JOHNNY MATHIS
Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 04:19PM • Johnny Mathis' Classic Mercury Albums on CD for the First Time Ever
• Remastered from the Original Tapes by Mark Wilder at Battery Studios in NYC
• Liner Notes by Jim Ritz Feature an Exclusive Interview with Johnny Mathis
• Two Charting Albums from the End of Mathis' Tenure at Mercury Records Featuring Masterful Interpretations of Then-Current Pop, Stage & Screen Hits
JOHNNY MATHIS: So Nice/Johnny Mathis Sings CD
Johnny’s last two albums for the Mercury label marked the singer’s continued evolution towards the “cover” album format that was to serve him so well upon his return to Columbia, where he would sing the pop, stage and screen hits of the day instead of creating themed albums. For example, the centerpiece of So Nice (which hit #50 on the 1966 charts) was a three-song set from the then-current Broadway smash Man of La Mancha that Mathis had been performing live before the recording of the album; in fact, Johnny was among the first singers to cover songs from the musical. And Johnny Mathis Sings—which reached #103 on the 1967 album charts-- took its material from such disparate sources as the songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David (“Always Something There to Remind Me”), smash ‘60s films like Doctor Zhivago and High Time, the Broadway musical The Roar of the Greasepaint and the Beatles (“Eleanor Rigby”). Both albums make their CD debut here…Mathis expert Jim Ritz supplies the notes with fresh quotes from Johnny himself!
Songs:
So Nice
1. The Impossible Dream
2. I Will Wait For You
3. What The World Needs Now
4. Hurry! It's Lovely Up Here
5. Elusive Butterfly
6. So Nice (Samba de Verão)
7. Dulcinea
8. What Now My Love
9. Man Of La Mancha
10. The Music That Makes Me Dance
11. I Dream Of You
12. Baubles, Bangles And Beads
Johnny Mathis Sings
13. Saturday Sunshine
14. Lovers In New York
15. Eleanor Rigby
16. Sunny
17. Who Can I Turn To?
18. Strangers In The Night
19. Always Something There To Remind Me
20. Somewhere My Love
21. Who Can Say
22. I Wish You Love
23. The Second Time Around
24. Wake The Town And Tell The People