| I'll Buy You A Star | ||||
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| Studio album by Johnny Mathis | ||||
| Released | 1961 | |||
| Recorded | Feb 7, 1961 - Feb 13, 1961 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Irving Townsend | |||
| Professional reviews | ||||
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| Johnny Mathis chronology | ||||
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I'll Buy You A Star is the fourteenth album released by traditional pop vocalist Johnny Mathis. It is the twelfth original studio album recorded by the singer (two hit singles compilations "Johnny's Greatest Hits" and "More Johnny's Greatest Hits" were among his album releases to this point.)
Contents |
This album is the first of two album collaborations with legendary arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle. The involvement of Riddle, who had previously worked with such musical heavyweights as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland and Peggy Lee shows the stature of Mathis in the music world in 1961. As with his previous album, "Johnny's Mood", Mathis chose to record a collection of songs ranging from standards and film songs through to less well known material. In a departure from the winning Mathis ballad album formula, this album includes both ballads and swinging uptempo material.
This album was the thirteenth consecutive Johnny Mathis album to chart. Unlike his previous albums that had all peaked in the top 10, this set peaked at a respectable #38 on the Billboard album chart in its original release.[1]
The title song, from the 1951 Broadway musical "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", gets the album off to a solid swinging start. This is followed by a lush, romantic treatment of the standard "Stairway to the Stars" which finds Mathis recreating the high note re-entry following the orchestral bridge that had been such a feature of his classic version of "Misty." The song "Smile" has a melody by film great Charlie Chaplin while the rare verse is included on "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street." The less well known "Magic Garden" has lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman the lyric writing husband and wife team whose work has often been recorded by Mathis while "Love Look Away" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "Flower Drum Song" was a particular favourite with Mathis' British fans and is the second song from that show recorded by the singer. Finally, "The Best is Yet to Come" was one of the newer songs included on the album and was made popular by both Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra.
Polly Bergen and her father, Bill Bergen, performed a duet of "I'll Buy You A Star" on her 1957-1958 variety show, The Polly Bergen Show, which aired on NBC.[2]
When the album first appeared on CD in 1996.[3] it included four bonus tracks by Mathis and Riddle recorded during the album sessions but originally released as singles. Those four tracks would appear on later compilations of Mathis work. Both "Jenny" and "Should I Wait (Or Should I Run To Her)" appeared on Mathis' very next album "Portrait Of Johnny" in 1961 while "Wasn't The Summer Short" was included on 1963's "Johnny's Newest Hits" and "Wherever You Are It's Spring" was part of the 1964 set "I'll Search My Heart and Other Great Hits."