Johnny Mathis is the debut studio album by American vocalist Johnny Mathis, released by Columbia Records on July 16 1956. Subtitled A New Sound in Popular Song on the back cover, the record is noted for its jazz‑oriented arrangements, distinguishing it from the pop standards that later defined Mathis’s career.
Background and production
The album was produced by Columbia’s jazz department head George Avakian, who signed the 19‑year‑old Mathis after witnessing a nightclub performance in San Francisco in 1955. Avakian envisioned a series of intimate small‑band sessions featuring leading jazz arrangers, allowing Mathis to interpret standards with a modern, swing‑based approach. Recording sessions took place between March 14 and April 6 1956 at CBS 30th Street Studio in New York City, with arrangers and conductors such as Gil Evans, Teo Macero, Manny Albam, and John Lewis contributing distinct orchestral textures.
Musical style and content
Classified primarily as vocal jazz, the album comprises twelve tracks (six per side on the original LP). The U.S. release includes standards such as “Autumn in Rome,” “Easy to Love,” “Street of Dreams,” “Prelude to a Kiss,” “Babalu,” “Caravan,” “In Other Words (Fly Me to the Moon),” “Star Eyes,” “It Might as Well Be Spring,” “Cabin in the Sky,” and “Angel Eyes.” The United Kingdom version issued by Fontana Records substitutes several songs (e.g., “Wild Is the Wind,” “No Love (But Your Love),” “Come to Me,” “When I Am with You,” and “The Twelfth of Never”) and features alternate cover artwork.
Release and reception
Although the album did not appear on Billboard’s Best‑Selling Pop Albums chart, it received favorable assessments from contemporary critics for Mathis’s vocal control and the high‑caliber jazz accompaniment. Retrospective reviews, such as those from AllMusic, note that while Mathis “swings comfortably,” the stylistic fit was less commercial than his later pop recordings, contributing to modest sales.
Reissues
Columbia/Legacy issued the first compact‑disc edition as a 40th‑anniversary release on May 7 1996, adding the previously unreleased track “I’m Glad There Is You.” In 2001, the UK version received its first CD pressing, paired with Mathis’s 1957 follow‑up Wonderful Wonderful. A 2017 box set, The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection, included the original tracks plus bonus material such as “Out of This World.”
Personnel
The album features a rotating roster of prominent jazz musicians, including trumpeters Manny Alb am and Buck Clayton, saxophonists Phil Woods and J.J. Johnson, pianist Hank Jones, guitarist Barry Galbraith, bassist Milt Hinton, and drummer Ed Shaughnessy, among others. Each session’s arranger conducted the ensemble, shaping the album’s eclectic yet cohesive jazz aesthetic.
Legacy
Johnny Mathis remains a distinctive entry in Mathis’s discography, representing an early foray into jazz that contrasts with his subsequent string‑laden pop successes. The record is often cited by scholars and collectors as an example of mid‑1950s vocal jazz production and as a testament to Mathis’s versatile vocal technique.