It’s hard to imagine Christmas without Johnny Mathis. Though the legendary pop crooner has enjoyed massive success over the past seven decades singing everything from traditional pop standards and show tunes to soft rock, country, jazz, R&B, and even disco (he’s ranked by Guinness as the third biggest-selling recording artist of the 20th century), Christmas is where he’s made what’s arguably his most enduring mark.
Johnny first applied his velvety tones to recordings of holiday classics back in 1958 with his album Merry Christmas—a release which has since sold over five million copies and remains one of the 10 best-selling (not to mention best-loved) Christmas albums of all time—and he’s returned to the holiday songbook again and again over the years. There’s just something about his inimitable mixture of reverence, wonder, romance, playfulness, soulfulness, sweetness, smoothness, and perfectly modulated diction that really hits the festive spot, whether he’s singing religious hymns or joyful odes to sleigh rides and chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
One of the last great singers standing from the classic era that gave us such celebrated crooners as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Tony Bennett, Johnny is miraculously still in fantastic voice, as his new album Christmas Time Is Here attests. His seventh holiday release, the 10-track album drips with old-school cool, and is highlighted by his jovial duet with Broadway superstar Kristin Chenoweth on “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” Christmas Time Is Here also includes such Yuletide treats as a nicely bluesy “Merry Christmas, Baby,” a lounge-tastic “Blue Christmas,” and a heartfelt rendition of the Vince Guaraldi and Lee Mendelson–penned title track, all of which are guaranteed to give your Christmas lights a little extra sparkle.
In keeping with the season’s spirit of giving, Johnny has generously put together a wonderful 10-song holiday playlist for FLOOD readers, thus giving us a nice glimpse into his own holiday listening. It includes two tracks by one of his idols, Nat King Cole—Cole’s classic rendition of “The Christmas Song,” as well as the lovely but lesser-known 1960 track “A Cradle in Bethlehem”—as well as one Yuletide classic each from such contemporaries as Judy Garland, Perry Como, and Doris Day.
The great Lena Horne decks the deck with some sizzling seasonal sassiness, while Angela Lansbury brings the Broadway energy with her Christmas song from Mame—and Johnny doubles down on that energy with his new duet with Kristin Chenoweth, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. The Vince Guaraldi Trio essays their dreamy original version of “Christmas Time is Here,” a song that most of us heard for the first time via A Charlie Brown Christmas, and the playlist closes with a soul-stirring version of “Silent Night” by gospel giant Mahalia Jackson. It all adds up to a hefty dose of holiday cheer, something we could probably all use this year.
We here at FLOOD raise a cup of egg nog to you, Johnny. Thanks for making “the most wonderful time of the year” a lot more wonderful, both with your own holiday recordings and by sharing your favorites from other artists with us. A very Merry Christmas to you and yours!
