Johnny was 13 years old when Clem took him to see Connie Cox, a Bay Area voice teacher, who agreed to take on the youngster in exchange for his doing odd jobs around her house. Johnny studied with Connie for six years learning vocal scales and exercises, voice production, classical and operatic skills.
At George Washington High School, Johnny was known not only for his singing ability but his athleticism as well. He became a star athlete on the track and field team as a high jumper and hurdler and played on the basketball team.
In 1954, Johnny enrolled at San Francisco State College with the intention of being an English and Physical Education teacher. While there, Johnny set a high jump record of 6’-5 1/2”. This is still on the College’s Top 15 list and was only two inches short of the Olympic record of the time. Just as when he was in high school, Johnny’s name was frequently mentioned in the sports sections of the Northern California newspapers. He was often referred to as “the best all-around athlete to come out of the San Francisco Bay Area”.
A fellow student whose sextet was working at the Black Hawk nightclub brought Johnny in for a Sunday afternoon jam session. It was at the Black Hawk that Helen Noga, co-owner of the club, first heard him sing. She decided that she wanted to manage his career.
In early September of 1955, Johnny landed a job singing weekends at Ann Dee’s 440 Club. After repeated attempts, Helen convinced George Avakian, then head of Jazz A&R at Columbia, to see him. Avakian came to the club, heard Johnny sing and sent the now famous telegram to his record company: “Have found phenomenal 19 year old boy who could go all the way. Send blank contracts.”
Avakian left for New York after telling Johnny that he would eventually send for him. Johnny continued his studies at San Francisco State and gained additional fame as a high jumper. In early 1956, Johnny was asked to attend the trials for the 1956 Olympic teams that would travel to Melbourne, Australia that summer. At the same time, Columbia Records requested that Johnny come to New York to start arrangements for his first recording session. Clem helped his son decide that his future and best interests were with the recording company. So, Johnny gave up his chance to become a member of the USA Olympic Team. He went to New York to record his first album in March of 1956.
The first album was a collection of jazz oriented renditions of popular standards entitled: Johnny Mathis: A New Sound In Popular Song. It included jazz musicians Gil Evans, John Lewis and Teo Macero and songs like “Angel Eyes”, “Easy to Love” and “Babalu”. The album enjoyed only moderate success because jazz vocal albums were not good sellers. Nevertheless, Johnny remained in New York and landed bookings at some of the leading nightclubs such as the Village Vanguard, The Blue Angel and Basin Street East.
Soon, Columbia placed Johnny under the supervision of producer Mitch Miller. Mitch favored using Johnny’s voice to sing soft, romantic ballads. At his second recording session, in the fall of 1956, Johnny recorded two singles. These songs were to become among his most popular all-time greatest hits: “Wonderful, Wonderful” and “It’s Not For Me To Say.” Subsequently, MGM Studios signed Johnny to sing “It’s Not For Me To Say” in the film Lizzie . He played a tavern piano bar singer. In 1958, Johnny made another motion picture appearance. This time it was for 20th Century Fox in A Certain Smile. In this movie, he sang the title song playing himself in an elegant nightclub scene. Since then, Johnny’s voice has been used in countless Hollywood movies for theme songs, background music and to enhance a particular setting or segment.
“Wonderful, Wonderful” and “It’s Not For Me To Say” reached their peaks on the BILLBOARD pop chart in July of 1957. These successes were followed by the monumental single “Chances Are” which became Johnny’s first #1 hit.
In June of 1957, Johnny appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show where he was introduced to the record buying public and became a national celebrity and household name. Columbia Records continued to release albums of Johnny singing beautiful and romantic ballads, classic standards and the best songs from Broadway musicals. These albums, like the singles, became immediate successes with sales in the millions. It was not uncommon for Johnny to have as many as four albums on the BILLBOARD Top Albums chart at the same time. In late 1959, Johnny recorded another song that became synonymous with the name of Johnny Mathis, the Erroll Garner composition, “Misty”.
Johnny’s accomplishments are numerous and varied. He holds many records and has set many precedents in the music industry. In 1958, two years after being signed by Columbia Records, Johnny’s Greatest Hits was released. It began a “Greatest Hits” tradition copied by every record company since then. Johnny’s Greatest Hits went on to become one of the most popular albums of all time and spent an unprecedented 490 continuous weeks (almost ten years) on the BILLBOARD Top Albums Chart. This record has been noted in the GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS.
According to record historian Joel Whitburn, Johnny is one of only five recording artists to have Top 40 Hits spanning each of the four decades since 1955. Amazingly, his second #1 Hit Single, “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late” (recorded with Deniece Williams), came almost 21 years after his very first #1 Hit Single, “Chances Are”.
Johnny has been honored to make several appearances before various heads of state. Starting in June of 1973, he sang at a State Dinner held in honor of the President of Liberia. In 1978, Johnny sang for the British Royal Family at A Command Performance held at The London Palladium. He performed for President and Mrs. Reagan at the State Dinner held in honor of the Prime Minister of Japan in April of 1987. Four years later in April of 1991, he sang for President and Mrs. Bush in honor of the President of Nicaragua. Most recently, in May of 1994, Johnny sang for President and Mrs. Clinton (along with the other five living First Ladies) at a very special First Ladies Tribute.
Johnny has also been honored by entertainment heads of state. In June of 1972, he was awarded his own star on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has participated in the Academy Awards presentation many times to sing the song nominated in the “Best Song” category. He has received two Grammy nominations. The first was for “Misty” in 1960 in the category of Best Vocal Performance Single Record or Track Male. The second came in 1992 for In a Sentimental Mood/Mathis Sings Ellington in the category of Best Traditional Pop Performance.
1996 marked Johnny’s 40th Anniversary as a recording artist. He celebrated by releasing All About Love. He then released The Global Masters (songs from his three year contract at Mercury Records) in 1997, and 1998 saw the release of The Ultimate Hits and Because You Loved Me.
In his free time, Johnny loves to golf. He plays golf almost every day when he’s not traveling and has sung at many golf banquets such as the Ryder Cup. In 1985 and 1986, Johnny hosted his own golf tournament, The Johnny Mathis Seniors PGA Classic which was held in Los Angeles, California.
Johnny’s other favorite avocation is cooking. He is a gourmet cook who cooks for himself and often others when he’s home or traveling. His mother taught him at an early age how to cook up a storm and do it well. He’s enjoyed doing so all his life.
All Through the Night
Johnny Mathis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For I'm always so alone till the day draws to an end,
But when the sun goes down and the moon comes through,
To the monotone of the evening's drone I'm all alone with you.
All through the night,
I delight in your love,
All through the night you're sio close to me!All through the night,
From a height far above,
You and your love brings me ecstasy!
When dawn comes to waken me,
You're never there at all!
I know you've forsaken me
Till the shadows fall,
But then once again I can dream, I've the right
To be close to you all through the night.
The song "All Through the Night" by Johnny Mathis is a poignant ballad about the feeling of loneliness that one experiences during the day and how the night brings about an escape from this loneliness. The lyrics of the song have a sense of melancholy to them, with the artist mentioning how the day is their enemy and the night is their friend. The artist goes on to explain how they feel all alone until the sun sets and the moon rises. The song speaks to the fact that sometimes we are our true selves in the darkness, and that sometimes it takes the darkness to bring us closer to the ones we love.
The chorus of the song has a more positive outlook on love, with the artist expressing how they delight in the love of their partner "all through the night". The artist expresses that the love they feel for their partner brings them ecstasy, and that they feel close to them even when they are physically far apart. The lyrics of the song express the sentiment that true love is not bound by time or space, and that it can bring a sense of comfort even in moments of loneliness.
Overall, "All Through the Night" is a beautifully written song that speaks to the human experience of loneliness and the power of love to provide comfort and companionship. It's no wonder that the song has endured over the years and continues to be a favorite among many listeners.
Line by Line Meaning
The day is my enemy, the night my friend,
During the day I feel lonely, but at night I find solace and comfort.
For I'm always so alone till the day draws to an end,
I spend every day in solitude and eagerly wait for the night to come.
But when the sun goes down and the moon comes through,
As soon as the night falls and the moon rises, my mood lifts up.
To the monotone of the evening's drone I'm all alone with you.
As I listen to the monotony of the night, I feel as if I am in your company.
All through the night, I delight in your love,
Throughout the night, I experience great joy and happiness due to your love.
All through the night you're so close to me!
During the night, I feel as if you are right beside me, so close and intimate.
All through the night, from a height far above,
Throughout the night, I feel as if I am on a lofty height, reveling in our love.
You and your love brings me ecstasy!
Your love brings me great pleasure and happiness, filling me with ecstasy.
When dawn comes to waken me,
When daylight comes, awakening me from my dreamlike state,
You're never there at all!
I realize that you are not really present with me at that moment.
I know you've forsaken me
I understand that you have left and abandoned me,
Till the shadows fall,
Until the night comes again and the shadows grow longer,
But then once again I can dream, I've the right
But then I can dream again, knowing that I have the right to feel happiness once more.
To be close to you all through the night.
And to feel as if I am close to you throughout the night.
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O DistroKid, Sentric Music, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: COLE PORTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind