''Mathis Magic'' is an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American pop singer

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...

that was released on September 17, 1979, by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

and contained an equal balance of new material and songs associated with other artists. Although this album did not make any appearances on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine's Top LPs & Tapes chart, it did reach number 59 during a four-week run on the UK album chart. On December 31 of that year the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

awarded the album with Silver certification for sales of 60,000 units in the UK. On January 27, 2015, Funkytowngrooves gave ''Mathis Magic'' its first pressing on compact disc as one of two albums on one CD, the other album being Mathis's Columbia release from March 1978, '' You Light Up My Life''.

Reception

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

''s review praises the album's disco arrangements of " Night and Day", " That Old Black Magic", and "To the Ends of the Earth": "While other singers have embarrassed themselves redoing such hallowed material, Mathis makes it work." The reviewer concludes, "Twenty-two years after his first hit, ' Wonderful, Wonderful', Mathis' voice and phrasing are as ingratiating as ever."

Track listing

Side one

# "No One but the One You Love" (Cheryl Christiansen, Arnold Goland, Jack Gold) – 3:14 # " Night and Day" from '' Gay Divorce'' (

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

) – 5:03 # "Love" (

Gerard Kenny Gerard W. Kenny (born July 8, 1947, New York City, United States) is an American singer-songwriter, based in London, England. In 1981, he received the Ivor Novello Award for Best Television Theme Music for his song "I Could Be So Good for You", ...

, Drey Shepperd) – 3:48 # " My Body Keeps Changing My Mind" ( Leslie Pearl) – 3:42 # "

New York State of Mind "New York State of Mind" is a song written by Billy Joel that is featured on his fourth studio album, '' Turnstiles'' (1976). Although it was never released as a single, it has become a fan favorite and a song that Joel plays regularly in concer ...

" (

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

) – 5:18

Side two

# " She Believes in Me" (Steve Gibb) – 4:22 # " That Old Black Magic" (

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

) – 5:43 # "You Saved My Life" performed with Stephanie Lawrence (Chris Arnold, Geoff Morrow) – 2:50 # "

To the Ends of the Earth ''To the Ends of the Earth'' is a trilogy of nautical novels—''Rites of Passage'' (1980), ''Close Quarters'' (1987), and ''Fire Down Below'' (1989)—by British author William Golding. Set on a former British man-of-war transporting migrant ...

" ( Joe Sherman, Noel Sherman) – 2:53 # "Heart, Soul, Body and Mind" (

Ben Peters Benjamin James Peters (June 20, 1933 – May 25, 2005) was an American country music songwriter who wrote many #1 songs. Charley Pride recorded 68 of his songs and 6 of them went to #1 on the American country charts. Peters was inducted into the N ...

) – 4:10

Recording dates

From the liner notes for '' The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection'': *June 5, 1979 – "Night and Day", "That Old Black Magic" *July 9, 1979 – "No One but the One You Love", "She Believes in Me", "You Saved My Life" *July 23, 1979 – "Heart, Soul, Body and Mind", "Love", "My Body Keeps Changing My Mind", "To the Ends of the Earth" *September 5, 1979 – "New York State of Mind"

Personnel

From the liner notes for the original album: *

– vocals * Stephanie Lawrence – vocals ("You Saved My Life"), vocal harmony ("No One but the One You Love") *Jack Gold – producer *

Gene Page Eugene Edgar Page Jr. (September 13, 1939 – August 24, 1998) was an American conductor, composer, arranger and record producer, most active from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s. His sound can be heard in the arrangements he did for Jeffer ...

– arranger, conductor *Dick Bogert – engineer *Jo-Anne Steinberg – production coordinator *David Vance – photographer *

Michael Boddicker Michael Lehmann Boddicker (born January 19, 1953) is an American film composer and session musician, specializing in electronic music. He is a three times National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (N.A.R.A.S.) Most Valuable Player "Synthes ...

– synthesizer ("Night and Day", "To the Ends of the Earth") * Eddie Bongo – congas ("Night and Day", "That Old Black Magic", "To the Ends of the Earth") *

Oscar Brashear Oscar Brashear (August 18, 1944 – July 7, 2023) was an American jazz trumpeter and session musician from Chicago, Illinois. After studying at DuSable High School and Wright Jr. College (currently known as Wilbur Wright College) under John DeR ...

– flugelhorn ("New York State of Mind") *Terry Harrington – tenor saxophone ("That Old Black Magic") *Paul Smith – piano ("New York State of Mind")

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Authority control 1979 albums Johnny Mathis albums Albums arranged by Gene Page Columbia Records albums Albums recorded at A&M Studios