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 Internet and elsewhere, that had been overlooked by the "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 experiences here also. So enjoy and thanks for coming.

VOL. 3 NO. 4 - MAY 20, 2004

OUT WITH THE OLD(ER): For the longest time, I considered NPR one of the best things ever invented for radio. I remember the cool interview Weekend Edition's Liane Hansen did on Johnny Mathis four years ago. Everybody who was anybody has been interviewed at one time on any of the various shows featured on the network, from the wonderful Diane Rehm Show to Soundprint. It's actually kind of a dream of mine to do a radio documentary that will be featured on public radio someday.

However, I was among the many people outraged by the ouster of broadcast legend Bob Edward from the show he helped get off the ground, NPR's Morning Edition. It's been a couple of weeks now, and I'm trying to be objective about it, if not resigned to it. The thing is, NPR wanted Morning Edition to be so different, hence the change. So now instead of Mr. Edwards, you've got Renee Montagne and Steve Inskeep. What the hell's different about it? I'm not getting any fireworks listening to two people narrate the news rather than one. This tells me that, for some reason, they had a beef with Bob Edwards, who was as surprised as anyone about his demotion to "senior correspondent". It's a sad situation. It makes me wonder, too, whether they did the same thing to Juan Williams, who inherited the same dubious title after leaving (or being kicked off, whatever the case) Talk of the Nation in favor of Neal Conan.

In any case, I don't like what's happening to NPR. I've always been a fan of public television and public radio. But if these institutions start acting like the for-profit corporations jacking stuff around for the sake of ratings and forgetting about integrity, they can start counting on less support from me in the future.

CONGRATULATIONS: To the new married couples in Massachusetts this week! It's an important big step. It's only a matter of time when the country sees the first gay divorcee! At that time, everybody really WILL have equal rights.

I wonder, though, if marriage hadn't already become a bit like voting. During the turn of the last century, a significant percentage of the population couldn't vote, but now, after having worked so hard for the right, few partake anymore due to the corruption, apathy, and other assorted reasons. Where marriage is concerned, the paper's only part of it, it's the all-important double income, along with the tax, ownership, and inheritance issues that must also be recognized. Most people I know are married for just those reasons...whether or not one actually loves or even likes their partner seems rather secondary.

Me, I personally feel that you've got to be crazy to want to even get into it at all. Never mind the loss of freedom this entails. When nuns renounce the secular world for the monastic life they become "brides of Christ" and hand over their entire bank account to "the Church". You damn near do the same thing when you become anybody else's bride; and honey, ain't no man or woman in the world worth that! Moving on...

NO MORE TRACK & FIELD: Word on the street is that the Johnny Mathis International Track Meet has seen it's final event, as the track and field program at San Francisco State University has been eliminated due to budget cuts (a referendum to raise student fees to support campus athletics failed). At one time, high-jumper Mathis held the school record at 6 feet, 5.25 inches, and the track meet was named for him 23 years ago. It's kind of a sad end to a wonderful honor for one of the college's one-time shining stars.

THE ESSENTIAL JOHNNY MATHIS: God love 'em, the Sony Family has released yet another compilation, The Essential Johnny Mathis, with all the same caca-doodle-doo from the previous ones. I will say, though, the cover art is beautiful, featuring a black and white photo of Johnny Mathis from about 10 years ago, I'd say. You know, believe it or not, Johnny Mathis' only non-holiday studio album of the decade, Mathis On Broadway, is now four years old. I think it might be time to admit that as far as the studio is concerned, Johnny Mathis is history, with only the occasional guest appearance on someone else's recording, such as the one Ray Charles to be released later this year (probably around Christmas). With that having been said, though, there are still two things that I would like to see in the way of properly honoring this still-living legend. I would like to see a tastefully-done, not slapped-together boxed set being prepared for his 50th Anniversary in 2006, and I would like it to include NEW material of some kind...either previously unreleased or brand new studio work. (Maybe at long last the Brazilian sessions would make its way in there somehow!) I would invite a grassroots campaign to convince Sony to do just that!

On a lighter note, Legacy Recordings has announced a sweepstakes sponsored by Parents.com. I'm posting a link to the entry form. You can register to win a Sony Hi-Fi system plus 5 CDs, one of which is the Essential Johnny Mathis set. Even though it's considered a Mother's Day Sweepstakes, you can enter until May 26. Also, when you click on the Mathis album, it directs you to Sony's Music store, where they have a special of their own: buy the EJM and get a Live By Request DVD free!

MAKING MATHIS PROUD AT LAST: Check out the web site Sony's done for Johnny Mathis. VERY tasteful, looks like a professional did it for a change. It's about time someone over there took pride in their work and had respect for the work of Johnny Mathis, and created a web page that reflected that respect. Such an endearing photo of the young Mathis in the bio section, more than likely taken before I was born!

DIONNE: Say what you want to about her psychic friends affiliation, Dionne Warwick has always been loyal to Johnny Mathis. A friend tells me she was on late night recently (well after my bedtime, anyway), and mentioned him. So, in return, I'd like to mention that Ms. Warwick has written her first-ever book, My Point of View, which contains a brand new CD and over 200 stories of her life as a singer. At $60, it costs a small fortune, and it's not yet available in the United States.

SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR: The DVD release was April 6 for the 1978 film starring Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn, and featuring a soundtrack by Johnny Mathis and Jane Olivor. This movie earned several Academy Award nominations in 1979: one for Best Actress Ellen Burstyn; one for Best Writing Adapted Screenplay; one for Best Cinematography, and the Mathis/Oliver song, The Last Time I Felt Like This, was nominated for Best Music Song. When I get it in from Netflix I'll be able to say whether there's anything interesting in it as far as extras; but just from a glance, it doesn't look like there's any background material on the soundtrack, unfortunately.

BIG CITY DICK: A man with a fanatical but harmless interest in Johnny Mathis won the audience award at the Slamdance Festival, an independent movie festival for first-time producers that competes obliquely with the more popular Sundance Festival in Utah during February. The film, called"Big City Dick: Richard Peterson's First Movie" It's being shown at the San Francisco Documentary Film Festival this weekend (the 15th).

GREAT ARTICLE: Read this article. It's by a concert reviewer who, even though basically unfamiliar with Mathis' work, actually seemed to get what Mathis does in concert, without using the same tired words you see in all such reviews. It's very refreshing.

UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME: As you know, I've been doing this Lutherwatch for a year now. And as great as it was to finally see and hear Luther on the Grammy Awards, I've got to say that seeing him on the Oprah show recently was a tough pill to swallow. It was very sobering to see the extent of his injury, but I'm heartened by the fact that he's fighting and confident and, frankly, alive, and that as far as he's concerned, he will be singing and performing again someday. He told Oprah he'll be "singing at 80". Sigh. Just like Johnny Mathis! Join me in sending even more love and encouragement his way. He believes in the power of love, as well as the power of prayer, and so do I! Keep fighting, Luther!

TOUR BUS: The bus stops next in Albany, New York and Vienna, Virginia. GOOD NEWS! Mathis returns to San Francisco on July 10! Visit See Mathis Live! for details.

©2002, 2003, 2004 Iris Gross Georg. All rights reserved. Absolutely NO part of this website may be used without my written permission.

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