Wonderful, Wonderful (Johnny Mathis album) explained

Wonderful, Wonderful
Type:studio
Artist:Johnny Mathis
Cover:Mathis-Wonderful.jpg
Released:July 8, 1957[1]
Recorded:March 27, 1957
March 28, 1957
April 1, 1957
Studio:CBS 30th Street Studio,
New York City
Genre:Vocal[2]
Length:36:38
Label:Columbia
Producer:George Avakian[3]
Prev Title:Johnny Mathis
Prev Year:1956
Next Title:Warm
Next Year:1957

Wonderful, Wonderful is the second album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis. It was released on July 8, 1957,[1] on the Columbia Records label but does not include his hit song of the same name or any of his songs that were released as singles that year. The liner notes on the back of the original album cover proclaim that "he stamps as his very own such familiar rhythm tunes as 'Too Close for Comfort' and 'That Old Black Magic', injects new life in well-known ballads such as 'All Through the Night', gives new hearings to several fine standards that have been neglected in recent years, and even introduces a brand new ballad (Alex Fogarty's 'Will I Find My Love Today?')."[3]

This sophomore effort debuted on Billboard magazine's list of the 25 Best-Selling Pop LPs in the issue dated September 9 of that year and reached number four during its 26 weeks there.[4]

The album was initially only available in the monaural format but was reissued in 1962 with a banner added to the original cover that read, "Electronically Re-channeled for Stereo".[5] It was issued in Great Britain by Fontana Records in 1957[5] with a different jacket design and cover photo and was released for the first time on compact disc on May 14, 2001, as one of two albums on one CD, the other LP being the UK version of his self-titled 1956 debut.[6]

Reception

AllMusic's Joe Viglione had high praise for Mathis here. "Even at the outset of his career, the voice that would become so familiar is in control and not just flirting with perfection -- the instrument is perfectly tuned and full of life."[2] The reviewer also wrote, "The production is sublime and the album is a real treasure"[2] and that "Jimmy Abato's alto sax and Ernie Royal's trumpet do wonders next to Mathis's voice."[2]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Will I Find My Love Today?" (Alex Fogarty, Sydney Shaw) – 3:32
  2. "Looking at You" (Cole Porter) – 2:16
  3. "Let Me Love You" (Bart Howard) – 3:47
  4. "All Through the Night" from Anything Goes (Porter) – 2:56
  5. "It Could Happen to You" from And the Angels Sing (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 3:47
  6. "That Old Black Magic" (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) – 2:51

Side two

  1. "Too Close for Comfort" from Mr. Wonderful (Jerry Bock, George David Weiss, Larry Holofcener) – 2:34
  2. "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" (David Mann, Bob Hilliard) – 3:13
  3. "Year After Year" (Howard) – 3:12
  4. "Early Autumn" (Ralph Burns, Woody Herman, Johnny Mercer) – 3:38
  5. "You Stepped Out of a Dream" from Ziegfeld Girl (Nacio Herb Brown, Gus Kahn) – 2:44
  6. "Day In, Day Out" (Rube Bloom, Mercer) – 2:08

Recording dates

From the liner notes for :[1]

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. (2017) The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment 88985 36892 2.
  2. Web site: Wonderful Wonderful - Johnny Mathis. allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. 5 October 2016.
  3. (1957) Wonderful Wonderful by Johnny Mathis [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CL 1028.
  4. .
  5. Web site: Johnny Mathis – Wonderful! Wonderful! . Discogs. 5 October 2016.
  6. Web site: Wonderful Wonderful/Johnny Mathis - Johnny Mathis. allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. 6 October 2016.

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