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.
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Johnny Mathis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Voices ring out with holiday cheer
So many songs what are we do
Dear Mr. Mathis
Yes, Ms. M
Let's sing this one too
That would be divine
Why don't you start the song?
I can't
Why not?
Because it's in your key
Sleigh bells ring
Are you listening
In the lane
Snow is glistening
A beautiful sight
We're happy tonight
Walking in a winter wonderland
Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go (nowhere to got)
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
In the meadow we can build a snowman
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown
He'll say are you married?
We'll say no man
But you can do the job when you're in town
When we finally kiss goodnight
How I'll hate going out in the storm
I know, but if you'll really hold me tight (so tight)
All the way home I'll be warm
Later on
We'll conspire
As we dream by the fire
To face unafraid
The plans that we've made
Walking in a winter wonderland
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
In the meadow there's a snowman
Lets pretend that he is Parson Brown
He'll say are you married?
We'll say no man
But you can do the job when you're in town
The fire is slowly dying
And, my dear, we're still goodbying
To face unafraid
The plans that we've made
Walking in a winter wonderland
Walking in a winter wonderland (let it snow)
Walking in a winter wonderland
The song "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" by Johnny Mathis is a holiday classic that is enjoyed every year. The lyrics speak of the joys of winter, the warmth of love, and the festive spirit of the holiday season.
The song's opening lines set the scene on a happy note, describing how this is our favorite time of the year and how the voices ring out with holiday cheer. The conversation between Mr. Mathis and Ms. M establishes a fun dialogue between two individuals, ultimately leading to the start of the song. The melody of this classic song is so catchy that one cannot resist but hum along to "Let It Snow."
The chorus "Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight walking in a winter wonderland" paints a lovely winter picture. It speaks of the beauty of the snow, the joy of the holiday season, and happiness.
The lyrics of the song pay tribute to the festive spirit of Christmas and the joy of winter. The song's catchy melody and lyrics have made it an enduring holiday classic. It's a wonderful reminder to appreciate the beauty of winter, the warmth of love, and the magic of the holidays.
Line by Line Meaning
This is our favorite time of the year
We love this time of year more than any other
Voices ring out with holiday cheer
People are singing Christmas carols with joyful voices
So many songs what are we do
We have so many songs to choose from, which one should we sing?
Dear Mr. Mathis
Respectful way of addressing Johnny Mathis our esteemed guest
Yes, Ms. M
Respectful way of addressing the person speaking to Johnny Mathis
Let's sing this one too
Can we please sing this song as well?
That would be divine
That would be wonderful and heavenly
Sleigh bells ring
The bells on Santa's sleigh are ringing
Are you listening
Are you paying attention to the sound of the sleigh bells?
In the lane
On the road or pathway
Snow is glistening
The snow is shining and sparkling
A beautiful sight
The scenery is stunning and impressive
We're happy tonight
We're feeling joyful and content in the present moment
Walking in a winter wonderland
We're taking a walk in a magical winter environment
Oh the weather outside is frightful
The weather is extremely bad and unpleasant
But the fire is so delightful
The warmth of the fire is pleasurable and comforting
And since we've no place to go (nowhere to got)
We have nowhere to go and nothing to do
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
It's okay for it to snow heavily
In the meadow we can build a snowman
We can build a snowman in the open field
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown
We can imagine that the snowman is a priest
He'll say are you married?
The imaginary snowman will ask if we're married
We'll say no man
We'll say that we're not married
But you can do the job when you're in town
But if you find someone to marry, you can marry them when you're in town
When we finally kiss goodnight
When we finally give each other a goodnight kiss
How I'll hate going out in the storm
I'll really dislike having to go out in the bad weather
I know, but if you'll really hold me tight (so tight)
I know, but if you hold me tightly (very tightly)
All the way home I'll be warm
I'll feel warm and cozy all the way home
Later on
Afterwards
We'll conspire
We'll plan secretly
As we dream by the fire
As we imagine things while sitting by the fire
To face unafraid
To confront without fear
The plans that we've made
The things we've planned to do
Walking in a winter wonderland
We're taking a walk in a magical winter environment
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
It's okay for it to snow heavily
In the meadow there's a snowman
There is a snowman in the open field
Lets pretend that he is Parson Brown
Let's imagine that the snowman is a priest
He'll say are you married?
The imaginary snowman will ask if we're married
We'll say no man
We'll say that we're not married
But you can do the job when you're in town
But if you find someone to marry, you can marry them when you're in town
The fire is slowly dying
The fire is slowly losing its strength
And, my dear, we're still goodbying
We're still saying goodbye, my dear
To face unafraid
To confront without fear
The plans that we've made
The things we've planned to do
Walking in a winter wonderland
We're taking a walk in a magical winter environment
Lyrics © WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
Written by: Jeremy Smith
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind