The Singles | ||||
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Box set by | ||||
Released | September 25, 2015 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1956–1981 [2] | |||
Genre |
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Length | 4:19:12 | |||
Label | Columbia/Legacy | |||
Johnny Mathis chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
The Second Disc | Positive [3] |
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." [3] 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." [2] 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 .
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote that "the first two discs contain the music that crystallized Johnny Mathis' appeal: he made the middle of the road seem fresh and if Mitch Miller's productions grow wearisome, Mathis' voice never does". [1] The Second Disc's Joe Marchese argued that "this assemblage of hits and rarities belongs on the shelf of every fan of Johnny Mathis – which is to say of any fan of immaculate vocals, impeccable musicianship, and the full spectrum of American popular song." [3]
Recording dates and information taken from the liner notes. [2]
Box set credits taken from the liner notes. [2]
Joseph Raymond Conniff was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.
Merry Christmas is the first Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis and was released by Columbia Records on October 6, 1958. The selections are a mix of traditional Christmas carols and holiday hits.
Moon River: The Very Best of Andy Williams is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released on October 13, 2009. A note from Williams inside the CD booklet explains that the album "was put together to coincide with my memoir Moon River and Me, published by Viking/Penguin. It includes many of the songs that you made hits. I truly appreciate that, and I hope you enjoy the songs we selected for this CD." The collection covers a wide assortment of his material, including crossover hits, stabs at the youth market, a pair of Mancini-Mercer Oscar winners, a Christmas classic, and a eulogy to Robert F. Kennedy.
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.
More Johnny's Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Johnny Mathis that was released by Columbia Records on June 22, 1959, and contains the A- and B-sides of five of his singles as well as "Teacher, Teacher", the chart hit that was the B-side of the Johnny's Greatest Hits track "All the Time", and "The Flame of Love," which had not been released before.
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.
Portrait of Johnny is a compilation album by Johnny Mathis that was released by Columbia Records on July 17, 1961, and described on the cover as "The Third in the Johnny Mathis Greatest Hits Series". Seven B-sides of chart hits are included along with four of the corresponding A-sides that made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 or "bubbled under" it and one song from a single that had neither side chart in Billboard magazine.
Johnny's Newest Hits is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Columbia Records on February 25, 1963, and includes the A- and B-sides of six of his singles.
I'll Search My Heart and Other Great Hits is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Columbia Records in April 1964 and gathered up five A-sides that reached the Billboard Hot 100, a corresponding B-side, and six songs that had previously been unreleased.
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".
Johnny Mathis Sings the Music of Bacharach & Kaempfert is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the fall of 1970 by Columbia Records. While one half of the two-record set was a compilation of tracks from his previous albums that were composed by Burt Bacharach, the other consisted of new recordings of songs composed by Bert Kaempfert, including a new version of "Strangers in the Night", which Mathis had already recorded in 1966 for his LP Johnny Mathis Sings. Although the Kaempfert tribute was similar to recent Mathis albums in that he was mainly covering songs made popular by other singers, it was absent of hits from the 12 months previous to its release that had become the pattern of his output at this point. The latest US chartings of any of the Kaempfert compositions as of this album's debut came from 1967 recordings of "Lady" by Jack Jones and "The Lady Smiles" by Matt Monro.
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.
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.
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.
The Classic Christmas Album is a Christmas compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 7, 2014, by Columbia Records and includes two 1961 recordings that were previously unavailable: "Ol' Kris Kringle" and the original version of the title track from his 1969 Christmas album Give Me Your Love for Christmas. Three other songs make their debut on compact disc as of this release, and two other non-album singles can be counted among the rarities here. The collection also includes a selection or two from several of Mathis's Christmas studio albums—"Sleigh Ride" from Merry Christmas, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from Sounds of Christmas, "Calypso Noel" from Give Me Your Love for Christmas, "The Christmas Waltz" and "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" from Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis, and "Home for the Holidays" from Sending You a Little Christmas—as well as his duet with Bette Midler from her 2006 holiday album Cool Yule, which was a medley of "Winter Wonderland" and "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!".
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.
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.
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.
The Complete Christmas Collection 1958–2010 is a three-disc box set by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 2015 by Real Gone Music under license from Columbia Records. The set includes Mathis's five holiday albums from the period in their entirety: Merry Christmas, Sounds of Christmas, Give Me Your Love for Christmas, Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis, and The Christmas Album. It also compiles all of Mathis's holiday songs that were only released as singles, as well as thematically-appropriate tracks from his non-holiday albums: "When a Child Is Born" from I Only Have Eyes for You, the holiday version of "What a Wonderful World" from Let It Be Me, and his two recordings of "Ave Maria" from Good Night, Dear Lord, which bookend the set.
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.