Gold: A 50th Anniversary Celebration

Performer: Johnny Mathis
Producer: Didier C. Deutsch (Compilation)
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Neatly summarizing Johnny Mathis's half-century as a recording star within a single-disc, 18-track compilation, A 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION is a near-perfect summation of the man's career. Equipped with an instantly familiar voice, an easygoing delivery, and a singular grace, Johnny Mathis is perhaps the greatest easy-listening singer of his generation. On this disc, classics like "Chances Are," "When Sunny Gets Blue," and "Misty" are paired with a few more recent tunes, like his version of "Over the Rainbow" with Jane Monheit.

Although Johnny Mathis got his start as a jazz singer, his velvety 1956 hit "Wonderful, Wonderful" set the course for the rest of his career as a smooth pop crooner and key supplier of make-out music. He maintained a steady career course over the following decades, and in the late '70s enjoyed a renewed popularity, scoring a few high-charting duets with Deniece Williams. One of the most popular recording artists of all time, Mathis has reputedly sold over 350 million records, and his 1958 greatest-hits collection--the first compilation of its kind--stayed on the U.S. charts for almost 10 years. Past his 50th year in show business, Mathis was still recording and performing, his special brand of silky pop balladeering never quite falling out of favor.

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