''Close To You'' is an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on August 19, 1970, by Columbia Records and mostly included his recordings of hits that other artists had that year. The exceptions were the new movie theme "Pieces of Dreams" and the 1967 songs "

Wave In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (re ...

" by

Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered one of the great exponents of Brazilian mu ...

and "Yellow Days", which was an

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

hit for former Mathis collaborator

Percy Faith Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian-American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listeni ...

. In the UK the album was retitled after a different song Mathis covered on it, "

The Long and Winding Road "The Long and Winding Road" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album '' Let It Be''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. When issued as a single in May 1970, a month after the Beatl ...

". The release of the first single from the album, " Pieces of Dreams", coincided with the release of the film of the same name, in which it is sung by Peggy Lee. The Mathis recording made its first appearance on '' Billboard'' magazine's

chart in the issue dated September 12 of that year and got as high as number nine during its eight weeks there.. The album's debut on the magazine's Top LP's chart came the following month, in the issue from October 10, and marked the start of a nine-week run that took it to number 61.. A second single, "

Evil Ways "Evil Ways" is a song made famous by Mexican-American rock band Santana from their 1969 self-titled debut album. It was written by Clarence "Sonny" Henry and originally recorded by jazz percussionist Willie Bobo on his 1967 album ''Bobo Motio ...

", had its Easy Listening debut in the November 14 issue and reached number 30 during its four weeks there.

Reception

''Billboard'' wrote, "Among the standout performances are the title tune, 'Until It's Time for You to Go', 'Why Can’t I Touch You', 'Song of Joy', and 'Come Saturday Morning'. Top

Ernie Freeman Ernest Aaron Freeman (August 16, 1922 – May 16, 1981) was an American pianist, organist, bandleader, and arranger. He was responsible for arranging many successful rhythm and blues and pop records from the 1950s to the 1970s. Birth and fam ...

arrangements."

Track listing

Side one

(They Long to Be) Close to You "(They Long to Be) Close to You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The best-known version is that recorded by American duo the Carpenters for their second studio album '' Close to You'' (1970) and produced by Jack Daugherty. Rel ...

" ( Burt Bacharach,

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David ...

) – 3:26 #"

" (Sonny Henry) – 2:36 #" Come Saturday Morning" from ''

The Sterile Cuckoo ''The Sterile Cuckoo'' (released in the UK as ''Pookie'') is a 1969 American comedy-drama film by producer-director Alan J. Pakula that tells the story of an eccentric young couple whose relationship deepens despite their differences and inadeq ...

'' ( Fred Karlin,

Dory Previn Dorothy "Dory" Veronica Previn ( Langan; October 22, 1925 – February 14, 2012) was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet. During the late 1950s and 1960s, Previn was a lyricist on songs intended for motion pictures and, with her t ...

) – 2:10 #"

Yellow Days "La mentira (Se te olvida)", known in English as "Yellow Days", is a bolero written by Álvaro Carrillo around 1965. Alan Bernstein wrote the song's lyrics in English. It has become a Latin music (genre), Latin and jazz standard, having been feature ...

" (Alan Bernstein,

Álvaro Carrillo Álvaro Carrillo Alarcón (2 December 1921 - 3 April 1969) was a Mexican popular music composer and songwriter, born in San Juan Cacahuatepec, Oaxaca. He wrote over 300 songs, mostly boleros, including the great hits ''Amor mío'', ''Sabor a mí' ...

) – 2:40 #" Pieces of Dreams" from '' Pieces of Dreams'' ( Alan Bergman,

Marilyn Bergman Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) and Marilyn Keith Bergman (November 10, 1928 – January 8, 2022) were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celebrated telev ...

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

) – 2:44 #" Song of Joy (Himno a la Alegria)" (

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

Waldo de los Rios Waldo may refer to: People * Waldo (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Waldo (surname), a list of people * Waldo (footballer) (1934-2019), full name Waldo Machado da Silva, Brazilian footballer Places Canada * Waldo, ...

) – 4:00

Side two

Everything Is Beautiful "Everything Is Beautiful" is a song written, composed, and performed by Ray Stevens. It has appeared on many of Stevens's albums, including one named after the song, and has become a pop standard and common in religious performances. The childre ...

" (

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings " Everything Is Beautiful" and " Misty", as well as novel ...

) – 3:28 #"

" (

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

) – 3:25 #" (If You Let Me Make Love to You Then) Why Can't I Touch You?" from ''

Salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...

'' (Charles Courtney, Peter Link) – 3:15 #"

" (

) – 3:30 #"

Until It's Time for You to Go "Until It's Time for You to Go" is a song from the 1965 album '' Many a Mile'' by Canadian singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. Sainte-Marie included a French-language reworking of the song, "T'es pas un autre", on her 1967 album '' Fire & Flee ...

" (

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American ( Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these ...

) – 3:55

2017 CD bonus track

This album's CD release as part of the 2017 box set '' The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection'' included a bonus track that was previously unavailable: *"Caroline" (Bodie Chandler) – 2:44

Recording dates

From the liner notes for '' The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection'': *May 13, 1970 – "Caroline" *May 27, 1970 – "Everything Is Beautiful", "Evil Ways", "Until It's Time for You to Go" *July 10, 1970 – "Pieces of Dreams", "Yellow Days" *July 13, 1970 – "(If You Let Me Make Love to You Then) Why Can't I Touch You?", "The Long and Winding Road", "Song of Joy (Himno a la Alegria)", "(They Long to Be) Close to You" *July 15, 1970 – "Come Saturday Morning", "Wave"

Personnel

*Johnny Mathis – vocals *Jack Gold – producer *

– arranger and conductor *Phil Macy – engineer * Jim Marshall – photography *Virginia Team – cover design

References

Bibliography

* * {{Authority control 1970 albums Johnny Mathis albums Columbia Records albums Albums arranged by Ernie Freeman Albums conducted by Ernie Freeman