The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection

Last updated
The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection
Mathis-Music1.jpg
Box set by
Released1993 [1]
Recorded1956–1992
Genre
Length5:01:53
Label Columbia
Johnny Mathis chronology
The Christmas Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection
(1993)
The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection
(1993)
The Hits of Johnny Mathis
(1995)
Alternate cover
Mathis-Music2.jpg
2001 reissue cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
People positive [3]

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. [4] 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." [4]

Contents

The collection included three tracks that were previously unreleased: "Baía (Na Baixa do Sapateiro)", which was recorded for but not included on his 1986 Henry Mancini collaboration The Hollywood Musicals , and two songs from an unreleased album by Sergio Mendes, "Photograph" and "The Island". [4] The two other rarities here are "Evie", a 1971 single that was not included on any of his studio albums, and "El Amar y el Querer", a track from his 1983 CBS Discos album Cuando Vuelvas A Casa. [4]

The original release came in an oblong box, while the 2001 reissue was repackaged with a cardboard slipcase to fit the original 96-page booklet alongside a 4-CD jewel case.

Reception

AllMusic's Greg Adams noted the difference between this Mathis compilation and any of his greatest hits collections: "These melodically and lyrically sophisticated songs better demonstrate Mathis's superlative vocal abilities than many of the chart-bound pop songs the box set omits." [2]

The review in People magazine discussed his place in popular culture: "This 86-song lovefest suggests why Mathis has often been blamed for the last 10 years of the baby boom. If you aren't a fan, this set will make clear why he and his songs are survivors." [3]

Track listing

Disc 1
  1. "When Sunny Gets Blue" (Marvin Fisher, Jack Segal) – 2:41
  2. "It's Not for Me to Say" (Robert Allen, Al Stillman) – 3:05
  3. "Wonderful! Wonderful!" (Sherman Edwards, Ben Raleigh) – 2:50
  4. "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" (Bob Hilliard, David Mann) – 3:16
  5. "It Could Happen to You" (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 3:48
  6. "All Through the Night" (Cole Porter) – 2:58
  7. "Chances Are" (Robert Allen, Al Stillman) – 3:03
  8. "The Twelfth of Never" (Jerry Livingston, Paul Francis Webster) – 2:28
  9. "Wild Is the Wind" (Dimitri Tiomkin, Ned Washington) – 2:26
  10. "There Goes My Heart" (Benny Davis, Abner Silver) – 3:43
  11. "What'll I Do" (Irving Berlin) – 2:55
  12. "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face" (Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe) – 3:29
  13. "By Myself" (Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz) – 4:09
  14. "Warm" (Sid Jacobson, Jimmy Krondes) – 3:24
  15. "When I Am with You" (stereo version) (Al Stillman, Ben Weisman) – 2:59
  16. "I Heard a Forest Praying" (Peter DeRose, Sam M. Lewis) – 3:13
  17. "I Look at You" (stereo version) (Johnny Mathis, Jessie Mae Robinson) – 2:59
  18. "A Certain Smile" (Sammy Fain, Paul Francis Webster) – 2:47
  19. "Someone" (William J. Tennyson, Jr.) – 2:58
  20. "You'll Never Know" (Mack Gordon, Harry Warren) - 4:09
  21. "More Than You Know" (Edward Eliscu, Billy Rose, Vincent Youmans) – 4:19
  22. "Moonlight Becomes You" (Burke, Van Heusen) – 4:07
  23. "Heavenly" (Burt Bacharach, Sidney Shaw) – 3:23
Disc 2
  1. "A Ride on a Rainbow" (Leo Robin, Jule Styne) – 4:11
  2. "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening" (Harold Adamson, Jimmy McHugh) – 4:05
  3. "Misty" (Burke, Erroll Garner) – 3:34
  4. "Small World" (Stephen Sondheim, Jule Styne) – 3:18
  5. "The Best of Everything" (Sammy Cahn, Alfred Newman) – 2:45
  6. "Maria" (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim) – 3:45
  7. "Tonight" (Bernstein, Sondheim) – 3:16
  8. "Isn't It a Pity?" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 3:59
  9. "I Married an Angel" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 3:52
  10. "Spring Is Here" (Hart, Rodgers) – 3:53
  11. "Don't Blame Me" (Dorothy Fields, McHugh) – 4:43
  12. "Stairway to the Stars" (Matty Malneck, Mitchell Parish, Frank Signorelli) – 4:54
  13. "Love Look Away" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Rodgers) – 3:31
  14. "Smile" (Charlie Chaplin, Geoffrey Claremont Parsons, John Turner) – 3:18
  15. "You Set My Heart to Music" (Eaton Magoon, Jr.) – 2:46
  16. "Gina" (Leon Carr, Paul Vance) – 2:46
  17. "What Will Mary Say" (Eddie Snyder, Paul Vance) – 3:09
  18. "Laura" (Johnny Mercer, David Raksin) – 4:40
  19. "Long Ago (and Far Away)" (I. Gershwin, Jerome Kern) – 3:48
  20. "Clopin Clopant (Comme Ci, Comme Ca)" (Bruno Coquatrix, Pierre Dudan, Alex Kramer, Joan Whitney) – 3:41
  21. "I'm in Love for the Very First Time" (Wally Ridley, Paddy Roberts) – 3:21
Disc 3
  1. "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet (A Time for Us)" (Larry Kusik, Nino Rota, Eddie Snyder) – 2:58
  2. "Live for Life" (Norman Gimbel, Francis Lai) – 2:59
  3. "A Man and a Woman" (Pierre Barouh, Jerry Keller, Lai) – 3:26
  4. "Evie" (Jimmy Webb) – 3:09
  5. "If" (David Gates) – 3:03
  6. "Theme from Summer of 42 (The Summer Knows)" (Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand) – 2:39
  7. "Love Theme from The Godfather (Speak Softly Love)" (Larry Kusik, Nino Rota) – 3:08
  8. "Betcha by Golly, Wow" (Thom Bell, Linda Creed) – 2:49
  9. "Happy (Love Theme from Lady Sings the Blues)" (Legrand, Smokey Robinson) – 3:36
  10. "Arianne" (Martin Charnin, Christian Roudey) – 3:29
  11. "I'm Coming Home" (Thom Bell, Linda Creed) – 3:24
  12. "And I Think That's What I'll Do" (Bell, Creed) – 3:41
  13. "Life Is a Song Worth Singing" (Bell, Creed) – 6:06
  14. Medley – 4:06
    a. "Let Me Be the One" (Roger Nichols, Paul Williams)
    b. "I Won't Last a Day Without You" (Nichols, Williams)
  15. "One Day in Your Life" (Renée Armand, Samuel F. Brown III) – 4:14
  16. "Feelings" (Morris Albert, Loulou Gasté) – 3:28
  17. "Yellow Roses on Her Gown" (Michael Moore) – 4:33
  18. "When a Child Is Born" (Ciro Dammicco, Fred Jay) – 3:41
  19. "All the Things You Are" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) – 3:33
  20. "We're All Alone" (Boz Scaggs) – 3:22
  21. "One" (Marvin Hamlisch, Edward Kleban) – 2:26
  22. "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" performed with Deniece Williams (Nat Kipner, John Vallins) – 2:59
Disc 4
  1. "The Last Time I Felt Like This" performed with Jane Olivor (A. Bergman, M. Bergman, Marvin Hamlisch) – 2:57
  2. "Love" (Gerard Kenny, Drey Shepperd) – 3:48
  3. "With You I'm Born Again" (Carol Connors, David Shire) – 4:03
  4. "Warm" (David Buskin) – 4:39
  5. "Friends in Love" performed with Dionne Warwick (Bill Champlin, David Foster, Jay Graydon) – 4:03
  6. "El Amar y el Querer" (Manuel Alejandro, Ana Magdalena) – 4:13
  7. "Love Won't Let Me Wait" performed with Deniece Williams (Vinnie Barrett, Bobby Eli) – 4:16
  8. "99 Miles from L.A." (live version) (Hal David, Albert Hammond) – 3:35
  9. "I Had the Craziest Dream" (Gordon, Harry Warren) – 3:05
  10. "Baía (Na Baixa do Sapateiro)" (Ary Barroso, Ray Gilbert) – 4:13
  11. "Toyland" (Glen MacDonough, Victor Herbert) – 3:41
  12. "I'm on the Outside Looking In" (Teddy Randazzo, Bobby Weinstein) – 3:24
  13. "It's All in the Game" performed with Take 6 (Charles Dawes, Carl Sigman) – 2:33
  14. "You Belong to Me" (Pee Wee King, Chilton Price, Redd Stewart) – 3:40
  15. "All Alone Am I" (Arthur Altman, Manos Hadjidakis) – 3:24
  16. "Photograph" (Dori Caymmi) – 4:35
  17. "The Island" (A. Bergman, M. Bergman, Ivan Lins, Vítor Martins) – 4:03
  18. "Something to Live For" (Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn) – 3:37
  19. "Prelude to a Kiss" (Ellington, Irving Gordon, Irving Mills) – 2:52
  20. Medley performed with Barbra Streisand – 4:43
    a. "I Have a Love" (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim)
    b. "One Hand, One Heart" (Bernstein, Sondheim)

Personnel

Compilation [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Timeless: Live in Concert</i> 2000 live album by Barbra Streisand

Timeless: Live in Concert is a live album released by Barbra Streisand on September 19, 2000. It was her fifth live album and was released on Columbia Records. The album was issued a week before what were said to be her final concerts in September 2000 and would reach platinum certification.

<i>The Great Years</i> 1964 greatest hits album by Johnny Mathis

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".

<i>Love Theme from "Romeo And Juliet" (A Time for Us)</i> 1969 studio album by Johnny Mathis

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.

<i>Johnny Mathis in Person: Recorded Live at Las Vegas</i> 1971 live album by Johnny Mathis

Johnny Mathis in Person: Recorded Live at Las Vegas is a live album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was recorded at Caesars Palace and released on December 22, 1971, by Columbia Records. All but five of the 23 songs performed had appeared on his studio albums, while the five previously unrecorded songs have not appeared on a Mathis studio album since.

<i>The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face)</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1972 studio album by Johnny Mathis

The First Time Ever is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on May 10, 1972, 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 originated as film scores and had lyrics added later.

<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>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>Celebration – The Anniversary Album</i> 1981 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

Celebration – The Anniversary Album is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the UK in 1981 by the CBS Records division of Columbia. Two of the covers on this release had not previously been included on any Mathis album: Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic" and a new version of Mathis's 1976 song "When a Child Is Born" that was recorded with Gladys Knight & the Pips and reached number 74 on the UK singles chart during a two-week run that began on December 26, 1981.

<i>The Mathis Collection</i> 1977 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

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.

<i>The Johnny Mathis Collection</i> 1976 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

The Johnny Mathis Collection is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the UK in 1976 by Hallmark and Pickwick Records in arrangement with the CBS Records division of Columbia. This is a two-LP set, with the first two sides being what is actually a reissue of the singer's 1961 compilation Portrait of Johnny and the second two being 10 tracks from three other albums: 1959's Faithfully, 1967's Up, Up and Away and 1968's Those Were the Days.

<i>16 Most Requested Songs</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 1986 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

16 Most Requested Songs is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 1986 by Columbia Records and features 12 tracks representing his time with the label from 1956 to 1963, including his Billboard top 10 hits "Chances Are", "It's Not for Me to Say", "The Twelfth of Never", "Gina", and "What Will Mary Say" as well as his signature song, "Misty". The remaining four selections were recorded with Columbia between 1969 and 1977.

<i>The Essential Johnny Mathis</i> 2004 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

The Essential Johnny Mathis is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 2004 by Columbia Records and includes several of his early hits such as "Chances Are" and "Misty" as well as a wide assortment of selections spanning more than four decades of his recording career.

<i>The Very Best of Johnny Mathis</i> 2006 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

The Very Best of Johnny Mathis is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the UK in 2006 by Sony BMG and peaked at number six on the UK albums chart that same year. This collection has nine of his 17 UK singles chart entries, including his number-one solo version of "When a Child Is Born" and his number-three duet with Deniece Williams, "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late".

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

Gold: A 50th Anniversary Celebration is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on November 21, 2006, by Columbia Records and takes the first 13 of its 18 tracks from the first four years of his recording career. The collection then jumps ahead 27 years for the remaining five songs, two of which had not been released elsewhere: "So Many Stars" comes from the recording date of an unfinished Sergio Mendes project, and "The Shadow of Your Smile" was later featured on the 2007 Dave Koz album At the Movies.

<i>The Ultimate Collection</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 2011 compilation album by Johnny Mathis

The Ultimate Collection is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the UK in 2011 by Sony Music Entertainment and reached number 17 on the UK albums chart that same year. This collection has 13 of his 17 UK singles chart entries as well as two tracks from his unreleased 1981 album I Love My Lady: the title song and "Something to Sing About".

<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.

<i>Live by Request: Johnny Mathis</i> American TV series or program

Live by Request: Johnny Mathis is a live television concert by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that aired on May 28, 1998, on the A&E Network as part of its Live by Request series. According to the television industry magazine Broadcasting & Cable, the network "recorded its best ratings ever--a 2.3 rating/1.6 million homes according to Nielsen Media Research"—for the broadcast.

<i>Johnny Mathis: Wonderful, Wonderful!</i> 2007 television programme

Johnny Mathis: Wonderful, Wonderful! is a television concert by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was recorded on October 27, 2006, at the Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City and aired that December on most PBS stations. In addition to singing some of his biggest hits, he covers tracks from his live albums, songs from Brazil, and two exclusives that have never appeared on a Mathis album. Interview clips with Mathis were inserted at intervals throughout the concert along with live performance excerpts from programs such as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Andy Williams Show.

<i>The Singles</i> (Johnny Mathis album) 2015 box set by Johnny Mathis

The Singles is a four-disc box set by the American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 2015 by Columbia Records to commemorate the singer's 80th birthday. In his review of the collection Joe Marchese explains that it "doesn't bring together every track released by the legendary artist on 45 RPM; such an endeavor would take far more than four discs. Instead, it features the tracks originally released by Mathis on Columbia in the singles format – in other words, non-LP sides – between the years of 1956 and 1981, in their original single mixes." His description of the compilation echoes that of the compilation's producer Didier C. Deutsch in the liner notes as explanation for the exclusion of the hit singles "Misty" from Heavenly (1959) and his "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" duet with Deniece Williams from You Light Up My Life (1978). Deutsch excuses these as "songs extracted from specific albums to call attention to these albums." The set does, however, include "Ten Times Forever More" and "I Was There" from his 1971 LP, Love Story, and a shorter version of "If We Only Have Love" than the one that was included on his other 1971 album, You've Got a Friend.

<i>The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection</i> 2017 box set by Johnny Mathis

The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection is a 68-disc box set by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on December 8, 2017, by Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. The packaging noted that it includes 67 albums that have been remastered, several of which were being made available on CD for the first time. Two of those, I Love My Lady and The Island, were debuting in their entirety for the first time anywhere, and 38 of the bonus tracks included had also previously gone unreleased.

References

  1. "The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection - Johnny Mathis - Releases". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection - Johnny Mathis". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Picks and Pans Review: Djangology". People. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 (1993) The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Columbia Records C4K-48932.