Introduction: Johnny Mathis: A Legend in the Making
It takes a lot to become a legend in music, but Johnny Mathis lives up to almost any criteria one can think of. He is a musical pioneer who was among the first to record thematically coherent albums, including Christmas records, and his classic collection of hits,Johnny’s Greatest Hits (1958), that came out while he was still a very young man, started the trend of releasing anthologies of hits and is mentioned in theGuinness Book of World Records for its nine-and-a-half years run on theBillboard Top Albums Chart.
The recording industry has recognized Mathis’s contribution to music as well. Three of his songs have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (‘Chances Are,’ Misty’ and ‘It’s Not For Me To Say’) and he has received five Grammy nominations for his music. In 2003, the ultimate acknowledgement came when he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Recording Arts and Science.
When it comes to longevity, few artists are able to beat Johnny Mathis. He is the longest-running artist on Columbia Records, with over 17 million RIAA certified album and singles sold alone in the US. 86 years old, he is still touring and released his latest single in 2021.
A long life in the record business has resulted in many hits. Mathis has placed 50 songs onBillboard’s Adult Contemporary Chart and is the #6 all-time album artist in the history ofBillboard’s Pop Album Charts. Most impressive is perhaps how he has changed with the times and recorded music in multiple genres. Hearing the records chronologically is like experiencing the changing history of pop music unfolded through the perspective of one artist. Underlining his status as one of the major players in music, Mathis has been canonized by Columbia Records and is one of the privileged few popular artists to get the massive box set treatment (boxes with 40+ discs). This exclusive club includes Tony Bennett, Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, and Elvis Presley.
Culturally, Johnny Mathis also stands out. As Karen Heller writes in her profile of Mathis inThe Washington Post: ‘Long before the terms ‘multiracial’ and ‘gender-fluid’ came into vogue, Mathis owned those spaces. He was a man in the vanguard but performing as a most traditional artist, with a catalogue of classics and a 29-piece band.’1
Vincent L. Stephens wrote a lengthy article in three parts that covers Mathis’s complete recordings, except the singles.2 It’s an important reference for any discussion of Mathis’s music. Stephens categorizes Mathis’s music into different phases: 1. 1957-63: Signature sound. 2. 1963-67: Mathis @ Mercury. 3. 1967-77: The ‘covers’ era. 4. 1978-86: Mathis gets (adult) contemporary era. 5. 1986-present: Repertory singer. 6. 1980s Rarities. 7. 1958-2013: ‘Tis the Season: Johnny Mathis does Christmas!3
This book has separate chapters on the Global era and the Christmas albums as well, but otherwise, a different way of categorizing the music has been attempted. It’s relevant to stress that Mathis’s development happened as the result of collaboration. During his career, he has formed important musical relations with producers and arrangers. The importance of these relations is emphasized throughout the book, with chapters focusing on key collaborators in his career.
In contrast, little space is left for biographical inform
