Live (Johnny Mathis album)


Live is a live album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in October 15, 1984, by Columbia Records and includes performances of some of his classics, songs from recent albums, and three selections that have never appeared on a Mathis studio album.
On October 24, 1995, the album was released for a second time on compact disc as part of a 3-disc set that also included Mathis's 1959 studio album Heavenly and the 1977 stereo reissue of 1958's Johnny's Greatest Hits.

Reception

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic wrote retrospectively: "Mathis has always been an expert at finding and performing music that ties together the often disparate styles of popular music over four decades, and his choices here are characteristic. Of course, he also performs them winningly with effective backup."

Track listing

From the liner notes for the original album:
  1. "I Believe in Love" – 3:31
  2. * Jim Barnett – arranger
  3. "Misty" – 3:07
  4. * Glenn Osser – arranger
  5. "Begin the Beguine" – 3:47
  6. * Gene Page – arranger
  7. *Victor Vanacore – arranger
  8. "Fly Away" – 3:46
  9. * Larry Steelman – arranger
  10. "A Certain Smile" – 3:44
  11. * Larry Steelman – arranger
  12. "Memory" – 3:00
  13. * Gene Page – arranger
  14. * Larry Steelman – arranger
  15. "The Twelfth of Never" – 3:06
  16. * Michel Colombier – arranger
  17. * Gil Reigers – arranger
  18. "Try to Win a Friend" – 3:30
  19. * Gil Reigers – arranger
  20. "99 Miles from L.A." – 3:35
  21. * Michel Colombier – arranger
  22. * Gil Reigers – arranger
  23. "Chances Are" – 3:10
  24. *Ray Conniff – arranger
  25. "Orange Colored Sky" – 3:09
  26. * Allyn Ferguson – arranger
  27. "When a Child Is Born" – 3:41
  28. * Jim Barnett – arranger
  29. * Gene Page – arranger

Song information

"I Believe in Love" was performed by Barbra Streisand on the soundtrack of the 1976 film A Star Is Born but was released as a single by Kenny Loggins in 1977 that reached number 37 on Billboard magazine's list of the 50 most popular Easy Listening songs in the US and number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Fly Away" had its best showing on these two charts by different artists: in 1981 Peter Allen took the song to number 55 on the Hot 100 and number 45 on what was now the Adult Contemporary chart, whereas Stevie Woods made it to number 23 Adult Contemporary and number 84 pop with the song in 1982. And "Try to Win a Friend" was included on two albums in 1973: Larry Gatlin's The Pilgrim and Dottie West's If It's Alright with You/Just What I've Been Looking For.

Personnel

From the liner notes for the original album:
; Performers
  • Johnny Mathis – vocals
  • Jim Ganduglia – conductor
  • Michael Bach – bass
  • Joe Lizama – drums
  • Gil Reigers – guitar
  • Larry Steelman – piano
; Production
  • Denny Diante – producer
  • Larry Hirsch – engineer
  • Bill Jackson – additional engineer
  • Terry Christian – additional engineer
  • Jo-Anne McGettrick – A&R Coordinator
  • Nancy Donald – design
  • Tony Lane – design
  • Sam Emerson – photographer
  • Mixed at Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood, California