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.
Those Were The Days
Johnny Mathis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
Think of all the great things we would do
Those were the days, my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
Di di di di di di
Di di di di di di
Di di di di di di di di di di
Then, the busy years went rushing by us
We lost our starry notions on the way
If, by chance, I'd see you in the tavern
We'd smile at one another and we'd say
Those were the days, my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we'd choose
We'd fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days
Just tonight, I stood before the tavern
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
In the glass, I saw a strange reflection
Was that lonely woman really me?
Those were the days, my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we'd choose
We'd fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days
Di di di di di di
Through the door, there came familiar laughter
I saw your face and heard you call my name
Oh, my friend, we're older but no wiser
For in our hearts, the dreams are still the same
Those were the days, my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we'd choose
We'd fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days
The lyrics to Johnny Mathis's song "Those Were The Days" are a nostalgic reminder of past memories of youth and happiness. The first verse reminisces about a tavern where the singer and his friends used to spend time, laughing and dreaming about their future. They believed that their youth would last forever and that they were invincible. The chorus "Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end" reflects the idea that the singer and his friends were living in the moment and enjoying life to the fullest.
The second verse describes how time passed them by, and they lost sight of their optimistic dreams. If the singer were to see his friend in the tavern now, they would smile and recollect about the past, wishing they could go back in time to relive their care-free memories. The third and final verse is a revelation of how time has changed the tavern and the people who once hung out there. The singer sees his reflection in the glass and realizes that he, too, has changed. However, as he hears familiar laughter, he is reminded that deep down, the dreams and hopes of his past are still alive in his heart.
Overall, the lyrics to "Those Were The Days" convey a bittersweet feeling of nostalgia and the realization that time waits for no one.
Line by Line Meaning
Once upon a time, there was a tavern
In the past, there was a place where people would gather
Where we used to raise a glass or two
We would drink together in that place
Remember how we laughed away the hours
We had a lot of fun and would laugh for a long time
Think of all the great things we would do
We had big dreams and planned to do amazing things together
Those were the days, my friend
We had memorable days in the past, my friend
We thought they'd never end
We believed that those good times would last forever
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We enjoyed singing and dancing so much that we wished it could go on indefinitely
We'd live the life we'd choose
We had the feeling that we could shape our own lives anyway we want
We'd fight and never lose
We were full of confidence and believed we could win every fight
For we were young and sure to have our way
We were young and headstrong, destined to live life on our own terms
Then, the busy years went rushing by us
As time went by, we got caught up in the busyness of life
We lost our starry notions on the way
We lost our idealistic dreams along the way
If, by chance, I'd see you in the tavern
If I happened to see you again in that same place
We'd smile at one another and we'd say
We would acknowledge each other's presence and reminisce about the past
Just tonight, I stood before the tavern
Recently, I was at that same place
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
Everything felt different from how it was before
In the glass, I saw a strange reflection
When I looked into a mirror, I saw a different image of myself
Was that lonely woman really me?
I felt lonely and wondered if that was really who I had become
Through the door, there came familiar laughter
I heard laughter that I recognized coming from that same place
I saw your face and heard you call my name
I recognized your face and heard you call out to me
Oh, my friend, we're older but no wiser
We have aged but may not have gained much wisdom
For in our hearts, the dreams are still the same
Our dreams and aspirations have remained unchanged in our hearts
Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days
Those were definitely remarkable days that were worth remembering
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Gene Raskin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind