I tend to link Johnny Mathis with Judy Collins and Christopher Cross in my mind. All three are "bel canto" pop singers - singers with such wonderful voices that they often showcase their vocal chords at the expense of the song.
Still, if Mathis' easy, lilting tenor lacks Sinatra's guts and feeling, he has spent his career drawing passion out of his listeners. More people have likely been kissed while listening to Johnny Mathis than any other singer in history. He didn't sing "Young Love," he created it.And this new, four-CD set may be more Mathis than the heart can bear. Given the raw, edgy quality of so many pop vocalists today, this collection sounds downright sweet. You might not want to hear all four CDs back-to-back without some insulin handy.
On the other hand, anyone who likes to walk down memory lane can do a lot worse for company than Johnny Mathis. And all the heart-stoppers are here - all 87 of them. They range from the earliest cuts when Mathis was still finding his personal style (everything from jazz vocals to the lush "Wonderful! Wonderful!") down to a career of show tunes ("Maria," "Tonight," "Small World," "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face"), some Cole Porter covers and then the mood tunes that often played behind the credits of big budget Hollywood movies ("The Last Time I Felt Like This" from "Same Time Next Year," for example).
Yes, the Mathis super-sentimental versions of "Feelings," "Misty" and "The Twelfth of Never" are here as well. But what makes them richer on this go-around is a bonus of insider information about the songs and composers. Like rare postage stamps, good pop songs gain in value when they have an interesting history. Here are a couple of tidbits I picked up by reading the enclosed catalog.
- The music for "It's All in the Game" was written by Gates Dawes, a former vice president of the United States. Dawes won the Nobel Peace Prize, though he's likely better remembered for this song.
- Mathis didn't know that Stephen Sondheim - the Mahler of the Broadway musical - had song-writing credits on "Small World." Good thing, since Mathis changed the melody around in the studio to suit himself.
- "What'll I Do?" by Irving Berlin was the first song Mathis learned from his father. He'd been working on breath control, so for the recording he sang whole verses in one breath.
- Almost none of the songs Mathis is known for today made it into the Top 10. "Wonderful! Wonderful!" peaked at No. 14; "Small World" never got above No. 20 and his famous version of "Maria" from "West Side Story" topped out at No. 78.
In the end, if your past life is tied to the music of Mathis in any way, this collection will bring it back for you. If it's not, this is the definitive "get acquainted" set.