Johnny Mathis 60th +1 Anniversary Classic Singles&Favorite Songs
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Description
60th + 1 Anniversary: Classic Singles & Favorite Songs kicks off with a tour through Johnny’s early, groundbreaking recordings at Columbia Records as well as his brief sojourn to Mercury Records, where he formed his own Global Records production company. Disc One concentrates on the original mono single versions (a number of which are new to CD) of Mathis classics recorded in the 1950s and 1960s plus a smattering of Mathis’ own favorite album tracks from the era. In addition to such perennials as “Misty,” “Wonderful! Wonderful!,” “It’s Not for Me to Say,” “Chances Are,” and “Maria” as audiences first heard them on mono 45 RPM records, this disc boasts CD premieres of the rare 1963 B-side “Come Back,” the 1966 U.K.-only His Master’s Voice recording of the Man of La Mancha standard “The Impossible Dream,” and Johnny’s duet with The Young Americans on The Sherman Brothers’ Academy Award-winning “Chim Chim Cher-ee” from Mary Poppins.
Disc Two spans the period of 1969-1976, in which Johnny wrapped his velvet pipes around contemporary pop hits of the day, released his first collaboration with Philadelphia soul maestro Thom Bell, and scored his first U.K. Number One with “Soleado (When a Child is Born).” Johnny’s versatility and international acclaim is underscored by the inclusion – a U.S. CD first – of his rare Spanish rendition of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “(They Long to Be) Close to You.” Three songs from the Bell-produced I’m Coming Home are featured in their single mixes, including the CD premiere of a unique edit of the anthemic “Life is a Song Worth Singing.” Mathis’ performance of Bell’s shimmering “You’re as Right as Rain” further showcases their close musical relationship. A previously unreleased recording of the ballad “The Way of Love,” so closely identified with Cher, makes its debut here.
Disc Three (1976-1984) begins with two selections from Mathis and Bell’s follow-up album, Mathis Is, before chronicling Johnny’s massive chart-topper “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late,” a duet with Deniece Williams, and his subsequent pairings with Williams (a revival of the Motown staple “You’re All I Need to Get By” and the Philly soul scorcher “Love Won’t Let Me Wait”), Jane Olivor (Marvin Hamlisch and the Bergmans’ Academy Award-nominated “The Last Time I Felt Like This”), Dionne Warwick (“Friends in Love”), and Angela Bofill (“You’re a Special Part of Me”). This disc also presents numerous standards sung in Johnny’s imitable fashion (a disco take on “Begin the Beguine,” “As Time Goes By,” “Orange Colored Sky,” “Nature Boy”) as well as his original recording of Michael Jackson and Paul Anka’s floor-filling “Love Never Felt So Good,” reinvented by the late Jackson and Justin Timberlake as a chart-topping hit in 2014. Paul Williams and the Bergmans’ previously unreleased “The One and Only” premieres on this disc.
The fourth and final disc in this set begins with the new-to-CD single mix of “Simple” from 1984 and takes listeners through the present day, closing with “What a Wonderful World,” subtly reflecting on Johnny’s favorite time of the year: Christmas. Along the way, the disc features his 1988 hit version of Little Anthony and The Imperials’ “I’m On the Outside Looking In,” plus three collaborative tracks with the late, great Henry Mancini from their salute to The Hollywood Musicals, two duets with Dionne Warwick (“Two Strong Hearts” and “Who’s Counting Heartaches”) and a beautiful performance with Yolanda Adams of Thom Bell and Linda Creed’s “You Make Me Feel Brand New.” Selections are also spotlighted from Mathis’ concept album tributes to songwriters Duke Ellington and Diane Warren and to the music of Broadway and Nashville.
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