"I know what they want. They love genuine, quality-type vocal sincerity. That means you've got to compete with singles, with a hit, you've to to be honest and sincere. The best thing I do is present my voice with lovely words, beautiful words, put my voice in the best perspective of the simplest possible background, with an absolutely naked quality of voice."
--Johnny Mathis, as told to  Rolling Stone magazine's Robert Meyers in a 1971 interview

It's all about the voice, the beauty of the voice, which stands alone as an instrument in its own right, which one must master, as one must master any other instrument through work and practice and subsequent mastery of technique.

It is said that Johnny Mathis' best friend is his voice, and he treats his voice as such, he hasn't smoked in thirty years, keeps humidifiers in his room, talks rarely, doesn't even sing in the shower.

His speaking voice fairly resonates. One gets the idea that if Mathis had been born with more European facial features he would not have the quality of voice that he does. One wonders what it would feel like to be able to do what he does

The Mathis Repertoire--
In his own words "I select songs that are void of protest, hate violence, grief, and all negative aspects and choose arrangements that will make people love one another by portraying everything that is beautiful and optimistic."
--Johnny Mathis
I might also add that there tends not to be much sex in the Mathis song; well, ok, there are a few adult-oriented lyrics here and there ("...would you like to spend the night with me..." or "giving me love, nothing denied me..." or "I remember you and me, the way it used to be, making love, waking up together...). I still say that for the most part, though, Mathis draws a rather heavy line between romance and sex, and seems to prefer to concentrate on pure, sometimes rather intense feeling, rather than the physical consummation of that feeling. I think this makes for very listenable music, music you can share with younger members of the household and not be embarrassed about it.

When a song is played on the radio or at home on the stereo, a lot of people figure the one who's singing it is the one who wrote it. So then when someone else sings the song, the reaction can be "oh, so-and-so's song" or something to that effect. It's a reasonable conclusion, but a wrong one. Nine times out of ten the singer doesn't own the song! Unless the singer wrote it. The songwriter is the one who gets paid for that song, regardless of who sings it.

Take "Misty", for example. People associate this song with Johnny Mathis, I associate it with Ray Stevens, and Mathis himself associates it with Sarah Vaughan, but the melody of the song actually belongs to Erroll Garner, and the words to it belong to Johnny Burke. The original "Misty" was an instrumental hit for Erroll Garner.

It's interesting how a song's writer gets paid for a song. It's really very confusing and complicated. When they're given credit on a record's or CD's label (usually in small type and in parentheses underneath the name of the song), the writers gets paid for that credit. The songwriter must be paid every time the song is broadcast on any radio station, any time of the day or night, anywhere in the world, and there are people who are paid to keep track of this. (This is why radio stations keep playlists, so they know what was played and how many times.) Every time a song or even part of a song is played on a TV show, the songwriter gets paid for that. That includes commercials, too. The National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame

Having written very few songs of his own, Johnny Mathis has a voice only because other people give him words to sing. Conversely, the people below are heard, only because their words are given life, heard and absorbed by a wide audience consisting of many generations, races, orientations and religions, through the worthy messenger Johnny Mathis. It would not be inaccurate to say, therefore, that be they silent partners or singer/songwriters, all of these people at one time or another sound just like Mathis!

These are the voices of Johnny Mathis:

ROBERT ALLEN (d. 2000)
Chances Are (cw), It's Not For Me To Say (cw) [Johnny's Greatest Hits]

PAUL ANKA
Love Never Felt So Good (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

HAROLD ARLEN
That Old Black Magic (cw) [Wonderful, Wonderful]

BURT BACHARACH and HAL DAVID
Odds and Ends, Alfie, Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head [Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head]; This Guy's In Love With You [Those Were The Days]; Ten Times Forever More [Love Story]

VINNIE BARRETT
Love Won't Let Me Wait (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

JOHN BARRY
Midnight Cowboy (cw w/Jacob Gold) [Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head]

ALAN AND MARILYN BERGMAN
entire album of their work called How Do You Keep The Music Playing. You never see one without the other!
I Was Born In Love With You/Summer Me, Winter Me [Me and Mrs. Jones], Pieces of Dreams [Close to You]

STEPHEN BISHOP

ANGELA BOFILL
You're A Special Part of Me (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

JACQUES BREL
If We Only Have Love(cw) [In Person]

LESLIE BRICUSSE
A Wonderful Day Like Today (cw) [People]

JERRY CAPEHEART
Turn Around Look At Me [Those Were The Days]

RICHARD CARPENTER (THE CARPENTERS) (unofficial)

MICHEL COLOMBIER
Hooked On Goodbye (cw), I Need You (The Journey) (cw), Love Shock (cw) [Right From the Heart]; Lead Me To Your Love (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

CLIFTON DAVIS
Never Can Say Goodbye [You've Got A Friend]

NEIL DIAMOND

DENNY DIANTE
Love Shock (cw), Hooked On Goodbye (cw), Hold On (cw) [Right From The Heart]

DOROTHY FIELDS
not a real website, but she deserves to be here!

BOBBY ELI
Love Won't Let Me Wait (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

ALEX FOGARTY
Will I Find My Love Today (cw) [Wonderful, Wonderful]

Kenny GAMBLE and Leon HUFF
Me and Mrs. Jones (cw) [Me and Mrs. Jones]

ERROLL GARNER
This self-taught musical genius who could not read sheet music wrote the melody to the Mathis classic, "Misty".
Misty (cw) [Heavenly]; Dreamy [Johnny Mathis in Person]

DAVID GATES AND BREAD
If [You've Got A Friend], Sweet Surrender [Me and Mrs. Jones]

D.C. GETSCHAL
Falling In Love (cw) [Right From The Heart]

THE BROTHERS GIBB (BEE GEES)
In The Morning, Run To Me, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart [Song Sung Blue]

NORMAN GIMBEL
I Will Wait For You (cw w/Michel LeGrand) [The Impossible Dream]; So Nice (cw) [So Nice, The Impossible Dream]

LOREE GOLD
You're A Special Part of Me (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

GEORGE HARRISON
My Sweet Lord [Love Story], Something [Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head]

BART HOWARD
Let Me Love You [Wonderful, Wonderful]

MICHAEL JACKSON
Love Never Felt So Good (cw) [A Special Part Of Me], One Day In Your Life [Feelings]

ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM (unofficial, in two languages)
Wave [Close To You]

ERIC KAZ
One Love (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

FRED KARLIN
For All We Know (cw) You've Got A Friend]

CAROLE KING
You've Got A Friend, It's Too Late (cw) {You've Got A Friend]; I Was There (cw) [Love Story]

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON
Help Me Make It Through The Night [You've Got A Friend]; For The Good Times [Love Story]

FRANCIS ALBERT LAI
(Where Do I Begin) Love Story (cw) [Love Story]; Live For Life (cw) [Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet]

FRANKIE LAINE

MICHEL LEGRAND
Happy(cw),

GORDON LIGHTFOOT
If You Could Read My Mind [You've Got A Friend], Wherefore and Why/Last Time I Saw Her (single)

JOHN LENNON AND PAUL MCCARTNEY
We Can Work It Out [You've Got A Friend], The Long and Winding Road [Close To You]

HENRY MANCINI
The Loss of Love (cw) [Love Story]; Darling Lili [single]

BARRY MANILOW

BARRY MANN
Right Here and Now (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

ROD McKUEN
This very kind, down-to-earth man frequently contributes to his own website, and answers all email!
Jean [Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head]; The World I Used To Know [Those Were The Days]

RANDALL MCNEILL
If I Could Reach You [Me and Mrs. Jones]

JOHNNY MERCER
Day In Day Out, That Old Black Magic (cw) [Wonderful, Wonderful; Mathis Magic]; Autumn Leaves (cw), Laura (cw) [People]

ROBERT MERSEY
You Make Me Think About You (cw w/Bob Hilliard) [Those Were The Days]

ROGER MILLER

MICHAEL MOORE
Yellow Roses On Her Gown [I Only Have Eyes For You]

MARVIN MORROW
Simple (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

HARRY NILSSON
Without You [First Time Ever I Saw Your Face], Remember [Me and Mrs. Jones]; Without Her [Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet]

IVOR NOVELLO
And Her Mother Came Too [Johnny Mathis In Person]

MITCHELL PARISH
Stars Fell On Alabama (cw w/Frank Perkins) [Rapture]

COLE PORTER (unofficial)

BEN RALEIGH
Believe it or not, this same guy who wrote the words to "Wonderful, Wonderful", Mathis' first charting hit, also wrote the theme song to "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You"!! He died last year in an accidental fire at the age of 83.

EUGENE RASKIN
Those Were The Days [Those Were The Days]

WILLIAM "SMOKEY" ROBINSON
Blue-eyed soul in every sense.
 Happy (Love Theme from the movie "Lady Sings the Blues") [Me & Mrs. Jones]

JOE ROCK
Since I Don't Have You (cw) [ In the Still of the Night ]

TODD RUNDGREN
It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference [Once In A While]

BOBBY RUSSELL
Little Green Apples [Those Were The Days]

BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE
Until It's Time For You To Go [Close To You]

STEPHEN SCHWARTZ
Corner of the Sky [Me and Mrs. Jones]

ALAN ROY SCOTT
The Best is Yet To Come (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

Jim SEALS and Dash CROFTS
Summer Breeze [Me and Mrs. Jones]

NEIL SEDAKA (unofficial)
The World I Threw Away (cw) [Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet]; The Hungry Years [I Only Have Eyes For You]

BRIAN SHORT
The Best is Yet To Come (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

PAUL SIMON
Bridge Over Troubled Water [Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head]; The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) [Those Were The Days]

PETER SKELLERN
You're A Lady [Me and Mrs. Jones]

STEPHEN SONDHEIM
Tonight

JOE SOUTH
Rose Garden [Love Story]

KEITH STEGALL
Touch By Touch (cw) [Right From The Heart], Simple (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

AL STILLMAN
Chances Are It's Not For Me To Say

JAMES TAYLOR
Long Ago and Far Away [You've Got A Friend], Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight [Me and Mrs. Jones]

THE DOORS (Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger, Jim Densmore)
Light My Fire [Those Were The Days]

JIMMY VAN HEUSEN
archive site. There's a tribute album of his songs by Mathis, also, called

KATHLEEN WAKEFIELD
Hooked On Goodbye (cw), Step By Step (cw), Hold On (cw), Right From The Heart (cw), I Need You (the Journey) (cw), Love Shock (cw) [Right From The Heart]; Love Never Felt So Good (cw), Lead Me To Your Love (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

WENDY WALDMAN
One Love (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

DIANE WARREN
This little lady offered up some of her previously-recorded songs to be compiled into a theme recording called Because You Loved Me. All songs on it were written or co-written by Warren. Also:
Just One Touch (cw) [Right From the Heart]

JIMMY WEBB
Honey Come Back [Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head]; Evie (single); Didn't We [Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet]

CYNTHIA WEIL
Right Here and Now (cw) [A Special Part of Me]

PAUL FRANCIS WEBSTER
The Twelfth of Never

PAUL WILLIAMS
We've Only Just Begun (cw) [Love Story]

STEVIE WONDER! (unofficial)
Lately (cw) [Friends In Love]; If It's Magic [Celebration]

(cw) = co-writer; [Album song is featured on] LOOK UP A SONG OR SONGWRITER: ASCAP    BMI

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