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Johnny Mathis kicked off the 1970s with a series of albums that found the Voice of Romance reinventing the day’s chart hits in inimitably lush fashion.  Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records are continuing the journey through the legendary singer’s 1970s catalogue with two remastered Expanded Editions due TOMORROW!

First up is an expanded two-for-one compact disc release of the classic studio albums Close to You and Love Story.  Johnny teamed with longtime producer Jack Gold and top arranger Ernie Freeman in 1970 for Close to You, on which he returned to the songbooks of Burt Bacharach and Hal David (the title song), The Beatles (“The Long and Winding Road”), and Antonio Carlos Jobim (“Wave”) while also reinterpreting hits by Ray Stevens, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and even Columbia labelmate Santana!  This deliciously eclectic album featured the Academy Award-nominated movie theme “Pieces of Dreams,” a top 10 AC hit for Mathis by his longtime collaborators Michel Legrand and Alan and Marilyn Bergman.

Close to You was followed in early 1971 by Love Story, produced by Gold with arrangements by Perry Botkin, Jr., a frequent collaborator of Harry Nilsson.  In addition to another romantic movie melody, “(Where Do I Begin) Love Story,” Johnny brought his silken sound to rare tunes by Bacharach and David (the top 40 AC chart entry “Ten Times Forever More”) and Carole King and Gerry Goffin (“I Was There”) as well as his friend Henry Mancini (“Loss of Love”) and Paul Williams and Roger Nichols (“We’ve Only Just Begun”).  This expanded two-for-one release adds three bonus tracks: outtake recordings of Bodie Chandler’s “Caroline” (also recorded by Johnny Maestro’s Brooklyn Bridge) and a “Goin’ Out of My Head/Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” medley, plus the B-side of “Pieces of Dreams,” Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s “Darling Lili.”

The second title coming tomorrow is the newly-expanded edition of 1971’s You’ve Got a Friend.  The prolific Mathis teamed with superstar producer Richard Perry (Nilsson Schmilsson, Ringo, Barbra Streisand’s Stoney End) for this original LP which is making its U.S. standalone CD premiere!  Blending the Perry sessions with recordings produced by Mathis himself, You’ve Got a Friend offers a spectacular array of then-recent hits rendered as only Johnny could.  Fusing pop and soul, Mathis and Perry tackled favorites from James Taylor (“Long Ago and Far Away”), The Beatles (“We Can Work It Out”), The Jackson 5 (“Never Can Say Goodbye”), and Gordon Lightfoot (“If You Could Read My Mind”).  Carole King’s warmhearted title track is one of two Tapestry cuts smoothly sung here by Johnny, along with the chart-topping “It’s Too Late.”

Mathis’ rich tapestry of contemporary music has grown larger thanks to this edition’s whopping eight bonus tracks.  Remarkable session outtakes produced by Perry include interpretations of The Four Tops’ Motown perennial “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” (inspired by Diana Ross’ smoldering ballad version), The Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers,” and the classic “I Only Have Eyes for You” (which Johnny would re-record for his 1976 album of the same name).  The set is then rounded out with a host of rare singles like Jimmy Webb’s “Evie,” John Barry and Don Black’s “This Way Mary” from Mary, Queen of Scots, and the unique single version of Jacques Brel’s “If We Only Have Love.”

Mike Piacentini at Sony’s Battery Studios has remastered both Close to You/Love Story and You’ve Got a Friend.  Additionally, both titles include my new liner notes based on a fresh interview with Johnny!  Look for both releases from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music TOMORROW!  They’re available for ordering at the links below!

Johnny Mathis, Close to You/Love Story: Expanded Edition (Real Gone Music/Second Disc Records RGM-0715, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. They Long to Be Close to You
2. Evil Ways
3. Come Saturday Morning
4. Yellow Days
5. Pieces of Dreams
6. Song of Joy
7. Everything is Beautiful
8. The Long and Winding Road
9. (If You Let Me Make Love to You Then) Why Can’t I Touch You?
10. Wave
11. Until It’s Time for You to Go
12. Caroline
13. (Where Do I Begin?) Love Story
14. Rose Garden
15. Ten Times Forever More
16. It’s Impossible
17. I Was There
18. What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?
19. We’ve Only Just Begun
20. Traces
21. For the Good Times
22. My Sweet Lord
23. Loss of Love
24. Goin’ Out of My Head/Can’t Take My Eyes Off You
25. Darling Lili

Tracks 1-11 from Close to You, Columbia C 30210, 1970
Tracks 12 & 24 first issued on The Voice of Romance, Columbia/Legacy 88985368922, 2017
Tracks 13-23 from Love Story, Columbia C 30499, 1971
Track 25 from Columbia single 4-45223, 1970

Johnny Mathis, You’ve Got a Friend: Expanded Edition (Columbia C 30740, 1971 – reissued Real Gone Music/Second Disc Records RGM-0716, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. You’ve Got a Friend
2. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?
3. Help Me Make It Through the Night
4. If You Could Read My Mind
5. Never Can Say Goodbye
6. It’s Too Late
7. We Can Work It Out
8. Long Ago and Far Away
9. If
10. For All We Know
11. If We Only Have Love
12. Reach Out
13. So Much in Love
14. I Only Have Eyes for You
15. Golden Slumbers
16. Evie
17. Think About Things
18. If We Only Have Love (Single Version)
19. This Way Mary

Tracks 1-11 from You’ve Got a Friend, Columbia C 30740, 1971
Tracks 12-15 first issued on The Voice of Romance, Columbia/Legacy 88985368922, 2017
Tracks 16-17 from Columbia single 4-45371, 1971
Tracks 18-19 from Columbia single 4-45559, 1972