Johnny Mathis records new CD 'Isn't it Romantic' and reveals key to his longevity

Jet, June 20, 2005 by Clarence Waldron

Talking to Johnny Mathis is like getting re-acquainted with a dear friend. Though it's been awhile since you've last spoken, it feels as if you just talked to him yesterday.

That's just how easy Mathis makes a recent interview with JET. Smooth, easy and soothing as his classic music. When you hear songs like Wonderful, Wonderful and Chances Are, it's as if you are hearing them for the first time-still so clear, crisp, warm and inviting.

During the interview, the 69-year-old legendary singer revealed the secret to his longevity in music and talked about his new, widely acclaimed CD and his famous friends.

Mathis sounds as smooth as ever on his latest CD Isn't k Romantic: The Standards Album. "I like to try to do one album a year so that everybody doesn't forget me," he chuckles. "And we decided that since there were still a few popular American standard songs that over the years somehow I haven't recorded, we would do them. Songs that everybody knows that somehow I have not recorded. That was the premise of the album."

Highlights include Love Is Here To Stay, Almost Like Being In Love, Isn't It Romantic, Dindi and There's A Kind Of Hush. Also featured is the duet Over The Rainbow with his late friend Ray Charles.

"He was a wonderful guy," he says of Charles. "He was charming to me. He sat next to me when we were recording and even helped me with one of the phrases that I was having difficulty with in Over the Rainbow. Of course, he was very ill at the time, but he was absolutely extraordinary. He wanted to be there when I sang and sang with me," he fondly recalls.

Mathis became an overnight recording sensation with his 1956 debut hit Wonderful, Wonderful followed by Chances Are, It's Not For Me To Say, Misty, and When Sunny Gets Blue. In the '70s he won a huge new following of fans with the No. 1 hit Too Much, Too Little, Too Late with Deniece Williams and continued to thrill music lovers in the '80s with the duet Friends" In Love with Dionne Warwick.

He celebrates his 50th anniversary as a recording artist next year. Mathis modestly reveals the secret to his lasting appeal.

"I'm just one of the lucky people. I have no other reason for my longevity," he says. "It's just that some people are lucky and people still seem to enjoy the music."

He continues, "And fortunately, I haven't had any problem with my voice. I've been able to sing at a level of consistency that the people are expecting. I was very lucky in the beginning of my career when I was about 13 actually I started to study voice production with a wonderful lady. She instilled in me the fact that I would probably want to sing for all my life, so she said the best thing to do is find the proper ways to make the sound and not ruin your voice and keep it for a long period of time. So the studying that I did early on I think is the main reason for my longevity."

He notes, "It's very much like opera singers. They do the same thing. The first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, the thing they think about is their voice and how to take care of it. It's different when you are young, you can get away with a lot more, but as you get older, the muscles in the voice get weaker, so you have to find ways to keep them strong and sometimes it requires nothing but rest."

He has slowed down on the road these days. "I really don't tour anymore. I go out two, maybe three times a month, and then I come back home and rev up my energy. You have to make sure you don't overdo one thing or the other, especially at a certain age, especially with the voice. You can't beat it to death. I am very aware of that. I sing because I love to sing, but I realize that I can't do it as often as I used to."

He still lives in Hollywood Hills in a luxurious hilltop home originally built by the late billionaire entrepreneur Howard Hughes. "I love the house that I've been living in for over 40 years. I really am a homebody and I still love to play golf."

The legendary music master, who turns 70 on September 30, avoids the bright lights of Hollywood and actually doesn't do too many interviews. "When you do interviews, you have to talk about yourself--and I like to find out about other people. I am so familiar with everything that I do. I've said it over and over again. I think it is boring," he laughs.

He adds, "I really, really enjoy music and that's why I do what I do. Sometimes being famous gets in the way of doing what you want to do. In other words, the celebrity gets out of hand, and if you're not careful, you will forget what you are about--and that is you are about making music that people want to hear. I think there are a lot of people who really want to be famous, they really do. I don't. It sort of gets in the way of the everyday things that I do. But I am very grateful for my success, and with success, of course, comes a whole lot of celebrity."

He has a small circle of close friends in the music industry. "Most of my friends are musicians and unfortunately, an awful lot of them have passed away, like Ray Charles, Nat Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine. All these people were very good friends of mine. I listen daily to people like Nat Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne and Peggy Lee. They are part of my life that I don't want to lose. I grew up sort of under their wings."