Not because he sung the opening theme song 'Without Us' used for the TV show 'Family Ties', not because he's been with the same recording company, Columbia, for nearly 60 years strong, actually I don't know why he is, but he is.
At first I only knew of him faintly, but in November of 2007 I was planning a trip to Atlantic City, NJ and the hotel I was staying at, The Tropicana, has a concert hall and that night Johnny Mathis was planned to perform. Not sure what else there was to do that night I decided to get tickets for the show. It must have been nearly sold out by the time I got the tickets cause the seats were in the very last row. I enjoyed the show, but was bummed out I sat all the way in the back. So in April of 2008 he was scheduled to perform at the State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ. Seeing that listing, I reserved seats sooner and was able to get much closer, which made for a better concert experience. Then in late August of 2008, his stop was for The Westbury Theater in Westbury, NY. The seats I got for this show was literally the second row, amazing! This was probably my favorite of all the times seeing him because it was the first time I saw him so up close and for the song selections he performed that night.
For some reason in 2009 and 2010 I went Johnny Mathis-less, but made up for it in this year 2011 by seeing him earlier in the year at the Bergen PAC in Bergan County, NJ, and again in Westbury, NY (same theater as 2008) also in the second row. The difference this time at Westbury was my seats were closer to the aisle in which he would walk down from. The highlight that night was as he was leaving the stage after his last song, the people in my row closer to the aisle had already left, giving me a chance to get next to the aisle so I was able to extend my hand and Johnny Mathis shook it on his way out.
Johnny is approaching his late 70's and he sounds great, but who knows how many years he's going to be doing shows or if he succomes to old age, so he's worth catching while you can. He has his own website and posts all his tour dates, still doing alot of shows at the moment. As for the ol' crooners; Frank Sinatra eventually lost his voice and has passed on, Andy Williams is fading, Tony Bennett is holding up well, but Johnny Mathis is the last great one. I'm glad I was able to shake his hand, I never shook one more important.
At first I only knew of him faintly, but in November of 2007 I was planning a trip to Atlantic City, NJ and the hotel I was staying at, The Tropicana, has a concert hall and that night Johnny Mathis was planned to perform. Not sure what else there was to do that night I decided to get tickets for the show. It must have been nearly sold out by the time I got the tickets cause the seats were in the very last row. I enjoyed the show, but was bummed out I sat all the way in the back. So in April of 2008 he was scheduled to perform at the State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ. Seeing that listing, I reserved seats sooner and was able to get much closer, which made for a better concert experience. Then in late August of 2008, his stop was for The Westbury Theater in Westbury, NY. The seats I got for this show was literally the second row, amazing! This was probably my favorite of all the times seeing him because it was the first time I saw him so up close and for the song selections he performed that night.
For some reason in 2009 and 2010 I went Johnny Mathis-less, but made up for it in this year 2011 by seeing him earlier in the year at the Bergen PAC in Bergan County, NJ, and again in Westbury, NY (same theater as 2008) also in the second row. The difference this time at Westbury was my seats were closer to the aisle in which he would walk down from. The highlight that night was as he was leaving the stage after his last song, the people in my row closer to the aisle had already left, giving me a chance to get next to the aisle so I was able to extend my hand and Johnny Mathis shook it on his way out.
Johnny is approaching his late 70's and he sounds great, but who knows how many years he's going to be doing shows or if he succomes to old age, so he's worth catching while you can. He has his own website and posts all his tour dates, still doing alot of shows at the moment. As for the ol' crooners; Frank Sinatra eventually lost his voice and has passed on, Andy Williams is fading, Tony Bennett is holding up well, but Johnny Mathis is the last great one. I'm glad I was able to shake his hand, I never shook one more important.
I agree with you,James....Johnny is an amazing singer and a really nice guy.Do come and take a look at this page:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/JMsc.allaboutmathis
Best wishes,
Geraldine.
Thanks Geraldine for stopping by and sharing the fb page. I'll certainly check that out.
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