If you don’t have a handful of Johnny Mathis tunes buzzing around your head, you’re life is a bit sadder for the fact. He was THE soft and soulful crooner in the 60s, with tunes like “Chances Are” and “Misty” being soundtracks to your soul. During his run at Columbia Records, Mathis founded his own production company called Global Records, and from 1963-67 released some of the most personal and hip material of his career. This 13 disc set has all of the original releases in their sleeves along with a previously “lost” album of Broadway show tunes and a couple of discs that have singles and previously unreleased songs. The collection is a vocal feast of smooth jazz vocals before it was “smooth.”
The 1963 Sounds of Christmas is absolutely perfect for this time of year, with his take of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” being one of the top versions ever. Producer Don Costa brings out the best in Mathis with a haunting read of “Laura” on the 1964 Tender is the Night album, while in the same year his delivery of “Camelot” and “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” from the Wonderful World of Make Believe are filled with wanderlust. He finished the productive year with a third album This is Love which gets melodramatic with “More” but gentle on “The Touch of Your Lips.” A guaranteed guilty pleasure will be the 1965 concept album “Ole’” which has Mathis doing some wonderful ,wonderful takes of “Tres Palabras” and “Manha De Carnival” as well as a bel canto delivery of “ Granada” that will bring the house down. A true classic is the album The Shadow of Your Smile from 1966 with mathis delving into the Beatles songbook on “Michelle” as well as a sleek read of “A Taste of Honey” arranged by guitarist John Pisano. The collection of show tunes on the “lost” Broadway album includes a kicker of a “Get Out of Town” and a hip “Ridin’ High.” The discs of 45 rpm singles collected from these years show how far we’ve fallen in Western Civilization, as back in this era a guy with a unique voice and style could actually be popular without resorting to gimmicks of production or fowl language. Echoes of an era that still resonate.
Legacy Recordings