LOVE SONGS: Once again, Sony Music is teasing the fans of Johnny Mathis with a spattering of older songs compiled as part of a box set rather than releasing the songs with their original albums. Love Songs, not to be confused with the 1989 Mathis release by the same name, is a 3-CD collection of songs featuring Johnny Mathis, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Andy Williams.
The 3-Pak set, released April 24, 2001, consists of three dedicated discs, each to an artist and consisting of songs which describe the sappier side of life. The first disc contains ten Johnny Mathis songs, the majority of which have never been released on CD before, to my knowledge. They are representatives of the albums Johnny's Mood, Live It Up, Johnny, Swing Softly, Rapture, Wonderful Wonderful, and Faithfully. Of these, Swing Softly and Johnny have seen previous release on CD. Following is a breakdown of the songs with the albums they were originally released on:
ON WITH THE SHOW:
Tickets are on sale for the upcoming show June 14 with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra at the AmSouth Amphitheatre in the Nashville suburb of Antioch, Tennessee. This is apparently part of their "Legends of Music" series There is an 8-ticket limit with strict enforcement.
Tickets are on sale for the shows at the Silver Legacy Casino in Reno, Nevada. Prices are $50, $44, and $30; call (800) 687-8733 for details or use the online form.
Mathis returns to the Westbury Music Fair on July 20th & 21st. Tickets are on sale NOW online via Ticketmaster for these new dates.
Tickets are now on sale for the shows in Hyannis, Massachusetts, at the Cape Cod Melody Tent on Saturday, August 4 and Sunday, August 5. New Englanders can still buy tickets for the North Shore Music Theatre concert in Beverly, Massachusetts, north and east of Boston near Salem, on Wednesday, August 15 and Thursday, August 16.
Tickets for the concert in Saratoga, California (a suburb of San Jose) on Thursday, August 30th are on sale now. Since it's on a Thursday night, it's probably not a good gig for out-of-towners unless one no longer works for a living. There is a ticket limit (6) and prices are from $65-$100.
Two casino shows are set for October: Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut (don't ask where that is) on October 5th and 6th, and at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 19th and 20th. Tickets may not be available yet, call for details.
NEW CONCERT DATE FOR 2002! Ticketmaster shows a date for Jones Hall, Houston, Texas, on Thursday, February 7, 2002. Obviously tickets are not on sale yet, but I think the fact that he has started booking next year's shows and is still very much in demand is FANTASTIC!
Sorry, still no Canadian or other foreign dates that I can see. I'm not sure what's behind this apparent need to be well paid--out of character for someone who didn't used to care about money, but I think he's gotten the idea that the overseas gigs aren't going to be worth his while. I think I'd find some way to let Mathis know this is not the case, and that you'd like to hear him sing, too.
In the meantime, to those who have lived in the United States without having seen Johnny Mathis in concert, what's up with that? There is ample opportunity, so you don't have any excuse in the world. Mathis is one of a kind, and while he remains at the top of his class he's getting older, so if a date with Mathis isn't important enough, and you'd rather be home watching a TV sitcom, well, ultimately it's your loss.
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