PRESENTS

Welcome to the Grapevine News. This section of the Mathis Chronicles contains my views about anything I find or am sent about Johnny Mathis on the 'net and elsewhere, that isn't being discussed by any "official" sites. Occasionally, I report on things not directly related to Mathis but have a connection, may even make up a question to ask myself and try to answer. Readers are welcome to share their news here also. So enjoy and thanks for coming.

VOL. 1 NO. 13 - SEPTEMBER 9, 2002

ROBBIE BUCHANAN: Word on the street is that producer Robbie Buchanan will be at the helm for some of the Christmas songs on the new Johnny Mathis holiday album, called simply The Christmas Album. So who's this guy? Well, he's a Canadian keyboard player, songwriter, producer, and arranger; in fact, he played the keyboard man in the movie "The Rose" starring Bette Midler. A friend of his was in the band Skylark, so I would think he'd HAVE to know David Foster! A quick glance of his discography shows he's obviously a popular session man who has worked with darn near everybody, including Johnny Mathis! He's listed as Vocal Production Assistant on Mathis on Broadway (imagine being in charge of THAT voice), and was keyboard man for the Right From the Heart sessions. It sounds as if his is a very "new-age" sound; I can't find any evidence of him touching a real piano, at least in the studio. He's a Dove Award winner for his work on Sandi Patty's Artist of My Soul. He'd produced It Must Have Been The Mistletoe for Barbra Streisand's Christmas album, and he's apparently worked on many other artists' holiday albums and songs as well. In fact, his resumé is about two miles long. Visit his site if you want to see it.

Speaking of the CD itself, you can see a picture of its front and back cover on JohnnyMathis.com . As you'll see after the pictures *finally* load, the CD is mixing traditional with contemporary. He's STILL not doing Deck the Hall, and to my horror there are only 12 songs on it. That's really disgusting in this day and age, looks like another half-hour CD they'll want $16-20 bucks for. I really am at a loss as to why they do this. Columbia is not showing a release date, but they only do about one month in advance, and most stores start selling their holiday releases in October, so either check Columbia's site or stay tuned for further developments.

DERRICK CAMERON: Another site you might want to check out is that of comedian Derrick Cameron . He'll be in Pittsburgh with Johnny Mathis on the 29th and 30th. He's got an album for sale on his site (something I wish Mathis would do) if you like his humor. Word on the street is he's far-and-away the best comedian Mathis has used in a long while, so I hope he can land a regular gig with him!

TOUR BUS: Next concert stop, Pittsburgh!

©2002 Iris Gross Georg. All rights reserved.

Back to the Mathis Chronicles