Warm/Swing Softly [Best of]

A Bargain? NO! This is not a bargain, This is a friggin steal. Two Johnny Mathis albums for less than what we pay for the new stuff. Someone at Sony marketing has definitely dropped the ball on this album. Why it is so difficult to find is beyond me. This is nowhere near the usual one hit plus twenty cut outs or "B" sides you usually get in one of these twofers. This album set hits the spot like a "balmy breeze on a night in May" or "like a cool mint julip on summer day." Johnny Mathis "hits a new high in my estimation." In a word everything about this collection is Superb. The voice,the music,the arrangements,the style. Superb.Superb.Superb.Superb. To be sure there are a couple of old chestnuts in here with Moon in June type intros and all, but Mathis makes them new,I mean new today,2005 new. Please do not forget that these albums are over forty years old and some of the songs are SIXTY and SEVENTY years old but we're still talking about them! Resist, if you can, singing along with "Sweet Lorraine","You Hit the Spot","Like Someone In Love","This Heart of Mine" or my fave up tempo tune,"Can't Get Out of This Mood." I sing along to some songs I've never liked,(I'm an old Doo Wop rock and roll guy.) nor can I sing a lick...but then Mathis makes us all think we can sing, doesn't he? Resist the urge to get up and waltz around to "While We're Young."(This aint' your father's Nelson Eddy stuff.) Listen to how he moves up and down the register, from high "Irish Tenor" like to mid baritone, effortlessly, flawlessly. Hell,the guy isn't singing, he is playing his voice as though a Stradivarius. "I'm Glad There Is You" may induce chills in some. Listen to the other ballads like "By Myself" and "Then I'll Be Tired of You". Some think he sometimes imitates others; He doesn't imitate,he pays homage to those that came before him. Does the last sentence in "My One and Only Love" sound a little "Sassie"? "I'm Glad There is You," and "There Goes My Heart" are superb demos of smooth and easy. Finally, I could wax on and on, but in my humble opinion the best of the best is the title song, "Warm".This number alone is worth the price of admission. Where has this song been? I've never heard it before. This is a beautiful ballad right out of the fifties, early sixties;It sounds like a title song from a movie ala "The Best of Everything" and Mr. Mathis let's it all out here. Again Music,style,voice, it just doesn't get any better than this. Listen to this ballad with your "other" and Fall In Love All Over Again! Pick up more than one copy because your friends will want it. I sure hope Johnny Mathis is still making royalties on these two albums because this is what MUSIC is supposed to be. Sit back,close your eyes and enjoy, Bill

I owned both of these individual items in original vinyl. They helped me to realize that Johnny Mathis was something more than just a romantic ballad singer. He has an unmatched ability to convey every single heartfelt line of a soul stinging ballads while putting an upbeat flavor to some unexpected swinging standards. Even in his seventies, he still sings and comminicates each song he sings. My lady and I saw him live last year. I am now eagerly searching for the rest of the CD's to match all of the classic Mathis vinyl that I own. New lovers will get a charge out of these tunes that I was wooing young ladies with years ago (before I was spoken for). Mathis is still the guy whose music can set a romantic mood. His up beat stuff is just too good.

Without a doubt Warm is the best album that Johnny Mathis ever did. I am surprised that it took so long for the CD release.