover. The album featured new, individual recordings of two songs that Mathis covered as a medley for his 1973 album Me and Mrs. Jones -- "I Was Born in Love with You" and "Summer Me, Winter Me". He also performed new arrangements of "The Windmills of Your Mind", "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?", and "The Summer Knows", which he had recorded for other albums many years earlier.
The Mathis Collection is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the UK in 1977 by CBS Records. The subtitle on the cover reads, "40 of my favorite songs", and a statement from Mathis in the liner notes says, "Songs are very personal things. On this double album I have attempted to put together a collection of those which are most meaningful for me. I hope they mean as much to you." The compilation includes six of the 12 songs that had reached the UK singles chart by the time of its release but focuses mainly on album tracks.
The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection is a box set by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 1993 by Columbia Records and gave an overview of his career with four CDs containing 86 tracks that he selected himself. In the liner notes he wrote that his "undying gratitude is really to the lyricists and composers of all these memorable songs. Without the words and music I have sung over the years, my career as a singer would not have existed. My thanks is always to these special and gifted people."