Portrait of Johnny


Portrait of Johnny is a compilation album by Johnny Mathis that was released by Columbia Records on July 17, 1961, and described on the cover as "The Third in the Johnny Mathis Greatest Hits Series". Seven B-sides of chart hits are included along with four of the corresponding A-sides that made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 or "bubbled under" it and one song from a single that had neither side chart in Billboard magazine.
In the "Spotlight Albums of the Week" column in the issue of Billboard dated July 31, 1961, a description of the release states, "A deluxe merchandising effort is represented here, with the fine color cover painting of Mathis, reproduced in a gold titled frame, which is attached to the liner.
The album entered the magazine's Top LPs chart a month later, in the issue dated August 28, spending 63 weeks on the chart, seven of which at its peak position of number two.

Reception

AllMusic's Joe Viglione wrote, "The liner notes read like a good biography from a PR firm, better fare than '60s albums usually offered for the album jackets, but there's no clarification on where this material was culled from." He concludes, "The disc sounds like a pastiche, but as always, with the sublime voice of Johnny Mathis as the common denominator, it is as entertaining as ever and perhaps more interesting than usual with all the musical changes on each track."

Track listing

Recording and release dates are taken from the liner notes of The Singles.

Side one

  1. "Starbright" – 2:48
  2. *rec. 4/29/59, rel. 2/15/60; Billboard Hot 100: 25
  3. "While You're Young" – 2:54
  4. *rec. 5/1/59, rel. 11/7/60; B-side of "How to Handle a Woman"
  5. "Should I Wait " – 2:48
  6. *rec. 2/8/61, rel. 4/24/61; non-charting single
  7. "All Is Well" – 2:31
  8. *rec. 5/1/59, rel. 2/15/60; B-side of "Starbright"
  9. "You Set My Heart to Music" from the 1960 Broadway musical 13 Daughters – 2:46
  10. *rec. 3/4/61, rel. 3/20/61; Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart: 107
  11. "My Love for You" – 3:07
  12. *rec. 5/31/60, rel. 7/25/60; Billboard Hot 100: 47

Side two

  1. "Oh That Feeling" – 2:36
  2. *rec. 5/31/60, rel. 7/25/60; B-side of "My Love for You"
  3. "How to Handle a Woman" from the 1960 Broadway musical Camelot – 3:02
  4. *rec. 10/27/60, rel. 11/7/60; Billboard Hot 100: 64
  5. "Cherie" – 2:49
  6. * rec. 5/1/59, rel. 9/28/59; B-side of 1959 single "The Best of Everything"
  7. "Hey Love" – 2:28
  8. *rec. 5/1/59, rel. 5/9/60; B-side of 1960 single "Maria"
  9. "Jenny" – 2:58
  10. * rec. 2/8/61, rel. 3/20/61; B-side of "You Set My Heart to Music"; "Bubbling Under the Hot 100" chart: 118
  11. "The Story of Our Love" – 2:24
  12. *rec. 4/29/59, rel. 9/14/59; B-side of 1959 single "Misty"

Personnel

  • Johnny Mathis – vocals
  • Al Ham – producer
  • Mitch Miller – producer
  • Irving Townsend – producer
  • Frank DeVol – producer
  • Ralph Cowan – cover painting