Johnny Mathis
John Royce Mathis
BORN: September 30, 1935, Gilmer, TX
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 adult contemporary
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 tunes and traditional favorites during the
'60s, he began incorporating soft rock by the '70s and remained a popular
concert attraction well into the '90s.
Unsurprisingly, given his emphasis on long sustained notes and heavy vibrato,
Johnny Mathis studied with an opera coach prior to his teenage years, and
was almost lured into the profession; his other inspirations were the smoother
crossover 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
Singalong 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 Wonderful, Wonderful spawned a Top 20 hit later in 1957 with its title
track, 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 adult contemporary listeners.
Though he charted consistently, 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 tunes and traditional
pop into soft 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 -- among them 1998's Because You Loved Me:
Songs of Diane Warren and 2000's Johnny Mathis on Broadway. ~ John Bush,
All Music Guide