Johnny Mathis
57 Shouts - 1,366,285 Scrobbles
Biography
One of the last and most popular in a long line of traditional male vocalists who emerged before the rock-dominated 1960s, Johnny Mathis concentrated on romantic readings of jazz and pop standards for the ever-shrinking contemporary classical audience of the '60s and '70s. Though he debuted with a flurry of singles chart activity, Mathis later made it big in the album market, where a dozen of his LPs hit gold or platinum and over 60 made the charts. While he concentrated on theme-oriented albums of show and traditional favorites during the '60s, he began incorporating rock by the '70s and remained a popular concert attraction well into the '90s.
Read More...Unsurprisingly, given his emphasis on long sustained notes and heavy vibrato, Mathis studied with an opera coach prior to his teenage years, and was almost lured into the profession; his other inspirations were the smoother jazz vocalists of the 1940s -- Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine, and Lena Horne. Mathis was an exceptional high-school athlete in San Francisco, but was wooed away from a college track scholarship and a potential spot on the Olympic squad by the chance to sing. He was signed to a management contract by club owner Helen Noga, who introduced the singer to George Avakian, jazz producer for Columbia Records. Avakian signed him and used orchestras conducted by Teo Macero, Gil Evans, and John Lewis to record Mathis' self-titled debut album in 1957. Despite the name talent and choice of standards, it was mostly ignored upon release.
Columbia A&R executive Mitch Miller -- known for his desperately pop-slanted Sing Along With Acid House Kings albums and TV show -- decided the only recourse was switching Mathis to Miller's brand of pop balladry, and the formula worked like a charm; the LP It's A Wonderful Life didn't include but was named after a Top 20 hit later in 1957, which was followed by the number five "It's Not for Me to Say" and his first number one, "Chances Are." From that point on, Johnny Mathis concentrated strictly on lush ballads for contemporary classical listeners.
Though he charted consistently, massive hit singles were rare for Johnny Mathis during the late '50s and '60s -- half of his career Top Ten output had occurred in 1957 alone -- so he chose to focus instead on the burgeoning album market, much like Frank Sinatra, his main rival during the late '50s as the most popular traditional male vocalist. Mathis moved away from show and traditional pop into rock during the '70s, and found his second number one single, "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late," in 1978. Recorded as a duet with Deniece Williams, the single prompted Mathis to begin trying duets with a variety of partners (including Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole, Gladys Knight, and Nana Mouskouri), though none of the singles enjoyed the success of the original.
Mathis continued to release and sell albums throughout the '90s -- his fifth decade of recording for Columbia -- and beyond, among them 1998's Because You Loved Me: Songs of Diane Warren and 2000's Mathis On Broadway. Mathis followed the Broadway album with 2002's The Sinatra Christmas Album and 2005's Isn't it Romantic: The Standards Album, both of which found the iconic vocalist in fine form. In 2008, Mathis released the Walter Afanasieff-produced and arranged A Night To Remember, his first straight-ahead adult contemporary album in over a decade. Let It Be Me - Mathis In Nashville, Mathis' first full-length album of country music, appeared in September of 2010. ~ John Bush, Rovi
Top Tracks
Total plays on Last.fm over the last 6 months- WHEN A CHILD IS BORN - (4:44) - 22,843 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.99 USD
7digital0.99 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
-
- Download This Track
Amazon MP31.29 USD
7digital1.29 USD
iTunes1.29 USD- Ringtone
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas - (2:14) - 20,855 playsLyricsIt's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go
Take a look in the five and ten glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
-
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
Sleigh Ride - (2:55) - 17,138 playsLyricsJust hear those sleigh bells jingle-ing, ring-ting-tingle-ing too
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you
Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling, "You Hoo"
Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you
Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, let's go, let's look at the show
-
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
Misty - (3:31) - 10,873 playsLyricsLook at me
I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree
And I feel like I'm clinging to a cloud
I can't understand
I get misty just holding your hand
-
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
Chances Are - (3:00) - 10,737 playsLyricsChances are, 'cause I wear a silly grin
The moment you come into view
Chances are you think that I'm in love with you
Just because my composure sort of slips
The moment that your lips meet mine
- Winter Wonderland - (3:13) - 10,167 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- It's Not For Me To Say - (3:04) - 9,423 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - (2:44) - 6,880 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP31.29 USD
7digital1.29 USD
iTunes1.29 USD- Ringtone
- Wonderful! Wonderful! - (2:50) - 6,051 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- A certain smile - (2:44) - 5,344 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- The Twelfth Of Never - (2:27) - 4,558 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - (2:46) - 5,380 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP3
7digital
iTunes- Ringtone
- White Christmas - (3:29) - 4,268 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Silver Bells - (3:30) - 4,732 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.99 USD
7digital1.29 USD
iTunes1.29 USD- Ringtone
- I'll Be Home For Christmas - (4:00) - 3,957 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- When Sunny Gets Blue - (2:41) - 2,758 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Wild Is The Wind - (2:28) - 2,718 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- Blue Christmas - (2:57) - 2,925 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP3
7digital
iTunes- Ringtone
- Maria - (3:46) - 1,887 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.99 USD
7digital0.99 USD
Juno1.49 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
- The First Noel - (3:44) - 1,906 plays
- Download This Track
Amazon MP30.89 USD
7digital0.99 USD
iTunes0.99 USD- Ringtone
From Radio.com
-
Steve Martin Is Bringing His Banjo To Town
August 10, 2011 -
Steve Popovich: Visitation Today
June 12, 2011 -
Ozzy Osbourne At The A.A.C. Tonight
January 20, 2011


Gene Autry
Perry Como
Burl Ives
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Percy Faith
Ray Conniff
Bing Crosby
Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin
Bing Crosby & Frank Sinatra
VAUGHN MONROE