The Johnny Mathis we know is stylish, soft-voiced and has occasional bits of what approximates jazz singing, though this does not seem to be an immediate concern. But there was a time when Johnny's singing was thoroughly jazz oriented, so naturally arrangers were chosen who had a thorough command of the jazz idiom, as well as the ability to write imaginatively for a pop vocalist.
Jazz is not profitable, he said. Imade a jazz album first, then decided to make a pop single. I decided to go with the one that clicked. The pop side clicked and I went that way. This album contains the first recordings of a 19-year-old San Francisco-born singer who, soon after his professional debut in 1955, became unanimously considered the most outstanding new singing star of his generation.
Tracklist
Total time: 55:04 min.
1. Street Of Dreams (S.Lewis-V.young/Arr. Teo Macero) 2:14
2. Easy To Love (Cole Porter/Arr. Bill Evans) 2:28
3. Prelude To A Kiss (Mills-Gordon-Ellington/Arr. John Lewis) 4:26
4. Caravan (Mills-Ellington-Tizol/Arr. Teo Macero) 3:55
5. Fly Me To The Moon (Bart Howard/Arr. John Lewis) 3:51
6. Love, Your Spell Is Everywhere (Janis-Goulding/Arr. Gil Evans) 2:59
7. Autumn In Rome (Cash-Weston-cicognini/Arr. Manny Albam) 3:55
8. Star Eyes (Raye-De Paul/Arr. Bob Prince) 2:47
9. It Might As Well Be Spring (Hammerstein II-Rodgers/Arr. Gil Evans) 4:46
10. Babalu (Ernesto Lecuano/Arr. teo Macero) 2:47
11. Cabin In The Sky (Latouche-V.Duke/Arr. Manny Albam) 2:55
12. Angel Eyes (Brent-Dennis/Arr. Bob Prince) 4:19
13. Day In, Day Out (Bloom-Mercer/Arr.Bob Prince) 2:08
14. Looking At You (Cole Porter/Arr. Bob Prince) 2:17
15. Too Close For Comfort (Book-Holofcener-Weiss/Arr. Bob Prince) 2:34
16. When Sunny Gets Blue (Fisher-Segal/Arr. Ray Conniff) 2:40
17. Wonderful! Wonderful! (B.Raleigh-S.Edward/Arr. ray Conniff) 2:48
Album details
Recorded in New York City, 1956.
Personnel includes:
Art Farmer, Bernie Glow, Jimmy Maxwell, Buck Clayton, Nick Travis(tp), Ray Beckenstein, Robert Di Domenica, James Pellerite (fl), Danny Bank (fl, bars), J.J. Johnson, Eddie Bert (tb), Tom Mitchell (btb), Ben Harrod, Harry Shulman (oboe), Tony Scott (cl), Jack Kreiselman (bcl), Hal McKusick (cl, as), Phil Woods, John La Porta (as), Sol Schlinger (bars), Manuel Zegler (bassoon), Al Richman, Gunther Shuller, George Nadaf (frh), Don Butterfield, John Barber (tuba), Janet Putnam (harp), Barry Galbraith, Herb Ellis (g), Wally Cirillo, Eddie Costa, Hank Jones, Gerry Citron, John Lewis (p), Teddy Kotick, Milt Hinton, Bill Pemberton, Teddy Kotick, Ray Brown (b), Ed Shaughnessy, Osie Johnson, Billy Exiner, Joe Chiz Harris, Connie Kay (d), Bob Prince (bongo and percussion).
