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 6ā-5 1/2ā. This is still on the Collegeās Top 15 list and was only two inches short of the Olympic record of the time. Just as when he was in high school, Johnnyās name was frequently mentioned in the sports sections of the Northern California newspapers. He was often referred to as āthe best all-around athlete to come out of the San Francisco Bay Areaā.
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 Deeās 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: āHave found phenomenal 19 year old boy who could go all the way. Send blank contracts.ā
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 āAngel Eyesā, āEasy to Loveā and āBabaluā. 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 Johnnyās 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: āWonderful, Wonderfulā and āItās Not For Me To Say.ā Subsequently, MGM Studios signed Johnny to sing āItās Not For Me To Sayā 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, Johnnyās voice has been used in countless Hollywood movies for theme songs, background music and to enhance a particular setting or segment.
āWonderful, Wonderfulā and āItās Not For Me To Sayā reached their peaks on the BILLBOARD pop chart in July of 1957. These successes were followed by the monumental single āChances Areā which became Johnnyās 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, āMistyā.
Johnnyās 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, Johnnyās Greatest Hits was released. It began a āGreatest Hitsā tradition copied by every record company since then. Johnnyās 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, āToo Much, Too Little, Too Lateā (recorded with Deniece Williams), came almost 21 years after his very first #1 Hit Single, āChances Areā.
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 āBest Songā category. He has received two Grammy nominations. The first was for āMistyā 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 Johnnyās 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 heās 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.
Johnnyās other favorite avocation is cooking. He is a gourmet cook who cooks for himself and often others when heās home or traveling. His mother taught him at an early age how to cook up a storm and do it well. Heās enjoyed doing so all his life.
JUST THE WAY YOU ARE
Johnny Mathis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You never let me down before
Don't imagine you're too familiar
And I don't see you anymore
I wouldn't leave you in times of trouble
We never could have come this far
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times
I need to know that you will always be
The same old someone that I knew
What will it take 'till you believe in me
The way that I believe in you.
I said I love you, and that's forever
And this I promise from the heart
I could not love you any better
I love you just the way you are.
I don't want clever conversation
I never want to work that hard
I just want someone that I can talk to
I want you just the way you are
I want you just the way you are....
The lyrics of "Just the Way You Are" by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams express the idea of unconditional love and the importance of accepting a person for who they are. The singer tells their partner not to feel the need to change themselves in order to please them, because they've never let them down before. They emphasize that they wouldn't leave their partner in times of trouble and that they've taken the good times with the bad, which proves their devotion. The singer needs their partner to trust them and to believe that they'll always be there for them, just as they are.
The line "I don't want clever conversation, I never want to work that hard," can be interpreted as a desire for simplicity and authenticity in a relationship. The singer doesn't want their partner to put up a performance or pretend to be something they're not, they just want to be able to talk openly and honestly with them, no matter what. This song is often seen as a classic love ballad and a tribute to the power of unconditional love and acceptance in a relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't go changing, to try and please me
I don't want you to change who you are just to make me happy
You never let me down before
I trust you and know that you will never disappoint me
Don't imagine you're too familiar
I don't want to assume that I know everything about you
And I don't see you anymore
Even if we are physically apart, you are always in my heart
I wouldn't leave you in times of trouble
I will always stand by you during difficult times
We never could have come this far
Our relationship has grown and become stronger over time
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times
I accept and cherish all moments, both good and bad, that we have shared
I'll take you just the way you are
I love and accept you just the way you are, flaws and all
I need to know that you will always be
I want to be assured that you will always remain true to yourself
The same old someone that I knew
I want you to remain the same person that I fell in love with
What will it take 'till you believe in me
I want to earn your trust and for you to have faith in our relationship
The way that I believe in you.
Just like how I have complete trust in you, I hope to earn the same level of trust from you
I said I love you, and that's forever
My love for you is eternal and will never fade away
And this I promise from the heart
I promise you with all my heart
I could not love you any better
My love for you is already at its maximum capacity
I love you just the way you are.
You don't need to change for me, I accept and love you exactly the way you are
I don't want clever conversation
I don't need you to impress me with witty or intellectual responses
I never want to work that hard
I don't need our interactions to feel like hard work, I just want them to be easy and natural
I just want someone that I can talk to
All I really want is someone to share my thoughts and feelings with
I want you just the way you are
I don't need you to change for me, I love and accept you exactly the way you are
Contributed by Lauren J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.