KWXY Presents ● Music and an Interview with Johnny Mathis

The Essential Johnny Mathis Album Cover - 2004 Columbia Records

Johnny Mathis is a singer/songwriter with numerous gold or platinum albums to his credit with seventy-three of those albums making the Billboard album charts.  One of those albums, 1958’s Johnny’s Greatest Hits, spent 490 continuous weeks – or nearly ten years - on the Top Albums chart, earning it a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.  The record was eventually bested by rock band Pink Floyd, whose 1973 release, The Dark Side of the Moon, reached its 491st consecutive week in October 1983. 

Johnny Mathis was born “John Royce Mathis” on September 30, 1935 in Gilmer, Texas to parents Clem and Mildred.  The family moved to San Francisco, California when Mathis was still a small boy where he grew up in the city’s Richmond district.  When Mathis was age eight, his father, a vaudeville singer and pianist, recognized his son’s musical talent and purchased a used upright piano.  The instrument was too big to fit through the front door of their home, so Mathis watched his father disassemble the piano overnight and reassemble it in their basement apartment.   

Mathis soon studied with vocal teacher Connie Cox in exchange for work around her house; he went on to study scales and exercises as well as both classical and opera singing.  He later became a star athlete at San Francisco’s George Washington High School and in 1954, he enrolled at San Francisco State College on an athletic scholarship; the school is known today known as San Francisco State University.  Mathis became one of the leading high jumpers in the area, setting a record of 6’, 5.5”.  The jump still stands as one of the top in the college’s history and was only 3” short of the 1952 Olympic record.

Johnny Mathis - Publicity Photograph of Johnny Mathis 1960 MCA-Music Corporation of America

In 1955, Mathis came to the attention of the co-founder of the Black Hawk Club jazz venue in San Francisco, Helen Noga.  Noga became his music manager, got Mathis a weekend singing job at the 440 Club in San Francisco and brought him to the attention of popular music A&R manager, George Avakian of Columbia Records.  Avakian was vacationing in the area and Noga persuaded him to come hear Mathis after a number of phone calls.  Avakian wired Columbia with the message, “[h]ave found phenomenal 19-year-old boy who could go all the way.  Send blank contracts.” 

Torn between a chance to try out for the US Olympic Team as a high jumper or to go to New York City for his first recordings, Mathis’s father advised him to pursue a singing career.  His first album, Johnny Mathis:  A New Sound In Popular Song, was released in 1956.  On the advice of Columbia vice president/producer Mitch Miller, his second album, Wonderful, Wonderful was a softer, more romantic outing than his slow-selling debut. Two songs which are still among his most popular, “Wonderful! Wonderful!” (which did not appear on the album of the same name) and “It’s Not For Me to Say” were both recorded in 1956. 

An appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in the summer of 1957 bolstered his popularity, helping the single “Chances Are” from later that year reach gold record status.  1962 and 1963 brought two more Top 10 hits, “Gina” and “What Will Mary Say.”  After splitting with manager Helen Noga in 1964, Mathis established his own record production company, Jon Mat Records and Rojon Productions, Inc. to handle the other aspects of his career, including concerts, television appearances, etc.  Despite the ascendancy of The Beatles and album rock in the 1970s which slowed his career, the late 1970s was the beginning of a career renaissance. 

Johnny Mathis Singer, Songwriter, and Recording Artist – Publicity Photo

Today, Johnny Mathis remains active as a performer, philanthropist and a cook, publishing a cookbook titled Cooking for You Alone in 1982.  He is a noted amateur golfer with nine holes-in-one to his credit and hosts charity golf tournaments bearing his name in the US and UK.  He also holds a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and is an inductee in the Grammy Hall of Fame. 

Listen to Music and an Interview with Johnny Mathis today at 1pm on KWXY Music Radio 92.3FM ● 1340AM ● streaming at kwxy.com and ivoxradio.com