WEBVTT - Johnny Mathis 0:00:15.436 --> 0:00:23.476 Pushkin. Today we're featuring the voice of Christmas, Johnny Mathis. 0:00:24.276 --> 0:00:27.916 Over the years, mister Matthis has released six Christmas albums. 0:00:28.116 --> 0:00:31.076 His iconic first one, Mary Christmas, was a tribute to 0:00:31.116 --> 0:00:33.116 his mother and father and is one of the most 0:00:33.156 --> 0:00:37.516 beloved collections of Christmas tunes ever. Now eighty seven years old, 0:00:37.676 --> 0:00:40.836 Johnny's in his sixty sixth year as a recording artist 0:00:41.356 --> 0:00:43.956 and still performing. In fact, we only had a brief 0:00:43.996 --> 0:00:46.676 thirty minutes for this conversation because he needs to save 0:00:46.756 --> 0:00:50.356 his voice for his rigorous performance schedule, which means we 0:00:50.396 --> 0:00:52.956 didn't get to certain important landmarks in his life and career, 0:00:53.236 --> 0:00:56.516 like releasing the first ever best of compilation Johnny's Greatest 0:00:56.556 --> 0:00:59.316 Hits in nineteen fifty eight, and the beautiful story of 0:00:59.396 --> 0:01:01.756 his coming out as a gay man in nineteen eighty two. 0:01:02.196 --> 0:01:03.876 But we did get to talk about performing with his 0:01:03.956 --> 0:01:07.436 musical heroes like Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole. Mister 0:01:07.436 --> 0:01:09.836 Matthis also shares a story about how he turned down 0:01:09.836 --> 0:01:13.076 the opportunity to qualify for the nineteen fifty six Olympics 0:01:13.196 --> 0:01:19.276 to instead launch his music career. This is broken record 0:01:19.636 --> 0:01:23.396 liner notes go the digital age. I'm justin Mitchell. Here's 0:01:23.436 --> 0:01:27.876 my conversation with the legendary mister Johnny Mathis. Good morning, 0:01:28.436 --> 0:01:33.436 mister Mathis, Yes, sir, Oh my lord, Wow, it is you. 0:01:34.276 --> 0:01:37.756 You sound like you. Yeah. Earlier in the morning, I'm 0:01:37.836 --> 0:01:40.796 really Johnny Mathis. Later on, I don't know when I am. 0:01:41.036 --> 0:01:43.716 My dad was my best pal. I kind of sort 0:01:43.716 --> 0:01:47.596 of turned into him in the evening. Oh you do well. 0:01:48.356 --> 0:01:51.316 I sort of remember him because he had a large family. 0:01:51.396 --> 0:01:54.716 He had seven kids, he and my mom, and I 0:01:54.916 --> 0:01:58.116 was happy. It's about my career because I got a 0:01:58.156 --> 0:02:00.796 chance to make some money and take care of my 0:02:00.836 --> 0:02:03.396 brothers and sisters at an early time in my life. 0:02:03.396 --> 0:02:07.836 So yeah, so there's eight of you total. Yeah, incredible. 0:02:08.356 --> 0:02:12.396 Reading out your parents influence on you, particularly your dad's 0:02:12.396 --> 0:02:16.116 in music, was so touching to me. Yeah. We were 0:02:16.596 --> 0:02:20.156 a large family, and usually when you're a large family, 0:02:20.556 --> 0:02:24.476 everybody had something to do to make it work. And 0:02:25.676 --> 0:02:29.316 along the way, I was very involved in athletics as 0:02:29.356 --> 0:02:33.116 a kid through high school and into college. In fact, 0:02:33.276 --> 0:02:37.036 I was a high jumper and a hurdler, and I 0:02:37.276 --> 0:02:39.916 my big train to fame, at least in the sports 0:02:39.916 --> 0:02:43.196 section of a San Francisco Chronicle work that I broke 0:02:43.236 --> 0:02:46.956 the great Bill Russell basketball players. I broke his high 0:02:46.996 --> 0:02:52.036 jumper record in college, another Bay Area legend. They didn't 0:02:52.036 --> 0:02:55.476 realize that Bill and I were pals and it didn't 0:02:55.516 --> 0:02:59.036 matter who won. Were good buddies. Anyway, When did you 0:02:59.076 --> 0:03:02.236 first meet Bill Russell, the great Celtics legend. Bill and 0:03:02.276 --> 0:03:04.596 I went to school at the same time. I went 0:03:04.676 --> 0:03:07.236 to San Francisco State, He went to u at Tests 0:03:07.756 --> 0:03:11.836 and I left school and went to New York to 0:03:11.916 --> 0:03:14.556 make my first recordings. So he ended up in Boston. 0:03:14.676 --> 0:03:16.196 I ended up in New York, and we were real 0:03:16.276 --> 0:03:18.876 close together. Who used to call each other all the 0:03:18.916 --> 0:03:21.516 time because the last time we saw each other we 0:03:21.516 --> 0:03:25.956 were playing basketball. And you did leave to go to 0:03:25.996 --> 0:03:28.916 New York to do your first recordings, and interestingly enough, 0:03:29.116 --> 0:03:32.316 I believe you were quite the athlete. As you mentioned, 0:03:32.676 --> 0:03:34.956 you were scheduled to do two things pretty much at 0:03:34.956 --> 0:03:38.436 the same time. One your first recording for Columbia Records. 0:03:38.436 --> 0:03:41.396 Your first recording session was scheduled in New York, and 0:03:42.076 --> 0:03:45.036 you were scheduled to go to the Olympic trials to 0:03:45.116 --> 0:03:48.516 qualify for the fifty six Olympics. Those two things were 0:03:48.516 --> 0:03:54.676 in conflict, and you decided to go to the recording sessions. Well, 0:03:54.836 --> 0:03:58.316 my dad, he is a reason I thing, and so 0:03:58.676 --> 0:04:02.916 when the occurrence happened, as you mentioned, there was no option. 0:04:03.196 --> 0:04:06.476 I sang because he sang, and that was what we 0:04:06.476 --> 0:04:08.276 were going to do, and nothing else we get in 0:04:08.316 --> 0:04:10.836 the way. It didn't matter how good you were at 0:04:10.876 --> 0:04:12.716 athletics and that you could go to the Olympics. You 0:04:12.756 --> 0:04:15.316 knew because of those nights you spent with your dad 0:04:15.316 --> 0:04:17.316 in the basement with him on the piano, you singing, 0:04:17.836 --> 0:04:19.836 that was what brought you joy and your family brought 0:04:19.836 --> 0:04:22.076 you joy. That's what you were going to do. Yeah, well, 0:04:22.156 --> 0:04:25.076 thanks worked out really well, things worked out beautifully for 0:04:25.076 --> 0:04:27.196 the both of you. Guys. I do want to talk 0:04:27.236 --> 0:04:29.876 about you, of course, have some of the all time 0:04:29.996 --> 0:04:33.476 great Christmas songs, some of the great renditions of Christmas songs. 0:04:33.916 --> 0:04:37.116 It's the holiday season, it's the Christmas season. And another 0:04:37.156 --> 0:04:39.796 person beyond you that I always think about around Christmas 0:04:40.036 --> 0:04:43.436 is Nat King Cole. And you got to meet Nat 0:04:43.476 --> 0:04:46.076 King Cole as a kid, Is that right? He was 0:04:46.116 --> 0:04:49.636 my vocal hero as a youngster. My dad sang and 0:04:49.756 --> 0:04:53.996 nobody heard him except that. But he loved Nat Cole 0:04:54.556 --> 0:04:58.796 and he brought his records home, and that was an 0:04:58.796 --> 0:05:02.876 occasion for me because occasionally that Cole would sing in 0:05:02.916 --> 0:05:05.956 San Francisco and my dad would take me to see him, 0:05:06.116 --> 0:05:10.036 and once in a while I reme a very vague 0:05:10.076 --> 0:05:13.996 thing that I got a chance to sneak backstage and 0:05:14.156 --> 0:05:16.636 as he was passing through or something, I got a 0:05:16.716 --> 0:05:20.196 chance to shake his hand. And then years later after 0:05:20.596 --> 0:05:24.036 I started recording NAT and I sang in some of 0:05:24.076 --> 0:05:27.476 the same venues and I'd meet him coming and going 0:05:29.636 --> 0:05:34.596 by the way, Do you remember me? I remember you 0:05:35.636 --> 0:05:42.436 and say a little funny word, nacking hole is so 0:05:42.956 --> 0:05:45.996 just brilliant? What did you learn from him? In terms 0:05:45.996 --> 0:05:50.076 of phrasing and vocal stylings? But most people don't realize 0:05:50.076 --> 0:05:53.116 that he was not only one of the greatest singers 0:05:53.396 --> 0:05:55.556 in the world, but he is one of the great 0:05:56.116 --> 0:06:00.276 piano players. I remember having a wonderful conversation later on 0:06:00.356 --> 0:06:06.716 in life with the great ascapedistone and Oscar said to me, oh, John, 0:06:06.756 --> 0:06:08.796 when I heard Nat, you know, he said, I wanted 0:06:08.796 --> 0:06:15.036 to quit plan Anyway, the fact remains is that I 0:06:15.116 --> 0:06:19.276 grew up in that situation in San Francisco. All these 0:06:19.276 --> 0:06:22.836 famous musicians came through, all the time, and at a 0:06:22.916 --> 0:06:27.476 very early time, my dad, God bless him. As seven kids, 0:06:27.996 --> 0:06:32.436 he and my mom. My dad never lost his instincts singing, 0:06:32.676 --> 0:06:36.276 and that's why I sing. So anytime anybody of stature 0:06:36.316 --> 0:06:39.076 would come through San Francisco, my dad would take off 0:06:39.076 --> 0:06:42.596 from work, come home, pick me up, and we'd drive 0:06:43.036 --> 0:06:46.436 over and he'd sleep me in because I was too young, 0:06:46.916 --> 0:06:49.596 and I would get a chance to meet some of 0:06:49.596 --> 0:06:55.876 these great singers elephants still seriv on Lena Horne not called. 0:06:56.556 --> 0:07:00.076 They all came through San Francisco. And eventually, after I 0:07:00.156 --> 0:07:04.996 got my start and music and made it my life's work, 0:07:05.396 --> 0:07:08.596 I worked in so many other venues along the way 0:07:08.756 --> 0:07:11.996 that he did, and I met him coming and going 0:07:12.716 --> 0:07:17.956 on so many occasions. Oh I remember you. Diana Washington 0:07:17.956 --> 0:07:20.276 wrote in her book that she remembered, I think, playing 0:07:20.316 --> 0:07:22.676 the black Hawk in San Francisco, and she heard you 0:07:22.716 --> 0:07:24.556 sing and loved it, and you had to sing with 0:07:24.556 --> 0:07:26.956 her a little bit, or sing with her band a bit. 0:07:27.236 --> 0:07:32.556 Oh yeah, Well, everybody. The lady who discovered me owned 0:07:32.756 --> 0:07:36.316 the black Hawk in San Francisco. Her name was Helen Noga. 0:07:36.556 --> 0:07:42.156 She and her husband and every famous jazz musician and 0:07:42.316 --> 0:07:46.596 singer came through San Francisco and worked that place, and 0:07:46.756 --> 0:07:49.556 of course I'm sitting in the back where nobody could 0:07:49.556 --> 0:07:52.996 see me consective liquor, and I would meet them all 0:07:53.076 --> 0:07:56.916 when I was sometimes I was sixteen, seventeen years old, 0:07:57.356 --> 0:08:00.356 and they remembered me after I made my first recordings, 0:08:00.396 --> 0:08:02.916 because my first recordings were made with George de Vakan, 0:08:03.076 --> 0:08:05.396 who was head of jazz music at Columbia Records, and 0:08:05.476 --> 0:08:08.956 that was that was my beginning. So it's been a 0:08:09.196 --> 0:08:12.756 great kind of growing up life for me, and I 0:08:12.876 --> 0:08:15.436 was very fortunate to be raised in a place like 0:08:15.476 --> 0:08:19.916 San Francisco or all these wonderful people came through. Yeah, 0:08:20.076 --> 0:08:24.516 your first recording session was quite a jazz affair, you know. 0:08:24.556 --> 0:08:28.196 You had the great arranger, Gil Evans arranging some of 0:08:28.196 --> 0:08:32.276 the great jazz players on that record, and then your 0:08:32.396 --> 0:08:35.596 next record went in another direction. It seemed like that 0:08:35.676 --> 0:08:39.196 determined your career because the next record, Wonderful, Wonderful, was 0:08:39.316 --> 0:08:42.796 so warmly received and well received that you almost wanted 0:08:42.876 --> 0:08:45.596 a more pop direction after your first record. Does that 0:08:45.636 --> 0:08:49.356 seem fair? Yeah? Most people you talked to this thing 0:08:50.036 --> 0:08:54.516 have many different aspects of their singing. For instance, I 0:08:54.596 --> 0:08:58.116 was going to San Francisco State College, and my best 0:08:58.116 --> 0:09:02.316 friend was my opera teacher, and of course later on 0:09:02.356 --> 0:09:05.316 I got a chance to utilize my voice and voice 0:09:05.356 --> 0:09:08.876 that were, you know, really reminiscent of the studies that 0:09:08.916 --> 0:09:12.476 I had with my operataers. But those are the wonderful, 0:09:13.036 --> 0:09:16.036 sort of vague kind of things that happened along the 0:09:16.076 --> 0:09:19.276 way in my life that have made a great difference 0:09:19.396 --> 0:09:23.636 in my being able to sing at such an early 0:09:23.676 --> 0:09:28.076 age and to have some success. So the fact that 0:09:28.116 --> 0:09:31.316 I was raised in San Francisco with all these extraordinary 0:09:31.316 --> 0:09:33.356 people coming through all the time, and I got to 0:09:33.396 --> 0:09:37.076 meet them and watch them and get a little idea 0:09:37.076 --> 0:09:39.516 about what it might be like to stand on stage 0:09:39.516 --> 0:09:43.196 and sing in front of people. And so it's I've 0:09:43.196 --> 0:09:45.516 been very lucky in that regard. We're going to take 0:09:45.556 --> 0:09:47.596 a quick break and then we'll be back with more 0:09:47.636 --> 0:09:53.036 from a conversation with mister Johnny Mathis. We're back with 0:09:53.116 --> 0:09:56.076 more from Johnny Mathis. What was New York like when 0:09:56.076 --> 0:10:03.876 you first got there? New York was fast, loud, crazy, wonderful, 0:10:06.116 --> 0:10:10.396 everything everything that you could think of. That's what New 0:10:10.476 --> 0:10:13.676 York was. And I was all alone. I was by myself. 0:10:13.716 --> 0:10:16.556 I had never traveled, but my mom and my dad 0:10:16.596 --> 0:10:20.516 had seven kids, and we were home bodies all the time. 0:10:20.956 --> 0:10:25.076 Any kind of money we made, you know, doing odd 0:10:25.156 --> 0:10:28.356 jobs and things we brought home to show with the family. 0:10:28.756 --> 0:10:32.156 But when I got to New York, I was alone. 0:10:32.876 --> 0:10:37.836 But I was absolutely amazed at the kindness that was 0:10:37.916 --> 0:10:42.916 showed me by so many people who just happened to 0:10:42.956 --> 0:10:45.996 meet me. They didn't know who I was, I didn't 0:10:45.996 --> 0:10:50.756 know who they were, but they treated me like a 0:10:50.756 --> 0:10:54.556 brother or a son or what have you. And from 0:10:54.556 --> 0:10:57.716 the time I went to New York, nobody knew who 0:10:57.756 --> 0:11:00.956 I was, and I got a chance to meet some 0:11:01.236 --> 0:11:05.476 extraordinarily gifted people, and later on in life I got 0:11:05.516 --> 0:11:08.156 a sense to thanks them. For instance, the one that 0:11:08.196 --> 0:11:11.036 comes to mind most three is the great Bart Howard, 0:11:11.636 --> 0:11:14.356 who wrote fly Me to the Moon and so many 0:11:14.396 --> 0:11:19.836 other wonderful songs, lovely composer. I was fantastics and he 0:11:19.956 --> 0:11:23.636 was one of my best friends. He heard me sing 0:11:23.676 --> 0:11:29.756 at an early age and some local nightclub, jab nightclub 0:11:29.836 --> 0:11:33.276 in San Francisco, one of us doing nothing waiting for 0:11:33.316 --> 0:11:35.916 the record people to have me come in and make 0:11:35.956 --> 0:11:39.436 my first recordings. But I got a chance to wander 0:11:39.516 --> 0:11:42.316 around New York and I, you know, I'd sit in 0:11:42.356 --> 0:11:46.836 the audience and listen to these singers and occasionally one 0:11:46.876 --> 0:11:49.596 of them would the heavy come up on stage and 0:11:49.636 --> 0:11:53.676 sing with him. So it was a wonderful kind of 0:11:53.876 --> 0:11:57.676 beginning for me. I got the best of the best 0:11:58.316 --> 0:12:02.796 of some of the finest musicians and singers at an 0:12:02.796 --> 0:12:07.476 early age, and it helped me a great deal. Absolutely, 0:12:07.676 --> 0:12:09.796 speaking of some of the best of the best. One 0:12:09.796 --> 0:12:13.196 of my favorite, absolute favorite records of yours. I don't 0:12:13.196 --> 0:12:15.636 know if you've heard it recently or not, but Live 0:12:15.676 --> 0:12:18.036 It Up, your sixty one album, Live It Up with 0:12:18.076 --> 0:12:23.596 Nelson Riddle, produced by Irving Townsend. Yeah. I was overwhelmed 0:12:23.636 --> 0:12:27.836 by being able to sing with Nelson Little. And you 0:12:27.956 --> 0:12:30.636 mentioned it that and I forgot all about that album 0:12:30.716 --> 0:12:33.916 because that was one of my favorite things in the 0:12:33.916 --> 0:12:36.916 world is to work with Nelson Little. He was so 0:12:36.956 --> 0:12:40.516 sweet and so kind to me, and he was the 0:12:40.516 --> 0:12:42.996 top of the world at that moment, you know, because 0:12:42.996 --> 0:12:46.516 of his successful thanks to Natza and et. When did 0:12:46.556 --> 0:12:49.356 you first meet Nelson Riddle or how did that come 0:12:49.556 --> 0:12:51.676 to be that you worked with them on that album. 0:12:52.316 --> 0:12:57.156 I don't know, but people like Nelson liddle are so 0:12:57.276 --> 0:13:03.356 gifted that they don't really equate you with other people. 0:13:04.276 --> 0:13:06.756 What they want to do is they want to sure 0:13:08.156 --> 0:13:12.836 they're not with you, and if it turns out good, fine, 0:13:12.916 --> 0:13:16.316 and if it doesn't, and many times it doesn't, but 0:13:16.436 --> 0:13:18.916 if it does, you know, all the better for both 0:13:18.916 --> 0:13:21.796 of us. So I was very lucky in that regard, 0:13:21.916 --> 0:13:25.036 and early on I met these wonderful composions and the 0:13:25.116 --> 0:13:28.356 arrangers of music. Some of them I got a chance 0:13:28.396 --> 0:13:34.116 to perform with. I don't think anything great happened. But oh, 0:13:34.156 --> 0:13:36.796 what do you mean? That is a lot of great music. 0:13:37.756 --> 0:13:40.516 You did a lot of great music. Come on, it's 0:13:40.676 --> 0:13:44.756 so good. Thanks for reminding me you got it. I 0:13:44.756 --> 0:13:46.316 don't know if you listen to yourself or not, but 0:13:46.476 --> 0:13:48.756 you should put that on. That is a hell of 0:13:48.796 --> 0:13:51.316 a record. Oh my god. Good. I'll call the office 0:13:51.356 --> 0:13:52.876 and have them send me a copy of it and 0:13:52.996 --> 0:13:55.356 listen to it. Oh man, I don't know if you'll 0:13:55.356 --> 0:13:56.556 be able to hear this too, but let me see 0:13:56.596 --> 0:13:58.276 if I can play you the title track off Live 0:13:58.316 --> 0:14:04.676 It Up. I'm planning to live a wild living. It's good. 0:14:04.996 --> 0:14:09.036 I'd be good to fill my cup to the brown. 0:14:10.276 --> 0:14:11.916 It's too hard not to sing along. I'm sorry, I 0:14:12.316 --> 0:14:17.996 don't want to ruin so good I remember that, my goodness, 0:14:18.036 --> 0:14:21.996 it was quite an exciting time for me. Yeah, when 0:14:22.036 --> 0:14:24.716 you work with someone like Nelson Riddle, were you able 0:14:24.756 --> 0:14:27.596 to make recommendations about the arrangements and things or would 0:14:27.636 --> 0:14:30.356 you mostly just leave it to the arrangers? Now I 0:14:30.436 --> 0:14:33.636 was so in awed of Nelson Riddle. He was so 0:14:33.756 --> 0:14:37.716 kind to me, and fortunately the recordings that we made 0:14:38.076 --> 0:14:43.116 were successful. Yeah, he was very kind and very embracing. 0:14:43.636 --> 0:14:47.476 He knew that I didn't really know too much about 0:14:47.516 --> 0:14:50.076 what I was doing, but he carried me in a 0:14:50.196 --> 0:14:54.156 direction that worked out just fine. Oh yeah, did you 0:14:54.196 --> 0:14:57.956 have a relationship with Frank Sinatra at all? I didn't 0:14:58.076 --> 0:15:01.876 get close to Frank. I knew him because he lives 0:15:01.876 --> 0:15:04.756 in California, very close to me, and I would see 0:15:04.836 --> 0:15:09.636 him occasionally at get together that people would have in 0:15:09.756 --> 0:15:12.396 that regard. And now I was never close to him. 0:15:12.436 --> 0:15:15.036 But his daughter was one of my best friends, Nancy, 0:15:15.196 --> 0:15:18.876 and she used to begged me sometimes to talk to 0:15:18.916 --> 0:15:21.796 Frank and so that he would embrace her a little 0:15:21.796 --> 0:15:25.596 bit more, because evidently he was traveling all the time, 0:15:25.716 --> 0:15:30.476 so he didn't see it wasn't that close to his children. Yeah, 0:15:31.316 --> 0:15:34.836 but I was very close to her, and she would 0:15:34.836 --> 0:15:37.516 always ask me, when you see my dad, tell him 0:15:37.556 --> 0:15:40.476 we let me mean we ended seen. Did you get 0:15:40.516 --> 0:15:43.116 the sense that Frank was maybe a little jealous of 0:15:43.156 --> 0:15:47.476 you because your voice was so incredibly almost perfect, and 0:15:47.516 --> 0:15:50.036 because you were kind of like the young kid coming up? 0:15:50.676 --> 0:15:55.036 You know, I have no idea what someone like him 0:15:55.076 --> 0:16:00.236 would think of me, other than the fact that vocally 0:16:00.636 --> 0:16:04.556 I was completely different from his voice. Of course, the 0:16:04.596 --> 0:16:08.676 one who I was the most indemnied with or whatever 0:16:08.716 --> 0:16:12.196 the world is, was not cold to me. He would 0:16:12.676 --> 0:16:17.076 the beginning and the end of music because he was 0:16:17.116 --> 0:16:19.516 not only a singer, but he was a great physician, 0:16:20.156 --> 0:16:23.156 and on occasion I would get his chance to see 0:16:23.236 --> 0:16:29.356 him while he was rehearsing. Occasionally I would have my buddy, 0:16:29.796 --> 0:16:32.436 who was a piano player, and after he would finish 0:16:32.476 --> 0:16:37.276 rehearsing that with his group, I would, you know, rehearse 0:16:37.396 --> 0:16:41.236 with my group. And he remembered that from the time 0:16:41.276 --> 0:16:44.796 I was about thirteen years old. Yeah, beautiful, beautiful. You 0:16:44.836 --> 0:16:47.436 know there was a time in sixty three where you 0:16:47.556 --> 0:16:53.036 left Columbia Records and went to Mercury. Big mistake. Yeah, 0:16:53.116 --> 0:16:56.156 tell me about that. How come? Oh, it's all money. 0:16:56.356 --> 0:16:59.876 And the person who was my business manager was all 0:16:59.916 --> 0:17:04.796 about money. She was a very dynamic Armenian lady. She 0:17:04.916 --> 0:17:07.356 owned a club called the Black Hawk in San Francisco. 0:17:07.676 --> 0:17:10.236 Woman who owned the Black Dad. Yeah, and she became 0:17:10.236 --> 0:17:14.836 your manager. Yeah, he became my manager. And she pulled 0:17:14.876 --> 0:17:17.436 all the strings as far as who I was gonna 0:17:17.476 --> 0:17:20.396 be with and what have you. Her best friend turned 0:17:20.436 --> 0:17:22.956 out to be Georgia Vakan, who was the man's who 0:17:23.036 --> 0:17:26.956 signmate to Columbia Records. So we made a jazz album 0:17:27.276 --> 0:17:29.476 with some of the great jazz musicians in the world, 0:17:29.476 --> 0:17:31.676 but they used funny names. They couldn't use their name 0:17:32.716 --> 0:17:35.076 because they all signed a record company. You had Art 0:17:35.076 --> 0:17:37.116 Farmer on there. I mean, you had so many great 0:17:37.156 --> 0:17:39.556 players on that record. Oh my gosh. Yeah, and the 0:17:39.676 --> 0:17:42.796 one if you look really your clothes. They got some 0:17:42.876 --> 0:17:46.156 funny names, and they were very famous musicians because they 0:17:46.156 --> 0:17:50.076 couldn't use the right name because yeah, there was times 0:17:50.116 --> 0:17:54.396 recording wise to somebody else, hilarious. A couple of those songs, 0:17:54.556 --> 0:17:56.556 I think fly Me to the Moon and Prelude to 0:17:56.556 --> 0:17:59.996 a Kiss. You got to play with Oscar Peterson's trio 0:18:00.316 --> 0:18:03.276 without Oscar, but you got to play Herbellis on guitar 0:18:03.436 --> 0:18:05.996 was on that one and Ray Brown on bass. Yeah, 0:18:06.036 --> 0:18:08.676 that trio of Oscar Urban Ray, that's one I think 0:18:08.716 --> 0:18:10.636 one of the great bands ever. And you got to 0:18:10.676 --> 0:18:13.516 have like two of them are on your first record. 0:18:13.516 --> 0:18:17.796 It's pretty amazing. Yeah. I was absolutely over the move, 0:18:18.276 --> 0:18:24.996 probably stepped into something that I wasn't ready for vocally artistically. 0:18:25.636 --> 0:18:28.156 But if you make an effort, and if you're in 0:18:28.196 --> 0:18:30.956 the right place at the right time, your opportunity to 0:18:31.116 --> 0:18:33.116 meet some of these people and even perform with some 0:18:33.196 --> 0:18:35.956 of them. Yeah, and that was a situation with me 0:18:36.036 --> 0:18:38.676 on that first recording that I did with George Bakin, 0:18:38.956 --> 0:18:40.876 who is the nicest human being I ever met in 0:18:40.916 --> 0:18:43.516 my life, and he's the reason that I reshigned to 0:18:43.596 --> 0:18:46.676 Columbia Records. We'll be right back with more from mister 0:18:46.756 --> 0:18:51.796 Mathis after a quick break. We're back with the rest 0:18:51.796 --> 0:18:56.036 of my conversation with Johnny Mathis. I want to play you, 0:18:56.116 --> 0:18:58.796 just briefly, just a little bit of your rendition of 0:18:58.876 --> 0:19:02.676 Manage a Carnival from your LA record which was on Mercury. So, 0:19:02.756 --> 0:19:04.716 even if it was a mistake to go I loved 0:19:04.716 --> 0:19:21.236 that La record. Yeah don't. It is just mesmerizing hearing that. 0:19:21.996 --> 0:19:26.076 Thank you. I had so many wonderful opportunities early on 0:19:26.196 --> 0:19:29.356 because I was signed by the head of jazz, George Vatkin, 0:19:29.836 --> 0:19:33.796 so nothing was taboo as far as my singing was concerned. 0:19:34.276 --> 0:19:40.076 I had signed to Columbia by the head of jazz, 0:19:40.836 --> 0:19:44.796 and of course the head of popular music was Amanda 0:19:44.876 --> 0:19:49.396 the name of Mitch Miller, and he hated me. Why 0:19:49.476 --> 0:19:53.316 he didn't like when I was singing, and he was 0:19:53.476 --> 0:19:55.516 the person that you had to talk to if you 0:19:55.556 --> 0:19:58.476 were going to make popular music at Columbia Orchestra at 0:19:58.516 --> 0:20:02.316 that time. He was a headman and he didn't like 0:20:02.716 --> 0:20:06.316 me at all and what I was doing. But somehow, 0:20:06.476 --> 0:20:12.836 some way, the management at Record finagled him to record 0:20:12.916 --> 0:20:16.156 with me, and we went in and did the chances 0:20:16.196 --> 0:20:20.276 are top of No, you did great records with Mitch Miller. 0:20:20.516 --> 0:20:22.476 I didn't know he didn't like you. To start. Oh 0:20:22.516 --> 0:20:25.876 my goodness, what do you think of Brazilian music? I 0:20:26.236 --> 0:20:30.796 adore Brazilian music. I was raised on it because in 0:20:30.836 --> 0:20:34.596 San Francisco, so many of the Latins came through there, 0:20:35.036 --> 0:20:39.756 and that that something that I desperately wanted to do 0:20:39.876 --> 0:20:44.396 all my life was to make Latin music like Antonio Carlos, 0:20:44.476 --> 0:20:46.756 Joe Beam, and I just imagine some of these people 0:20:46.836 --> 0:20:49.796 must have just been big for you. You know. I 0:20:49.956 --> 0:20:52.796 met so many of them in Brazil. Oh you did 0:20:52.836 --> 0:20:55.596 you lived in Brazil? When did you live in Brazil? Oh? 0:20:55.636 --> 0:20:59.596 When I was about nineteen or twenty. Yeah, I lived 0:20:59.596 --> 0:21:04.476 there and made so many wonderful friends. I loved the langue, 0:21:04.596 --> 0:21:07.636 love singing in the Portuguese, the way they speak it, 0:21:07.956 --> 0:21:12.556 like Louise Bonfa and all these just gorgeous composers, and oh, 0:21:12.716 --> 0:21:16.676 it's amazing. It was amazing to live there as I 0:21:16.716 --> 0:21:20.036 did at an early age. They never go to bed. 0:21:20.676 --> 0:21:24.236 All they do is have music in their life and 0:21:24.436 --> 0:21:29.676 food and occasionally a little drink, maybe a lot of drink, 0:21:29.876 --> 0:21:32.196 maybe a lot of drink, maybe a lot of drink. 0:21:33.996 --> 0:21:36.076 When you went to Mercury, were you friends with Quincy 0:21:36.156 --> 0:21:38.436 Jones who was there at the time same time as you. 0:21:38.676 --> 0:21:42.636 Oh he was the dearest, sweetest, kindest man in the 0:21:42.676 --> 0:21:45.636 world and one of the greatest musicians. Of course. Yeah, 0:21:46.316 --> 0:21:51.516 And all my life, musicians have embraced me because we're 0:21:51.556 --> 0:21:55.156 doing the same things, except we do it all differently. Yeah, 0:21:55.356 --> 0:21:59.236 and some of us are better than others, but we're 0:21:59.236 --> 0:22:01.556 all pals, and you know, we all know that we 0:22:01.676 --> 0:22:05.916 struggle here and struggle there. And my goodness, some of 0:22:05.916 --> 0:22:09.396 the greatest musicians in the world I met when I 0:22:09.396 --> 0:22:11.996 was all alone in New York and I'd go to 0:22:12.116 --> 0:22:16.036 jazz clubs sit there all by myself, and they'd come 0:22:16.036 --> 0:22:18.316 over and sit with me, and we'd have a beer 0:22:18.436 --> 0:22:21.156 or something. And I got to meet them very early 0:22:21.236 --> 0:22:26.196 in life and had some lifelong friendships in that regard. 0:22:26.036 --> 0:22:30.396 Did you ever get to meet Duke Ellington? What a 0:22:30.476 --> 0:22:35.636 lovely human being, not only musically but personally as a 0:22:35.756 --> 0:22:39.516 as a person. He was so kind to me and 0:22:39.556 --> 0:22:42.036 so loving. I remember meeting that I had with him 0:22:42.036 --> 0:22:45.036 when we sat and we played. He played the piano, 0:22:45.636 --> 0:22:49.356 because everybody came through San Francisco and they had time 0:22:49.396 --> 0:22:51.876 off in the day and they would walk around or something, 0:22:51.916 --> 0:22:56.996 and I meet them and do met me, and I 0:22:57.116 --> 0:22:59.796 sang it for him. He loved it. I remember him 0:22:59.836 --> 0:23:03.516 sitting down with me at one point, I must have 0:23:03.516 --> 0:23:07.596 been nineteen years old, and he played the piano and 0:23:08.716 --> 0:23:13.236 wrote down some things, wrote eve in some a few words, 0:23:13.876 --> 0:23:17.596 and handed me the sheet to go and learn, and 0:23:18.316 --> 0:23:21.196 it was like, you know, it was the most magical 0:23:21.236 --> 0:23:24.196 place for a kid like me to go up in 0:23:24.196 --> 0:23:29.236 San Francisco. Everybody felt comfortable there, all the musicians who 0:23:29.316 --> 0:23:32.996 came through, and I got to meet them and become 0:23:33.076 --> 0:23:36.636 pals with them. Wow. Did you ever connect with Billy Strayhorn, 0:23:36.716 --> 0:23:40.436 who composed with Duke. I did have a meet meeting 0:23:40.436 --> 0:23:44.796 with Billy, and I knew that he was the reason 0:23:44.876 --> 0:23:47.996 for so much of the music that I loved. Yea, 0:23:48.076 --> 0:23:51.236 and yes, I met him and he was very very 0:23:51.316 --> 0:23:53.756 kind to me. Wow, what a lovely human being he 0:23:53.836 --> 0:23:56.076 must have been. I was just to love what the 0:23:56.116 --> 0:23:58.716 work you did with with Duke Ellington. It was a 0:23:58.796 --> 0:24:01.636 magical time for me. Yeah. And I love the record 0:24:01.676 --> 0:24:05.316 you did in nineteen ninety all renditions of Duke ellington songs. 0:24:05.356 --> 0:24:08.636 It's such a lovely album as well, in a sentimental mood, 0:24:08.956 --> 0:24:10.716 and you interpreted a lot of a lot of those 0:24:10.796 --> 0:24:13.676 those tunes that we all love. How important was Christmas 0:24:13.716 --> 0:24:16.236 to you growing up, mister Matthis, Oh Christmas is a 0:24:16.236 --> 0:24:19.196 big deal. I come from a large family and of 0:24:19.236 --> 0:24:23.036 course no money, but we didn't need money. We had 0:24:23.076 --> 0:24:27.356 each other and we had fins and crazy stuff that 0:24:27.396 --> 0:24:30.796 we played with. And Christmas was the very loving time. 0:24:31.556 --> 0:24:33.756 Is the only time that my mom and my dad 0:24:34.436 --> 0:24:37.116 and my brothers and sisters and I were all together 0:24:37.636 --> 0:24:39.676 because my dad and my mom had to work their 0:24:39.756 --> 0:24:42.276 butts off all the time and they were never home 0:24:42.356 --> 0:24:46.796