As Johnny Mathis plays to packed houses across the country on his acclaimed The Voice of Romance Tour and on the heels of the February CD release of his treasured CHIC collaboration I Love My Lady, Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records are excited to continue our series of deluxe reissues from the superstar artist.  TOMORROW, a quartet of classic Mathis albums with a classic soul twist will be reissued on a pair of two-for-one releases.  All four LPs are making their standalone CD debuts.

1973’s Killing Me Softly with Her Song and 1975’s When Will I See You Again both spotlight Mathis’ silky interpretations of the day’s greatest hits.  Killing Me Softly with Her Song was Johnny’s final full-length album collaboration with songwriter-producer Jerry Fuller (Gary Puckett and The Union Gap, The Knickerbockers).  It notably premiered Fuller’s “Show and Tell,” a top 40 AC hit for Johnny which singer Al Wilson subsequently took to the top of the U.S. Pop chart.  It also boasts classic songs from Thom Bell, Kenny Gamble, and Linda Creed (The Stylistics’ “Break Up to Make Up”), Don McLean (“And I Love You So”), Stevie Wonder (“You Are the Sunshine of My Life”), David Gates (“Aubrey”), and Joe Raposo (Carpenters’ “Sing”) – adding up to one of the singer’s most eclectic long-players.  1975’s When Will I See You Again, produced by John Florez (The 5th Dimension, The Hues Corporation) took its title from Gamble and Leon Huff’s hit for Philadelphia’s Three Degrees, and featured another tribute to the Philly sound with Bell and Creed’s beautiful “You’re as Right as Rain.”  Johnny made Mathis magic with the Barry Manilow smash “Mandy,” Neil Sedaka’s buoyant “Laughter in the Rain,” Marvin Hamlisch and Alan and Marilyn Bergman’s Oscar-winning “The Way We Were,” The Sherman Brothers’ “The Things I Might Have Been,” and three tracks from the pen of Paul Williams.  This single-CD release boasts liner notes by our very own Joe Marchese with fresh quotes from Johnny Mathis, Jerry Fuller, and Richard Carpenter.  Mike Piacentini has remastered at Sony’s Battery Studios.

That’s not all.  During the 1974 holiday season, Johnny could be heard at cosmetics counters nationwide.  His song “The Heart of a Woman” was the theme for Helena Rubinstein’s Courant perfume and the title track of his latest LP.  Now, The Heart of a Woman is coming to CD in a deluxe, double-disc expanded edition, paired with 1975’s Feelings.  The Heart of a Woman was more than just a perfume tie-in.  Johnny teamed with Motown’s legendary producer Johnny Bristol and arranger Paul Riser – plus session veterans like Dennis Coffey and Ray Parker, Jr. -for a set filled with Bristol originals also recorded by artists such as Boz Scaggs and Tom Jones.  In addition to the title tune by Broadway’s Charles Strouse and Lee Adams (Bye Bye Birdie), the album also features a sensual cover of the Roberta Flack chart-topper “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and perhaps surprisingly, Johnny’s rendition of “Wendy” from the blaxploitation film Three the Hard Way!  Feelings, produced by Columbia’s Jack Gold, introduced Mathis’ evocative version of Albert Hammond and Hal David’s “99 Miles from L.A.,” a song which he still performs in concert today.  It also boasts David and Henry Mancini’s “The Greatest Gift” from The Return of the Pink Panther, and smooth interpretations of Marvin Hamlisch and Ed Kleban’s standout ballad “What Did for Love” from A Chorus Line, Melissa Manchester’s enchanting “Midnight Blue,” and Neil Sedaka’s “Solitaire.”  Nine fascinating period bonus tracks are included on this 2-CD set including two tracks produced by composer Roger Nichols (frequent songwriting partner of Paul Williams) and a rare session reuniting Johnny with Jerry Fuller.  Joe’s new liner notes draw on interviews with Mathis, Manchester, and Fuller, and Mike Piacentini has remastered at Battery.  Both titles feature deluxe booklets designed by John Sellards, filled with rare photos and memorabilia.

These two sets of amorous favorites from The Voice of Romance promise to go straight to the Heart.  Look for them from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music tomorrow, June 14, at the links below!

Johnny Mathis, Killing Me Softly with Her Song/When Will I See You Again (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Killing Me Softly with Her Song
2. Aubrey
3. And I Love You So
4. Break Up to Make Up
5. Arianne
6. Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)
7. Wildflower
8. You Are the Sunshine of My Life
9. Sing
10. Good Morning Heartache
11. Show and Tell
12. Mandy
13. Nice to Be Around
14. You’re as Right as Rain
15. When Will I See You Again
16. Only You (And You Alone)
17. Let Me Be the One/I Won’t Last a Day Without You
18. The Way We Were
19. Laughter in the Rain
20. You and Me Against the World
21. The Things I Might Have Been

Tracks 1-11 from Killing Me Softly with Her Song, Columbia KC 32258, 1973
Tracks 12-21 from When Will I See You Again, Columbia PC 33420, 1975

Johnny Mathis, The Heart of a Woman/Feelings: Expanded Edition (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: The Heart of a Woman (Columbia KC 33251, 1974) plus bonus tracks

1. Woman, Woman
2. Sail On White Moon
3. It’s Gone
4. House for Sale
5. Feel Like Makin’ Love
6. Memories Don’t Leave Like People Do
7. Strangers in Dark Corners
8. Wendy
9. The Heart of a Woman
10. The Way We Planned It
11. Fifty Fifty (1974 Version) (Bonus Track)
12. Nothing in This Whole World (Bonus Track)

CD 2: Feelings (Columbia PC 33887, 1975) plus bonus tracks

1. One Day in Your Life
2. Stardust
3. What I Did for Love
4. Midnight Blue
5. The Greatest Gift
6. 99 Miles from L.A.
7. Hurry Mother Nature
8. Feelings
9. That’s All She Wrote
10. Solitaire

Bonus Tracks

11. Crazy Little Love Makin’ Ways
12. Let’s Go On from Here
13. Turn the Lights Down
14. You Are There
15. Fifty Fifty (1976 Version)
16. That’s What Makes the Music Play
17. Let Me Be the One