Mathis Is...
| Mathis Is... | ||||
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| Studio album by Johnny Mathis | ||||
| Released | 1977 | |||
| Recorded | 1977 at Kaye-Smith Studios, Seattle, Washington Western Recorders, Los Angeles, California Sound Labs, Los Angeles, California |
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| Genre | Vocal | |||
| Length | 39:09 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Thom Bell | |||
| Johnny Mathis chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    |
| Billboard | positive |
Mathis Is... is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the winter of 1977 by Columbia Records and reunites the singer with producer Thom Bell for the first time since their collaboration on I'm Coming Home in 1973. As with that project, Mathis Is... focuses primarily on new songs, the one exception being a cover of "Sweet Love of Mine" from the 1975 Pick of the Litter album by The Spinners.
Mathis Is... made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's & Tapes chart in the issue dated March 19, 1977, and remained there for five weeks, peaking at number 139.
One of the songs from the album, "Loving You-Losing You", entered the magazine's list of the 50 most popular Easy Listening songs in the US the following month, in the April 2 issue, and peaked at number 29 over the course of five weeks.
Billboard gave the album its seal of approval. "Mathis's voice becomes the instrument again for Thom Bell's musical concept for chartdom: soft, sweet, non-abrasive but catchy orchestral charts which flow with the romanticism of Mathis's distinct voice. Orchestra and chorus are provided—with a new element of vibes adding fills—to this pleasant almost background kind of program." They pinpointed Bell's approach to this project. "There's a formatted ring to Bell's concept for the Mathis vocal range: a midrange carriage for his vibrato and clear tenor, with strings and soft background voices adding strength to Mathis's own gliding ability."
AllMusic's Joe Viglione noted the uniqueness of this release within the context of the series of albums on which Mathis covered hits by other artists, albums which, he writes, "played it safe, which makes Bell's return on Mathis Is an important but sadly forgotten event in Philly soul history." He adds, "It's a shame Mathis didn't continue this notion over half a dozen albums or so, branching out from the safety of re-recording hits of the time and going back to the thing that made him so popular in the first place: his first-rate work with Percy Faith, Nelson Riddle, and Ray Conniff. Lou Rawls reinvented himself with the material from these geniuses from Philadelphia while Bobby Hebb and Johnny Mathis were involved, but didn't stay in the game long enough to be rewarded as richly as they should have been through the Thom Bell/Kenny Gamble/Leon Huff magic." The writing here was the key for Viglione. "Casey James and LeRoy Bell, the authors of Elton John's Grammy-nominated 1979 Top Ten hit, "Mama Can't Buy You Love," are on board here, only they do their co-writing on Mathis Is with the master, Thom Bell. The result is extraordinary music for both Mathis followers and fans of the Philly sound." He concludes, "This album has the elegance found on "Mama Can't Buy You Love" without the drive; it is velvety, smooth and a perfect fit for Mathis's perfect voice. Urban adult contemporary as classy as the Delfonics. Very, very nice."
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