Alex Henderson

Johnny Mathis
The Best Days of My Life

Johnny Mathis refused to rest on his laurels during the 1970s. Born in Gilmer, Texas on September 30, 1935, Mathis had established himself as a jazz-influenced traditional pop crooner in the late 1950s thanks to major hits that included “Chances Are,” “It’s Not For Me to Say,” “The Twelfth of Never” and “Misty.” Mathis’ roots were Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Jimmy Scott and other icons of the World War II Generation, but in the 1970s, he made a concerted effort to change with the times—which meant exploring adult contemporary, soft rock and pop-soul while continuing to include Tin Pan Alley standards of the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s in his repertoire. And Mathis’ flexibility is very much in evidence on The Best Days of My Life, which was recorded in 1978 and originally released by Columbia Records in early 1979.

Produced by Jack Gold—Mathis’ producer of choice at the time—and arranged by the prolific Gene Page, The Best Days of My Life finds Mathis turning his attention to a variety of material. Mathis’ passion for traditional pop songs from the 1930s asserts itself on smooth performances of Cole Porter’s “Begin the Beguine” and Herman Hupfeld’s “As Time Goes By,” which is closely identified with the classic 1942 film Casablanca (starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman) but originally became famous when it was a hit for crooner Rudy Vallee in 1931. Yet adult contemporary prevails on ballads that include Alan & Marilyn Bergman and Marvin Hamlisch’s “The Last Time I Felt Like This” (a male/female duet with cabaret singer Jane Olivor and a #15 adult contemporary hit in Billboard in the U.S.), Terry Bradford and Nat Kipner’s melancholy “How Can I Make It On My Own” and the title track (which Gold wrote with Cheryl Christiansen and Arnold Goland). And Mathis moves into quiet storm territory on Patti Austin’s “We’re in Love.” 

From “Would You Like to Spend the Night with Me” to Nancy Goland’s “There You Are,” The Best Days of My Life maintains a decidedly romantic outlook. But that doesn’t mean that everything on this reissue is a ballad. Written by L. Russell Brown (who also co-wrote Franki Valli & the Four Seasons’ 1967 hit “C’Mon Marianne” and Tony Orlando & Dawn’s 1973 smash “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Ole Oak Tree”) and Lisa Hayward, the single “Gone, Gone, Gone” offers something that was quite popular in 1979: disco. “Gone, Gone, Gone,” however, is not disco in the shake-your-booty sense—essentially, it is a romantic recording with a fast beat—and the single enjoyed its greatest commercial success in the UK, where it was a #15 pop hit. This expanded edition of The Best Days of My Life contains six bonus tracks, ranging from 7” and 12” single versions of “Gone, Gone, Gone” to an eight-minute disco mix of “Begin the Beguine.”

Brown and Hayward’s song should not be confused with Harlan Howard’s country gem “She’s Gone, Gone, Gone,” which was a smash for honky tonk icon Lefty Frizzell in 1965. And speaking of country music, “The Bottom Line” is a Dennis Lambert/Brian Potter song that worked as well for Mathis as it did for country-pop star Glen Campbell. In the 1970s, Lambert & Potter achieved considerable success in R&B writing major hits for the Four Tops (“Ain’t No Woman Like the One I’ve Got,” “Keeper of the Castle”), Tavares (“It Only Takes a Minute”) and others. But they were certainly versatile: one of the biggest songs they wrote and produced was Campbell’s 1975 single “Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.).”

Interviewed on November 17, 2014, Lambert remembered that they were delighted when Mathis decided to include “The Bottom Line” on this album. “Brian and I were very proud of Johnny recording our song,” the Brooklyn-born Lambert asserts. “It was one of the highlights of our career as songwriters and remains so to this day. His version of ‘The Bottom Line’ was exactly what we were hoping it would be.”

Lambert, now 67, notes that he has been listening to Mathis’ recordings since he was a pre-teen back in the late 1950s—and in the late 1970s, he admired Mathis’ willingness to evolve with the times. “Johnny was a guy who was always on the prowl for great songs,” Lambert recalls. “In the ‘70s, he was trying to stay relevant and didn’t want to only be associated with his earliest hits—although his early recordings were fantastic. Johnny made some wonderful albums of standards in the beginning of his career. I’m talking about back in 1959, 1960 and 1961, when I was a kid. And when he did ‘Too Much, Too Little, Too Late’ with Deniece Williams in the late 1970s and had a big hit with it, I was really happy to see him at the top of the charts again.”

Mathis’ early recordings, Lambert asserts, did a lot to encourage his interest in vocal jazz, traditional pop and the standards of Tin Pan Alley. “Johnny really fed into my love of the music that came before rock,” Lambert recalls. “When I was just a kid, I listened to Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Vic Damone, Ella Fitzgerald and others who came before rock—and Johnny Mathis really fed into my love of that music. I really connected with Johnny from so many different points of view.”

Lambert continues: “I wish that I had worked with Johnny as a producer—which I never did—but he recorded a few of my songs, and I got to meet him a number of times and talk to him. I’ve stayed in touch with Johnny over the years because he was so meaningful to me as an artist when I was so young.”

In 1992, Jack Gold passed away at 71 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease—and Page was only 58 when he died in 1998. But Mathis, now 79, continues to perform and still enjoys an enthusiastic fan base. And 35 years after its initial release, The Best Days of My Life remains an enjoyable demonstration of his versatility.

—Alex Henderson, November 2014

Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Salon.com, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, AlterNet, JazzTimes, Jazziz, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, The New York City Jazz Record, Jazz Inside Magazine and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) also contributed several thousand CD reviews to the popular Allmusic.com website and The All Music Guide’s series of music reference books.