There is only one Johnny Mathis. With a career that is now in its seventh decade, Mathis has touched many generations with his distinctive vocals. Known for his hits, including “When Sunny Gets Blue,” “It’s Not For Me To Say,” “Chances Are,” “The Twelfth of Never,” “Misty,” “Wonderful! Wonderful!” and “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late”; his breathtaking interpretations of standards; and his glorious way with Christmas music; Mathis is a performer for all seasons.
Watermark: In your 2006 TV special, Johnny Mathis Live—Wonderful, Wonderful, which recently aired again on PBS, you talked about having “a lot of good memories” in spite of times in your career when you had to do 101 one-night concerts. How do you think that the experience affected you as an artist and person?
Johnny Mathis: Television is very demanding. You not only have to sing, but you have to look like you’ve got it all together [laughs]. That often times gives you a little leg up on your physical activities, like trying to stay in shape, so that you look as good as you sing. You do get absolutely affected by what you do, for instance “101 one-nighters in a row” and things of that nature. You realize that your capabilities are quite extensive if you continue your routine, which is remembering that you’re going to have to perform, so that all your extracurricular activities have to be minimized. Not so much that you’re restricted in too many ways, but you do have to get a lot of rest, concentrate, and remember it’s a job, a wonderful job. But it does require a lot of attention and concentration, and you’re dealing with your vocal chords, which are very, very sensitive, and also require a lot of rest. So, many things of that nature go into affecting performance.
Speaking of exhaustion, I was worn out just watching that vintage clip in which you and Andy Williams were doing gymnastics. How do you stay fit these days?
My exercise routine started years ago when I met a man by the name of Mike Abrahams at the Mountain Gate Golf Course. We just happened to get in the same foursome, and along the way he told me about what he did, that he exercised a lot of the people in motion pictures, and asked me what I did to keep in shape [laughs]. Unfortunately, I had a negative answer like, “I don’t really do anything.” He kind of gave me a disapproving look. So, I called him later on, and we got together and spent the better part of 20 years working out together. He got me into the routine of remembering that I was not always going to be young and fit, and I was going to have to work at it. It was Mike who told me that it would not only enhance my performance to look fit onstage, but it would probably give me a great boost as far as my energy level was concerned when singing and doing my day-to-day activities.
You have a long history of performing duets, with partners ranging from Deniece Williams, with whom you had a chart-topping hit single, TO Jane Olivor and Dionne Warwick, among others. Is there a current artist with whom you’d like to sing a duet?
Jennifer Warnes. I just love the quality of her voice—you can’t buy that, you can’t learn it. I heard her for the first time singing “Up Where We Belong,” and would be honored to sing with her if she is ever available. As far as my other duet partners are concerned, of course, I love my ladies very much. They are dear, wonderful and truly great artists!
You are once again going out on a concert tour. When you look out in the audience and see the faces of your fans, especially those of a certain age, do you feel as if you’ve grown up together?
Yes, many of us have grown up together. And it’s a wonderful thing! It helps me in that I don’t feel obligated just to sing the same songs over and over again. They’re familiar enough with them that if I sing a little bit of one or two, then I can actually do what I think is more interesting for the audience by singing some of the songs that perhaps they aren’t familiar with, but that I feel deserve to be performed.
I’ve been very lucky over the years, meeting great songwriters and musicians who have performed music that I fell in love with, and I have recorded. But there are wonderful moments when I feel like really getting involved with some music that perhaps I’ve sung in the past, or that I’ve always wanted to sing. Fortunately, the audience is attentive enough to let me do it. I’ve learned my lessons not to go too far out, but you do want to experiment a little bit because we do a lot of the same stuff over and over and over again. The fans don’t hear it that way, but we (the performers) do.
If there was one song that you could retire and never have to sing again, what would it be?
I’ve been very lucky over the years. Most of the music that I’ve sung has been good music. There are songs that are more difficult than others to sing. For instance, the high note in “Misty”: we did lower the key, which helps a great deal, but I still have to sing kind of a note in the middle of the song that is a bit [laughs] “iffy” and way out there. But I’ve just learned to do it vocally night after night. I love that song. I love the fact that it was written by the great artist Errol Garner, and the wonderful lyrics by Johnny Burke. As far as retiring any of the songs—mostly I have a hard time with songs that are vocally difficult, but over the years I’ve learned that its better in the long run that I sing songs that I can vocally manage without too much trouble.
An entire generation of LGBTQ music lovers were thrilled this year because Barry Manilow came out publicly. You, on the other hand, came out in the early 1980s.
I, like most people when you are a public figure, everybody wants to know about your private life. Took me a long time to get accustomed to being concerned and talk about my being gay over the years, but you know it is what it is [laughs]. My mom and my dad still loved me.
