The Wonderful World of Make Believe | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 10, 1964 [1] | |||
Recorded | February 7, 1964– February 10, 1964 [1] [2] at United Recording Studios Hollywood, California [3] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 39:14 | |||
Label | Mercury | |||
Producer | Johnny Mathis [1] | |||
Johnny Mathis chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | link |
Billboard | positive [5] |
The Wonderful World of Make Believe is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Mercury Records on July 10, 1964, [2] and described by Greg Adams of Allmusic, who wrote, "The theme is fantasy, from imaginary locations ('Camelot', 'Shangri-La') to fanciful yearnings ('I'm Always Chasing Rainbows', 'When You Wish Upon a Star') to vague, idealized realms ('Beyond the Sea', 'Beyond the Blue Horizon')." [4]
The album debuted on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated July 25, 1964, and reached number 75 during its 10 weeks there. [6]
This project was released on compact disc for the first time as one of two albums in a two-CD set by Sony Music Entertainment on August 28, 2012, the other album being Mathis's previous studio LP, Tender Is the Night . [7] The Wonderful World of Make Believe was also included in Sony's Mathis box set The Complete Global Albums Collection , which was released on November 17, 2014. [8]
Adams contrasts the approach of this album to his singles of the period. "Mercury didn't tamper with Mathis's established style on this album (unlike his first singles for the label, which seemed geared toward a younger audience), so the arrangements are in keeping with his Columbia work, if a bit more swirly and ornate as the material seemed to require." [4] He concludes that this project "is strictly an album effort -- no standout single tracks here -- but it's an enticingly dreamy effort and Mathis sings superbly." [4]
Billboard especially appreciated the concept and team at work here: "A fine idea, beautifully performed by Mathis with able support from Allyn Ferguson's arrangements and Jack Feierman's orchestration." [5]
"Shangri-La" is a popular song written by bandleader Matty Malneck and Robert Maxwell in 1946 with lyrics by Carl Sigman.
Sounds of Christmas is the second holiday-themed album by vocalist Johnny Mathis and the first of his 11 studio projects for Mercury Records. His first yuletide effort, 1958's Merry Christmas, relied heavily on popular holiday carols and standards, but this 1963 release also included two new songs as well as covers of some lesser-known recordings by Andy Williams and Bing Crosby.
Wonderful, Wonderful is the second album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis. It was released on July 8, 1957, on the Columbia Records label but does not include his hit song of the same name or any of his songs that were released as singles that year. The liner notes on the back of the original album cover proclaim that "he stamps as his very own such familiar rhythm tunes as 'Too Close for Comfort' and 'That Old Black Magic', injects new life in well-known ballads such as 'All Through the Night', gives new hearings to several fine standards that have been neglected in recent years, and even introduces a brand new ballad ."
Heavenly is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 10, 1959, by Columbia Records and marked his return to recording ballads with orchestral accompaniment. Along with the material that others had covered before are two new songs: the title track and "I'll Be Easy to Find".
Johnny is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on July 15, 1963, by Columbia Records and later described on Allmusic as "a nice blend of standards, show tunes and then-new compositions."
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".
Tender Is the Night is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Mercury Records on January 23, 1964 and included selections from stage and screen as well as two new songs from "Fly Me to the Moon" composer Bart Howard.
This Is Love is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis, released by Mercury Records on September 18, 1964. The album includes three covers of Nat King Cole recordings, as well as two more songs from "Fly Me to the Moon" composer Bart Howard.
Olé is a Latin American album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Mercury Records in November 1964 and includes Spanish-language versions of English-language chart hits by Frank Sinatra ("Granada") and Sarah Vaughan ("Serenata") as well as the signature song of the I Love Lucy character Ricky Ricardo that was played by Desi Arnaz ("Babalu").
Love Is Everything is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Mercury Records on March 5, 1965, and included covers of hit songs from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s as well as new songs from the composers of "Fly Me to the Moon", "What Will Mary Say", and "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year".
The Sweetheart Tree is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Mercury Records on September 30, 1965, and included songs associated with Italy, France, Ireland, and Scotland as well as several selections, such as "I'll Close My Eyes" and "The Very Thought of You", from English composers.
So Nice is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis released through Mercury Records on September 16, 1966. 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 and Brazil and offers a rendition of a 1944 hit record as part of the mix.
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.
People is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the summer of 1969 by Columbia Records at the same time as another Mathis compilation, The Impossible Dream. Both releases include ten tracks from albums that he recorded during his time with Mercury Records between 1963 and 1967.
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.
Gold: A 50th Anniversary Christmas Celebration is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 19, 2006, by Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings. It includes selections from four of the first five Christmas albums that he had recorded: Merry Christmas, Sounds of Christmas, Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis, and The Christmas Album. Two tracks that were recorded with other artists are also included: "O Tannenbaum", which comes from Mannheim Steamroller's 2001 album Christmas Extraordinaire, and a medley duet of "Winter Wonderland" and "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" with Bette Midler from her 2006 holiday album Cool Yule.
Broadway is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was recorded in 1964 but not released by his then record label Mercury Records. The project first became commercially available on August 28, 2012, when Sony Music Entertainment released it as one of two albums on one compact disc, the other album being his 1965 LP Love Is Everything. Broadway was also included in Sony's Mathis box set The Complete Global Albums Collection, which was released on November 17, 2014.
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.
Johnny Mathis has recorded 73 studio albums, 18 of which achieved sales of 500,000 units and were awarded Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. Five of his greatest hits albums also accomplished this, and of these 18 Gold albums, six eventually went Platinum by reaching sales of one million copies. In 1999, sales figures totaled five million for his first holiday LP, Merry Christmas, and three million for Johnny's Greatest Hits, a 1958 collection that has been described as the "original greatest-hits package" and once held the record for most weeks on Billboard magazine's album chart with a total of 490. His second longest album chart run was the 295 weeks belonging to his Platinum 1959 album Heavenly, which gave him five weeks in the top spot. In a ranking of the top album artists of the last half of the 1950s in terms of Billboard chart performance, he comes in at number two, for the 1960s, number 10, and for the period from 1955 to 2009 he is at number six.