| Swing Softly | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Johnny Mathis |
| Cover: | Mathis-Swing.jpg |
| Released: | July 28, 1958 (mono) August 18, 1958 (stereo)[1] |
| Recorded: | May 15–16, 1958 June 17, 1958 |
| Studio: | CBS 30th Street Studio New York City |
| Genre: | Vocal[2] |
| Length: | 31:53 |
| Label: | Columbia |
| Producer: | Mitch Miller Al Ham |
| Prev Title: | Johnny's Greatest Hits |
| Prev Year: | 1958 |
| Next Title: | Merry Christmas |
| Next Year: | 1958 |
Swing Softly is the fifth album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on July 28, 1958,[1] by Columbia Records and was a departure from the ballads that accounted for the vast majority of singles and album tracks he had recorded thus far. This project features uptempo arrangements of popular standards, most of which originated in a movie or stage musicals, and a couple of new songs: "To Be in Love" and "Easy to Say (But Hard to Do)".
The album made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's list of the 25 Best-Selling Pop LPs in the US in the issue dated September 8, 1958, and peaked at number six over the course of 16 weeks.[3] It also spent its one week on the UK album chart at number 10[4] and received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 500,000 copies in the US on December 4, 1962.[5]
The album was released for the first time on compact disc in 2000 as one of two albums on one CD, the other LP being another of his Gold records, Warm from 1957.[6]
Allmusic's Greg Adams wrote: "Close listeners will appreciate the purity of Mathis's vocal technique, which differs markedly from that of later singers for its infrequent use of modulation...Mathis swings with ease on these twelve favorites and offers something a little bit different from his previous albums."[2]
From the liner notes for :[1]