Mark your calendars for September 13: that's when Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music will continue celebrating Johnny Mathis' remarkable discography with another pair of expanded releases encompassing three classic albums from The Voice of Romance.
1976's I Only Have Eyes for You and 1977's Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me both reunited Mathis with a pair of his favorite collaborators, producer Jack Gold and arranger Gene Page, for silky renditions of the day's pop smashes as only Mathis could deliver them. Page brought the same style of lush orchestration he perfected with Barry White to these sets featuring songs by the top songwriters of the day including Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield ("The Hungry Years"), Alan O'Day ("Do Me Wrong, But Do Me"), Stephen Sondheim ("Send in the Clowns"), Marvin Hamlisch and Ed Kleban ("One"), and the team of Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin ("Do You Know Where You're Going To," "I Always Knew I Had It in Me"). I Only Have Eyes for You introduced Johnny's longtime concert favorite "Yellow Roses on Her Gown" and the Christmas perennial "When a Child Is Born" as well as acclaimed singer-songwriter Harriet Schock's "Ooh, What We Do."
It's been paired on one packed CD with Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me. The LP found Mathis saluting his Columbia Records labelmate Barbra Streisand with the romantic "Evergreen," breathing new life into the vintage standard "All the Things You Are," and giving a classy spin to the Annie anthem "Tomorrow" in one of the song's first covers. Two outtakes, "Experience" and Stevie Wonder's spellbinding "If It's Magic," round out the deluxe package. Mike Piacentini at Sony's Battery Studios has remastered both albums, and our own Joe Marchese has penned new liner notes based on fresh interviews with Harriet Schock and, of course, Johnny Mathis.
Also arriving on September 13 is a deluxe Expanded Edition of Johnny's first album of the 1980s: Different Kinda Different. Mathis ushered in the decade with one of the most romantic and sensual albums in his extensive discography. Different Kinda Different teamed Mathis once more with Jack Gold and Gene Page for a set that lived up to its title as it spotlighted numerous new songs. Two sizzling pop-soul duets with Paulette McWilliams, "Different Kinda Different" and "I'd Do It All for You," are at the heart of an eclectic album that also features tunes by Sammy Cahn, Teddy Randazzo, and Steve Dorff, plus a pair of standards ("Deep Purple," "Temptation"), the timeless disco anthem "I Will Survive," and the haunting film theme "With You I'm Born Again." This definitive Expanded Edition of Different Kinda Different features nearly an entire album's worth of bonus tracks - nine in total. These include a brace of session outtakes such as Johnny's velvety rendition of Lionel Richie's "Three Times a Lady" and the new tracks recorded for Mathis' 1981 retrospective The First 25 Years-The Silver Anniversary Album. Everything has been remastered by Mike Piacentini at Battery , and the deluxe booklet features Joe's liner notes drawing upon brand-new interviews with Johnny Mathis and Paulette McWilliams. John Sellards has designed the artwork for both titles, boasting rare photos and memorabilia.
Look for the expanded editions of I Only Have Eyes for You/Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me and Different Kinda Different on September 13 at the links below!
Johnny Mathis, I Only Have Eyes for You/Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me: Expanded Edition (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music RGM-0919, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- I Write the Songs
- Do Me Wrong, But Do Me
- The Hungry Years
- I Only Have Eyes for You
- Yellow Roses on Her Gown
- (Do You Know Where You're Going To) Theme from Mahogany
- Ooh What We Do
- Send in the Clowns
- Every Time You Touch Me (I Get High)
- When a Child Is Born
- Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me
- We're All Alone
- All the Things You Are
- One
- When I Needed You
- The Most Beautiful Girl
- Tomorrow
- Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)
- I Always Knew I Had It in Me
- Don't Give Up on Us
- Experience (Bonus Track)
- If It's Magic (Bonus Track)
Tracks 1-10 from I Only Have Eyes for You, Columbia PC 34117, 1976
Tracks 11-20 from Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Columbia PC 34872, 1977
Track 21 rec. 9/30/77, session outtake
Track 22 rec. 6/14/77, released on Celebration - The Anniversary Album, CBS 10028, 1981
Johnny Mathis, Different Kinda Different: Expanded Edition (Columbia JC 36505, 1980 - reissued Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music RGM-0920, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- Different Kinda Different - with Paulette McWilliams
- With You I'm Born Again
- I'd Do It All for You - with Paulette McWilliams
- Never Givin' Up on You
- Deep Purple - featuring Ernie Watts
- I Will Survive
- Paradise
- The Lights of Rio - featuring Chris Bennett
- Love Without Words
- Temptation
- In Love with Love (rec. 11/27/79)
- Time for Love (rec. 11/27/79)
- Wondering Why (rec. 11/27/79)
- When Am I Going to Get Over You (rec. 12/6/79)
- Three Times a Lady (from All for You, CBS U.K. S 86115, 1980)
- Nothing Between Us But Love (from Columbia single 18-02194, 1981)
- It Doesn't Have to Hurt Every Time (from The Silver Anniversary Album - The First 25 Years, Columbia C2X 37440, 1981)
- The Way You Look Tonight (from The Silver Anniversary Album - The First 25 Years, Columbia C2X 37440, 1981)
- There! I've Said It Again (from The Silver Anniversary Album - The First 25 Years, Columbia C2X 37440, 1981)
RT says
These are nice but what about doing a reissue of the two lps Johnny recorded with Deniece Williams?
Candy Parton says
This is wonderful news! I loved Jack and Gene’s work together. And.... two of my songs are included, which is so nice after all these years! Congratulations!
Joe Marchese says
Thank you so much, Candy! It's a real privilege to reissue Johnny's recordings of your beautiful songs. It would be our pleasure to get a copy of the CD to you in September!