''Live It Up!'' 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 December 11, 1961,
[ by Columbia Records and was the second of two album collaborations with arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle. The singer again eschewed ballads as he had on '' Swing Softly'' and selected a balance of new and established material.
The album debuted on '' Billboard'' magazine's album chart in the issue dated February 24, 1962, to begin a stay of 39 weeks, during which time it got as high as number 14.][.]
This album was released for the first time on compact disc in a two-disc set with his other Riddle project, 1961's '' I'll Buy You A Star'', on June 9, 2009.
Reception
''Billboard'' was enthusiastic. "This is easily one of Mathis's best albums",[ they wrote. "He's really in a swingin' mood, and he gets standout arrangements to match from Nelson Riddle."][
]
Track listing
Side one
#"Live It Up" ( 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 ...
) – 3:28
#"Just Friends
''Just Friends'' is a 2005 American Christmas comedy film directed by Roger Kumble, written by Adam 'Tex' Davis and starring Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris, Chris Klein and Christopher Marquette. The plot focuses on a formerly obese high ...
" (John Klenner
John Klenner (24 February 1899 – 13 August 1955) was a German-born American pianist and composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are compos ...
, Sam M. Lewis) – 4:01
#" Ace in the Hole" from '' Let's Face It!'' ( Cole Porter) – 2:46
#"On a Cold and Rainy Day" (Lee Pockriss, Paul Vance
Joseph Paul Florio (November 4, 1929 – May 30, 2022), known professionally as Paul Vance, was an American songwriter and record producer, primarily from the 1950s until the 1970s.
His most successful song compositions, all written with Lee Po ...
) – 3:06
#"Why Not" (Otis G. Clements, Sydney Shaw) – 2:08
#"I Won't Dance
"I Won't Dance" is a song with music by Jerome Kern that has become a jazz standard. The song has two different sets of lyrics: the first written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach in 1934, and second written by Dorothy Fields (though Jimmy ...
" from ''Roberta
''Roberta'' is a musical from 1933 with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics and book by Otto Harbach. The musical is based on the novel ''Gowns by Roberta'' by Alice Duer Miller. It features the songs " Yesterdays", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Let ...
'' (Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), " On t ...
, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach
Otto Abels Harbach, born Otto Abels Hauerbach (August 18, 1873 – January 24, 1963) was an American lyricist and librettist of nearly 50 musical comedies and operettas. Harbach collaborated as lyricist or librettist with many of the leading B ...
, Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in ove ...
, Jimmy McHugh
James Francis McHugh (July 10, 1894 – May 23, 1969) was an American composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he is credited with over 500 songs. His songs were recorded by many artists, including Chet Baker, Ju ...
) – 3:58
Side two
#"Johnny One Note
"Johnny One Note" is a 1937 show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical ''Babes in Arms'', where it was introduced by Wynn Murray. Judy Garland sang it in the Rodgers & Hart biopic '' Words and Music'' (1948).
Popular recordings in 1937 were ...
" from ''Babes in Arms
''Babes in Arms'' is a 1937 coming-of-age musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Rodgers and Hart. It concerns a group of small-town Long Island teenagers who put on a show to avoid being sent to a wor ...
'' ( Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 2:39
#"Too Much Too Soon" (Marvin Fisher, Jack Segal) – 2:51
#" The Riviera" ( Cy Coleman, Joseph Allen McCarthy) – 3:03
#"Crazy in the Heart" (William Engvick
William Engvick (July 1, 1914 – September 4, 2012) was an American lyricist, many of whose compositions appear in films.
Engvick graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1937. He is best known for his collaborations with co ...
, Alec Wilder) – 3:55
#" Hey, Look Me Over" from ''Wildcat
The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...
'' (Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) – 1:48
#"Love" from ''Ziegfeld Follies
The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...
'' (Ralph Blane
Ralph Blane (July 26, 1914 – November 13, 1995) was an American composer, lyricist, and performer.
Life and career
Blane was born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He attended Tulsa Central High School. He studied singing with ...
, Hugh Martin
Hugh Martin (August 11, 1914 – March 11, 2011) was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He was best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical ''Meet Me in St. Louis'', in which Judy Garland ...
) – 3:46
Recording dates
From the liner notes for '' The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection'':[
*April 24, 1961 — "Ace in the Hole", "Johnny One Note", "Just Friends", "Live It Up", "The Riviera"
*April 25, 1961 — "Crazy in the Heart", "Hey, Look Me Over", "I Won't Dance", "Love", "On a Cold and Rainy Day", "Too Much Too Soon", "Why Not"
]
Personnel
*Johnny Mathis – vocals
*Irving Townsend
Irving Townsend (November 27, 1920 – December 17, 1981) was an American record producer and author. He is most famous for having produced the Miles Davis album ''Kind of Blue'', which is the best-selling jazz album of all time according to ...
– producer[
* Nelson Riddle – arranger and conductor][
* Bob Cato – cover photo][
*Curtis F. Brown – liner notes][
]
References
Bibliography
*
{{Authority control
1962 albums
Johnny Mathis albums
Columbia Records albums
Albums produced by Irving Townsend
Albums conducted by Nelson Riddle
Albums arranged by Nelson Riddle