The_Voice_of_Romance:_The_Columbia_Original_Album_Collection

<i>The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection</i>

The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection

2017 box set by Johnny Mathis


The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection is a 68-disc box set by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on December 8, 2017, by Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. The packaging noted that it includes 67 albums that have been remastered, several of which were being made available on CD for the first time. Two of those, I Love My Lady and The Island, were debuting in their entirety for the first time anywhere, and 38 of the bonus tracks included had also previously gone unreleased.

Quick Facts The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection, Box set by Johnny Mathis ...

Background

Johnny Mathis was surprised when Columbia Records notified him that they would be releasing a box set of everything he had recorded for the label.[2] Regarding the songs on the albums included, he explained that his early success gave him the freedom to choose what to record, saying, "[M]ost of the stuff I ever wanted to do, from the time I was a little kid growing up in San Francisco, I've been fortunate to be able to put them into recordings."[3] Upon receiving his own copy of the box set, he described it as "the greatest feeling I've ever had in my musical life."[4] He told The Arizona Republic, "I saw all of the years and years of dedication and working hard and learning and trying to improve… It's hard to explain to even the most devoted fans what you've gone through in your life."[5]

Critical reception

In his review of the box set for The Second Disc, Joe Marchese asserted, "What it reveals is that the history of Johnny Mathis is, put simply, the history of American music in the second half of the twentieth century."[6] In summation he wrote that Mathis's "consistence of quality and variation of style" were the most compelling reasons he had to recommend it.[6] Elmore Magazine's Suzanne Cadgène admired many qualities of the release, including the organization and labeling of the discs, the album cover reproductions, the extensive liner notes, and the "delicious" music.[7] In addition to noting how "handsomely designed" it was, Mikael Wood of The Los Angeles Times praised the box set for its inclusion of the two previously unreleased Mathis albums, stating, "Both demonstrate how nimble a singer Mathis has always been — and how curious a mind."[8] Brenda Nelson-Strauss of Black Grooves recommended the collection "if you're interested in a complete career retrospective with plenty of tempting bonus material and you have a large budget".[9] Michael P. Coleman of Sac Cultural Hub wrote, "We all know the hits, but the album cuts are equally breathtaking … [T]hese albums are bonafide masterpieces."[3]

Contents

Recording dates and release information taken from the liner notes.[10]

More information Disc #, Album ...

Odds and Ends: That’s What Makes the Music Play

Track listing

Recording dates and release information taken from the liner notes.[10]

  1. "Teacher, Teacher" (Alternate Version) performed with Ray Conniff & His Orchestra (Robert Allen, Al Stillman) – 2:37
    • recorded 6/16/57
  2. "Wild Is the Wind" (Alternate Version) from Wild Is the Wind (1957); performed with Ray Ellis & His Orchestra (Dimitri Tiomkin, Ned Washington) – 2:33
    • rec. 10/31/57
  3. "Now That You've Gone (Puisque tu pars)" (Petula Clark, Norman Newell, Hubert Ballay) – 3:01
    • rec. 11/2/67; previously unreleased
  4. "What to Do About Love" (Leon Carr, Paul Vance) – 2:28
    • rec. 5/31/60
  5. "Each Time We Kiss" (Clyde Otis, Colin Towns) – 2:39
    • rec. 3/4/61
  6. "My Favorite Dream" (Lee Pockriss, Vance) – 2:55
    • rec. 10/9/61
  7. "A Clock Without Hands" (Jerry Livingston, Paul Francis Webster) – 2:58
  8. "The Joy of Loving You" (Bart Howard) – 3:05
  9. "You Are There" (Johnny Mandel, Dave Frishberg) – 3:06
  10. "Fifty Fifty" (Jerry Fuller) – 3:19
    • above two rec. 9/22/76; both previously unreleased
  11. "That's What Makes the Music Play" (Will Jennings, Roger Nichols) – 3:11
  12. "Let Me Be the One" (Nichols, Paul Williams) – 3:31
    • above two rec. 9/27/76; both previously unreleased
  13. "El Amar y el Querer" (Manuel Alejandro, Ana Magdalena) – 4:13
  14. "Cosas Pequeñas" (Alejandro, Magdalena) – 3:11
  15. "Cuando Vuelvas a Casa" (Alejandro, Magdalena) – 4:00
    • above three rec. 2/11/83; all three from his CBS Discos album Cuando Vuelvas a Casa
  16. Medley performed with Barbra Streisand – 4:43
    a. "I Have a Love" from West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim)
    b. "One Hand, One Heart" from West Side Story (Bernstein, Sondheim)
  17. "The Shadow of Your Smile" performed with Dave Koz and Chris Botti (Johnny Mandel, Paul Francis Webster) – 5:22

Personnel

Credits taken from the liner notes.[10]

Box set personnel

Credits taken from the liner notes.[10]

  • Johnny Mathis – executive producer; vocals
  • Adam Block – executive producer
  • John Jackson – executive producer
  • Didier C. Deutsch – compilation producer
  • Mike Piacentini – compilation producer; mastering engineer
  • Timothy J. Smith – A&R coordination
  • Mark Neuman – product direction
  • Jeremy Holiday – product direction
  • William McKinney – project direction
  • Tom Cording – press coordination
  • Gabby Gibb – press coordination
  • Matt Kelly – tape research
  • Michael Kull – tape research
  • Tina Ibañez – art direction & design
  • James Ritz – liner notes

Images courtesy of Rojon Productions & Sony Music Photo Archives:

Chart positions courtesy of Joel Whitburn & Billboard Publications


References

  1. "The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection - Johnny Mathis". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  2. Caulfield, Keith (4 December 2017). "Johnny Mathis Talks 68-CD Box Set of Entire Catalog: Hear 3 Unreleased Tracks With CHIC". billboard.com. Retrieved 27 December 2023.:"When they said they were going to release all of my recordings that I've done," he laughs, "I said, 'You mean, all of them?'"
  3. Coleman, Michael P. (9 February 2018). "Johnny Mathis plans Santa Rosa show, releases Box Set The Voice Of Romance". sacculturalhub.com. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  4. Catlin, Roger (29 March 2018). "Johnny Mathis, The TVD Interview". thevinyldistrict.com. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  5. Cordova, Randy (16 March 2018). "Singer Johnny Mathis on new box set, tour, possible autobiography". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  6. Nelson-Strauss, Brenda (1 December 2017). "Johnny Mathis, "The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection"". Black Grooves. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  7. (2017) The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment 88985 36892 2.

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