''Johnny Mathis Sings the Great New American Songbook'' is a

studio 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 c ...

by American pop singer

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

that was released on September 29, 2017, by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

and was composed of covers of recent hits by other artists. His last project to tackle the latest radio favorites was the 1996 release '' Because You Loved Me: The Songs of Diane Warren''.

History

Mathis sang at a pre-

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

party hosted by

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 19 ...

in February 2015 and, "by almost all accounts, brought the house down and the crowd to its collective feet with his performance of his past hits." The appearance inspired the idea to have the singer make a concept album that Davis would executive produce and

Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Kenneth Brian Edmonds (born April 10, 1959), better known by his stage name Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career and has won 12 Grammy A ...

would produce, but instead of focusing on the

Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant early-20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" i ...

as Mathis has done throughout his career, the selections here date back only as far as the 1990s.

Critical reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

's James Christopher Monger wrote, "What's best is that he sounds legitimately engaged throughout, even on the umpteenth reading of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah,' and his voice, which is a bit overly treated at times (seriously, Johnny Mathis does not need

Auto-Tune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-T ...

), is as strong as ever, making one wonder why it took so long for him to apply his still considerable gifts to more contemporary fare."

Track listing

# "

Hallelujah ''Hallelujah'' ( ; he, ''haləlū-Yāh'', meaning "praise Yah") is an interjection used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four tim ...

" (

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

) – 5:30 # "Once Before I Go" ( Peter Allen, Dean Pitchford) – 3:49 # "

Blue Ain't Your Color "Blue Ain't Your Color" is a song recorded by New Zealand-born Australian country music singer Keith Urban and written by Steven Lee Olsen, Hillary Lindsey, and Clint Lagerberg. It was released on 8 August 2016 as the fourth single from Urban's 2 ...

" (

Steven Lee Olsen Steven Lee Olsen (born November 25, 1985, in Newmarket, Ontario) is a Canadian country music artist and songwriter. He released his debut single "Now" in 2009 on RGK Records, taken from his 2009 debut album ''Introducing Steven Lee Olsen''. He fol ...

Hillary Lindsey Hillary Lee Lindsey is an American singer-songwriter. She has written songs with or for a number of artists including Michelle Branch, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Shakira, Lady A, Gary Allan, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Bo ...

, Clint Lagerberg) – 3:44 # "

You Raise Me Up "You Raise Me Up" is a song originally composed by the Norwegian-Irish duo Secret Garden. The music was written by Secret Garden's Rolf Løvland, and the lyrics by Brendan Graham. After the song was performed early in 2002 by the Secret Garden ...

" (

Brendan Graham Brendan Graham (born 1945) is an Irish songwriter and novelist. Among songs he has written are "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (1994) and " The Voice" (1996), both of which won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland in their respective years, and "You Ra ...

Rolf Løvland Rolf Undsæt Løvland (born 19 April 1955) is a Norwegian composer, lyricist, arranger, and pianist. Together with Fionnuala Sherry, he formed the Celtic-Nordic group Secret Garden, in which he was the composer, producer, and keyboardist. He be ...

) – 4:01 # " Say Something" ( Ian Axel, Chad King, Mike Campbell) – 3:15 # " Just the Way You Are" (Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine,

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical ...

, Khari Cain, Saint Cassius) – 3:27 # " I Believe I Can Fly" ( R. Kelly) – 4:47 # "

Remember When Remember When may refer to: Music * "Remember When" (Alan Jackson song), 2003 * " Remember When (We Made These Memories)", a 1965 song by Wayne Newton * " Remember When (Push Rewind)", a 2012 song by Chris Wallace * "Remember When", a song by Colo ...

" (

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many ...

) – 3:55 # "

Happy Happiness, in the context of mental or emotional states, is positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishing and eudaimonia. Sin ...

" (

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom h ...

) – 3:25 # "

Hello ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich ...

" (

Adele Adkins Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs ...

) – 5:17 # " Run to You" (Allan Rich, Jud Friedman) – 4:29

Personnel

; Musicians *Johnny Mathis - vocals *

Percy Bady Percy Bady is an American singer, keyboardist, arranger, songwriter and record producer. Biography Bady was involved in 26 platinum and gold records. In 2003, he released his first solo album, ''The Percy Bady Experience'', which reached No. 2 ...

- choir director *

Felicia Barton Felicia Diana Barton (born March 6, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter, best known for her appearance on the eighth season of ''American Idol'' in 2009. Since 2013, she has joined Warner-Chappell Music and Pulse Recording as a songwrit ...

– background vocals *

Paul Boutin Paul Boutin (born December 11, 1961 in Lewiston, Maine) is an American magazine writer and editor who writes about technology in a pop-culture context. Boutin, who began writing for ''Wired'' in 1997, wrote for ''The New York Times'' from 2003 ...

- engineer, mixing, percussion *Vernard Burton - choir/chorus *Antonio Dixon - drum programming, keyboard programming, producer *Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds - bass, electric bass, drum programming, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboard programming, producer, background vocals *

Chloe Flower Chloe Won (born August 6, 1981), who is known professionally as Chloe Flower, is an American composer, writer, producer and classical pianist. She studied at Manhattan School of Music Pre-College and later at Royal Academy of Music in London. Car ...

- piano arrangement * Paul Franklin - pedal steel guitar *

Kenny G Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), known professionally as Kenny G, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and producer. His 1986 album ''Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the best-selling artis ...

- soprano sax *Eleanor Hampton - choir/chorus *Lori Hardiman - choir/chorus *Kenya Henry - choir/chorus *

Judith Hill Judith Glory Hill is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. She has provided backing vocals for such artists as Michael Jackson, Prince, and Josh Groban. In 2009, Hill was chosen as Jackson's duet partner for the song "I Just ...

– background vocals *Carya Holmes - choir/chorus *Kimberly Holmes - choir/chorus *Andrea Moore - choir/chorus *Marcus Morton - choir/chorus *Demonté Posey - drum programming, keyboard programming, organ, producer, string arrangements *Michael Ripoll - acoustic guitar * William Ross - string arrangements *Aaron Shuman - string preparation *

Shawn Stockman Shawn Patrick Stockman (born September 26, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as a member of the vocal group Boyz II Men. In addition to Boyz II Men, Stockman was a member of the group Black Men United ...

- guest artist *Terrance Marshall - choir/chorus ; Production *Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds - producer *Mary Webster - producer, string score *John Doelp - A&R *Jay Landers - A&R * Vlado Meller - mastering *Jeff Breaky - engineer *

Fred Mollin Fred Mollin is an American and Canadian record producer, musician, film and TV composer, music director, music supervisor, and songwriter. He has produced records for Jimmy Webb, Johnny Mathis, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lamont Dozier and America, and has ...

- engineer *Dave Salley - engineer *Rollin Weary - assistant engineer *Eliot Hazel - photography *Dave Bett - art direction *Tina Ibañez - design *Johnny Mathis - liner notes

References

{{Authority control Johnny Mathis albums Columbia Records albums 2017 albums Covers albums