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. 4 NO. 4 - MARCH 28, 2005

CONGRATULATIONS! Big night at the Grammy Awards earlier this month; Victor Vanacore won for his gorgeous arrangement of the duet "Over The Rainbow" featuring the late Ray Charles and Johnny Mathis. This award-winning arrangement is of course featured on Mathis' new album of standards, Isn't It Romantic, which the author hopes will come away with a Grammy of its own, having first appeared on Brother Ray's final album, Genius Loves Company. Mathis didn't come away empty-handed, though. Although "Over The Rainbow"'s award goes to the arranger and not to Mathis, he still gets to add one more Grammy to his collection by virtue of the fact that he was one of the participating artists on the Grammy-winning Album of the Year. GRAMMY.com clearly states, "Album Of The Year: (Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s)/Mixer(s) & Mastering Engineer(s), if other than the artist.) " and that this year's award went to Genius Loves Company: Ray Charles and Various Artists. In fact, I'm a little surprised Columbia doesn't mention this in their latest press release congratulating their winning artists. So good job Johnny and Ray! I wish The Genius himself could have seen the love he was given that night. There's a beautiful tribute page to Brother Ray at www.geniuslovescompany.com.

ALTERNATE COVER?: The strange album cover to Isn't It Romantic, featured on Sony's and Columbia's website is a mystery. That photo is nowhere to be found on the actual CD. Perhaps it's the cover to the imported version? Speculation, of course, but I remember a time when the American release of a Mathis album was given a different cover, and sometimes a different title, than the one released overseas and in Latin America. Makes absolutely no sense to do that these days, since downloads are the norm, and album art is pretty much bypassed anyway. At any rate, I much prefer the one they ultimately chose, and even the inside photo could have been used successfully. [I've even made a mockup of the cover with that photo to see how it would look. It's breathtaking.]

I have to say, too, that executive producer Jay Landers' liner notes are exquisitely written. I would nominate them for next year's Grammy in that category, if I were of course allowed to even vote! They give the best description of a recording session with Johnny Mathis as I've ever read.

GOODBYE, AND THANKS: Songwriter Jack Segal has died. He wrote the song, "When Sunny Gets Blue", the musical weather report that was made pretty popular by Johnny Mathis in 1962 and by Mel Torme and Nat King Cole before that. Because of Johnny's Greatest Hits and the endless spawn of compilations that followed it, that song will continue to make money for Mr. Segal for a very long time.

ON THE RADIO: Fans of easy listening, as was called the stuff of Mathis' early career, will enjoy a new Internet radio station called The Breeze. This month's artist is in fact, Johnny Mathis.

UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME: I heard a snippet of news regarding Luther Vandross the other day. Luther's good friend Fonzi Thorton said in a recent NPR interview that Luther is in good spirits and continues to work toward improvement. Thank you God. It's hard to believe, but next month it will have been two years since the stroke. I remember the evening I got the news like it was yesterday. It was a Thursday. Anyway, I have gone to Oprah.com, and have sent the producers a request that Oprah re-visit Luther so that his fans can see him again. In the meantime, his OTHER fans can easily do the same, and please continue to Luther some love and encouragement, won't you? He believes in the power of love, as well as the power of prayer, and so do I! Luther, you're going to make it, if just a little bit at a time, so don't give up!

TOUR BUS: The bus stops next in Pala, California and Lancaster, Pennsylvania (85 miles north of Baltimore). Visit See Mathis Live! for details.

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