[2018-06-08] Johnny Mathis "Close To You/Love Story" and "You've Got A Friend" Expanded Editions (Second Disc/Real Gone)

Linda · **Posted:** Tue Apr 03, 2018 4:10 pm

Close to You/Love Story

Description
Johnny Mathis kicked off the 1970s with a series of albums that found the Voice of Romance reinventing the day’s chart hits in inimitably lush fashion. Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records are continuing the journey through the legendary singer’s 1970s catalog with an expanded, two-for-one compact disc release of the classic studio albums Close to You and Love Story. Johnny teamed with longtime producer Jack Gold and top arranger Ernie Freeman in 1970 for Close to You, on which he returned to the songbooks of Burt Bacharach and Hal David (the title song), The Beatles (“The Long and Winding Road”), and Antonio Carlos Jobim (“Wave”) while also reinterpreting hits by Ray Stevens, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and even Columbia labelmate Santana! This deliciously eclectic album yielded the Academy Award-nominated movie theme “Pieces of Dreams,” a top 10 AC hit for Mathis. It was followed in early 1971 by Love Story, produced by Gold with arrangements by Perry Botkin, Jr., a frequent collaborator of Harry Nilsson. In addition to the romantic “(Where Do I Begin) Love Story,” Johnny brought his silken sound to rare tunes by Bacharach and David (the top 40 AC chart entry “Ten Times Forever More”) and Carole King and Gerry Goffin (“I Was There”) as well as his friend Henry Mancini (“Loss of Love”) and Paul Williams and Roger Nichols (“We’ve Only Just Begun”). This expanded two-for-one release adds three bonus tracks: outtake recordings of Bodie Chandler’s “Caroline” and a “Goin’ Out of My Head/Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” medley, plus the B-side of “Pieces of Dreams,” Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s “Darling Lili.” Mike Piacentini has remastered both albums, and The Second Disc’s Joe Marchese has written new liner notes based on a fresh interview with Johnny.

Tracklist
1. They Long to Be Close to You
2. Evil Ways
3. Come Saturday Morning
4. Yellow Days
5. Pieces of Dreams
6. Song of Joy
7. Everything Is Beautiful
8. The Long and Winding Road
9. (If You Let Me Make Love to You Then) Why Can't I Touch You
10. Wave
11. Until It's Time for You to Go
12. Caroline
13. Where Do I Begin?
14. Rose Garden
15. Ten Times Forever More
16. It's Impossible
17. I Was There
18. What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life
19. We've Only Just Begun
20. Traces
21. For the Good Times
22. My Sweet Lord
23. Loss of Love
24. Goin' Out of My Head/Can't Take My Eyes off You
25. Darling Lili (From the Paramount Film "Darling Lili")

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BSLKGM8/?tag=imwan-20

You've Got A Friend

Description
What happens when you pair a classic pop vocalist with a superstar rock producer, and both are at the top of their game? The result is pure magic, or in this case, Mathis magic! Johnny Mathis teamed with Richard Perry (Nilsson Schmilsson, Ringo, Barbra Streisand’s Stoney End) for 1971’s You’ve Got a Friend, and now that classic album is making its U.S. standalone CD premiere in a deluxe, expanded edition from Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records! Blending the Perry sessions with recordings produced by Mathis himself, You’ve Got a Friend offers a spectacular array of then-recent hits rendered as only Johnny could. Fusing pop and soul, Mathis and Perry tackled favorites from James Taylor (“Long Ago and Far Away”), The Beatles (“We Can Work It Out”), The Jackson 5 (“Never Can Say Goodbye”), and Gordon Lightfoot (“If You Could Read My Mind”). Carole King’s warmhearted title track is one of two Tapestry cuts smoothly sung here by Johnny, along with the chart-topping “It’s Too Late.” Mathis’ rich tapestry of contemporary music has grown larger thanks to this edition’s whopping eight bonus tracks. Session outtakes include fresh versions of The Four Tops’ Motown perennial “Reach Out (I’ll Be There),” The Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers,” and the classic “I Only Have Eyes for You” (which Johnny would re-record for his 1976 album of the same name). The set is then rounded out with a host of rare singles like Jimmy Webb’s “Evie,” John Barry and Don Black’s “This Way Mary” from Mary, Queen of Scots, and the single version of Jacques Brel’s “If We Only Have Love.” This beloved Friend is sounding better than ever, as Mike Piacentini at Sony’s Battery Studios has remastered everything. The Second Disc’s Joe Marchese has penned the liner notes featuring new quotes from Johnny Mathis.

Tracklist
1. You've Got a Friend
2. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
3. Help Me Make It Through the Night
4. If You Could Read My Mind
5. Never Say Goodbye
6. It's Too Late
7. We Can Work It Out
8. Long Ago and Far Away
9. If
10. For All We Know
11. If We Only Have Love
12. Reach Out
13. So Much in Love
14. I Only Have Eyes for You
15. Golden Slumbers
16. Evie
17. Think About Things
18. If We Only Have Love (Single Version)
19. This Way Mary

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BSWN5SY/?tag=imwan-20

[2018-06-08] Johnny Mathis "Close To You/Love Story" and "You've Got A Friend" Expanded Editions (Second Disc/Real Gone)

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