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.
Too Much
Johnny Mathis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sorry that it had to end this way
No reason to pretend
We knew it had to end some day, this way
Yes, it's over, the kids are gone
What's the use of tryin' to hang on
Somewhere we lost the key
And it's clear to see
Too much, too little
Too late to lie again with you
Too much, too little
Too late to try again with you
We're in the middle of ending
Something that we knew
It's over
Oh, it was over
Too much, too little,
Too late to ever try again
Too much, too little
Too late, let's end it being friends
Too much, too little
Too late, we knew it had to end
Ah, it's over
It's over
Yes, it's over, the chips are down (whoa)
Nearly all our bridges tumbled down
Whatever chance we try
Let's face it widened eye
It's over (it's over)
It's over
Too much, too little
Too late to ever try again
Too much, too little
Too late, let's end it being friends
Too much, too little,
Too late, we knew it had to end
And it's over
And it's over
And it's over
Too much, too little,
Too late to ever try again
Too much, too little,
Too late, let's end it being friends
The lyrics of "Too Much Too Little Too Late" by Johnny Mathis describe the end of a romantic relationship that has reached its limit. The singer acknowledges that it is time to let go and move on as the kids have left and there is very little left for them as a couple. They have lost the key to their relationship, and it is clear that it's over. The lines "Too much, too little, Too late to lie again with you, Too much, too little, Too late to try again with you" indicate that they have tried to salvage their relationship, but it is too late as they have reached the point of no return.
The chorus "We're in the middle of ending, Something that we knew" highlights the fact that they have been struggling for a while, and it is not a sudden break up. The bridge "Yes, it's over, the chips are down (whoa), Nearly all our bridges tumbled down" portrays that the relationship has collapsed, and they are at the point where they cannot repair it. The final chorus "Too much, too little, Too late, we knew it had to end, And it's over, And it's over, And it's over" sums up the bitter-sweet ending of the relationship, accepting it's time for them to move on.
Line by Line Meaning
Guess it's over, call it a day
We have come to the end, and it's time to move forward
Sorry that it had to end this way
It's unfortunate that we couldn't find a way to make this work
No reason to pretend
There's no point in pretending that everything is okay
We knew it had to end some day, this way
We both knew that the relationship would end eventually, but we didn't expect it to end this way
Yes, it's over, the kids are gone
Our children have grown up and moved on, and so should we
What's the use of tryin' to hang on
There's no point in holding on to something that's already over
Somewhere we lost the key
We lost the key to our relationship, and we can't find it again
So little left for you and me
There's not much left between us anymore, our love has dwindled
And it's clear to see
It's obvious that our relationship has come to an end
Too much, too little
We gave too much, and received too little in return
Too late to lie again with you
It's too late to try and deceive one another into thinking that things can change
Too late to try again with you
There's no point in trying to rekindle our relationship, it's over for good
We're in the middle of ending
We're stuck in this limbo of trying to move on from each other's lives
Something that we knew
We both knew that this relationship had an expiry date
It's over
Plain and simple, our relationship has ended
Oh, it was over
We both knew that it was time to end this relationship
Too much, too little, too late to ever try again
We've exhausted all the chances to make things work, it's too late now
Too late, let's end it being friends
It's time we accept that things have ended and move forward as friends
Yes, it's over, the chips are down (whoa)
We've hit rock bottom and it's time to come to terms with the end of our relationship
Nearly all our bridges tumbled down
We've burned a lot of bridges between us, and there's no going back
Whatever chance we try
Even if we try to make this work again, we already know it's a lost cause
Let's face it widened eye
Let's acknowledge the reality of the situation
And it's over (it's over)
Our relationship has finally come to an end
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Written by: JOHN MCINTYRE VALLINS, NAT KIPNER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@sazonsongs
I’m 55. I feel so blessed to have grown up with this music in my ears. What a gift!
@queenrc4372
I'm 55yrs old as well & I feel the same way!🥰
@aliyourbrother1
I'm 60. Yes it was so beautiful growing up with such beautiful music.
@LW97672
I feel the same way. I’m 50 and remember taking road trips and listening to music. I was young but this music stays with you forever.
@aliyourbrother1
@@LW97672 those were the days,!
@msh8692
I'm with you sis
@douglashorner3522
My mother played this vinyl over and over again when I was a kid! It has a special place in my heart! It's a beautiful song, sung perfectly. She passed in Sept of 2021! I miss her so very much! This song is bitter sweet for me! Cherish the moments, everyone.
@chicagorainbow8935
My Deepest Condolences 🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂
@jeyjones2887
Hey I totally understand,, This song has the same meaning to me my mother played this when I was a Kid and I knew she was sad because her and my fathers problems during that time,, it takes me right back when I played it back after hearing it come over the radio in this truck stop restaurant,, she’s been gone since 2009 strange how some things can take you back to moments in an instant 🕊️
@reneeranger2885
@Jey Jones 4