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Media Type: CD
Artist: MATHIS,JOHNNY
Title: 16 MOST REQUESTED SONGS
Street Release Date: 01/01/1987
Domestic
Genre: VOCAL

Johnny Mathis's 2006 return to the spotlight was richly deserved, not because his career needed resurrecting--he's continued touring and recording for breathless fans well into his seventh decade--but because post-boomer generations shouldn't be allowed to roam the world asking "Johnny Who?" when his name gets mentioned. Mathis is that important an artist, and this compendium of his work, best thought of as a winking glance, does an able job of demonstrating why: "Chances Are," a slice of pop brilliance set to a piano with a broken heart, has always sounded as though it's been pulled off a silver platter. The Mathis voice--rich and deep at some turns, high and fragile at others, poured gold either way--seals it in timelessness; it's a pop scholar's very definition of a classic. "Wonderful! Wonderful!" throws off the same sparks to a lesser degree--delivery-wise, it's nearly impossible not to attach the word delightful, and overall it reeks of cultural importance. The rest of these songs add up to a case study in why Mathis matters: "Misty" may be dusty, but it still melts the heart. And "When Sunny Gets Blue," with its slow, sad strings, stings with Roy Orbison-caliber potency. Two previously unreleased tracks, "So Many Stars," produced by Sergio Mendes, and "The Shadow of Your Smile," with Dave Koz and Chris Botti, shine a light on Mathis's more recent work. It holds up brilliantly (not easy, considering Mathis's clean, distinctive voice). It also accounts, probably, for this disc's closing track--Ray Charles wouldn't have recorded his late-career rendition of "Over the Rainbow" with just anybody. If you didn't hear it on Genius Loves Company, hear it here. --Tammy La Gorce

For Let It Be Me: Mathis in Nashville, Johnny assembled a handpicked group of the finest musicians in Nashville to record an album that is devoid of modern studio tricks. The tracks which include What a Wonderful World featuring Lane Brody and Let it be me featuring Alison Krauss were recorded live in the studio over the course of a week. The approach to these country standards is sympathetic to the original arrangements, the manner in which the players musically interrelate allows for a refreshing openness and transparency that supports, but never overwhelms the vocal performance. Mathis in Nashville makes the point that sometimes simplicity is the ultimate in sophistication.

2009 holiday reissue. Merry Christmas was Johnny Mathis' seventh studio album for the Columbia label and his first of Christmas material. Featuring the orchestra of Percy Faith, the album would peak at #3 on Billboard's Christmas album chart and make a return appearance for the next 11 years. Pickwick.

Digitally remastered edition of this 1959 album from the Pop vocalist. One of the most successful albums of Johnny Mathis' long and fruitful career, Heavenly is topped in sales by only Johnny's Greatest Hits and the Merry Christmas albums. The main reason for the success of Heavenly is that it is pure Johnny Mathis; a smattering of standards mixed in with relatively new material, all performed to perfection by Johnny and the orchestra. Hallmark. 2010.

2010 two CD collection. The last and most successful ballad singer to emerge from the late `50s, Johnny Mathis boasts a career that spans over 50 years and he is still as popular as ever. Features a mixture of hits, singles and album tracks including 'Wonderful, Wonderful', 'It's Not For Me To Say' and his first number one 'Chances Are'. With more than 350 million records sold worldwide Johnny Mathis has stood the test of time outlasting many other artists. Jasmine.

UK twofer combines the enduring pop vocalist's 1957 & 1958 albums.