In the Still of the Night (album)

In the Still of the Night (album)
Studio album by Johnny Mathis
Released 1989
Recorded 1988 at
Alpha Studios,
Burbank, California ,
Conway Studios,
Hollywood, California,
Smoketree Studio,
Chatsworth, California[1]
Genre Vocal
R&B[2]
Length 39:23
Label Columbia
Producer Peter Bunetta
Rick Chudacoff [1]
Johnny Mathis chronology

Once in a While
(1988)		 In the Still of the Night
(1989)		 In a Sentimental Mood: Mathis Sings Ellington
(1990)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
People (positive)[3]

In the Still of the Night is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in August 1989 by Columbia Records[4] and continues the trend that began with his 1986 collaboration with Henry Mancini, The Hollywood Musicals, in that the project is devoted to a specific theme that ties the songs together. Mathis hints at the theme for this album in the liner notes for his 1993 box set The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection, where he gives his thoughts on the 1964 Little Anthony and the Imperials song "I'm on the Outside Looking In" that he covered for his 1988 album Once in a While: "That was group singers' kind of material. I was singing other stuff. It wasn't the picture of the lone crooner standing in the spotlight. That's what I was doing when all this other stuff was going on. I never listened to it until it was brought to my attention by [that album's producers] Peter Bunetta and Rick Chudacoff."[2] Mathis chose to continue his work with Bunetta and Chudacoff on this project, which focuses on "this other stuff" that Mathis refers to: pop and R&B hits from the 50s and 60s.

Reception

Although the album did not make it onto Billboard magazine's Top Pop Albums chart, it did receive praise in People magazine, where the reviewer remarks that Mathis and the album producers "make these songs sound reconsidered, not merely recycled."[3] It's also noted that "Mathis's ability to extract every last nuance from a lyric has never been employed to better advantage"[3] and that "Take 6's presence enables him to prove that he can keep up with the younger generation."[3] The album also received a positive review from Allmusic, where Bil Carpenter wrote, "Clean, uncomplicated orchestration"[2] and "One of Mathis's best recordings to date."[2]

Track listing

  1. "In the Still of the Night" featuring Take 6 (Fred Parris) – 2:38
  2. "It's All in the Game" featuring Take 6 (Charles Dawes, Carl Sigman) – 2:33
  3. "Since I Fell for You" (Buddy Johnson) – 3:09
  4. "You Belong to Me" (Pee Wee King, Chilton Price, Redd Stewart) – 3:40
  5. "True Love Ways" (Buddy Holly, Norman Petty) – 2:58
  6. "Since I Don't Have You" (James Beaumont, Walter Lester, Joseph Rock, John Taylor, Joseph Verscharen, Janet Vogel) – 2:39
  7. "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" (John D. Loudermilk) – 4:37
  8. "The End of the World" (Sylvia Dee, Arthur Kent) – 3:07
  9. "All Alone Am I" (Arthur Altman, Manos Hadjidakis) – 3:24
  10. "For Your Love" (Ed Townsend) – 3:37

Personnel[1]

Musicians

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 (1989) In the Still of the Night by Johnny Mathis [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records OC 44336.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "In the Still of the Night - Johnny Mathis". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Picks and Pans Review: In the Still of the Night". People. November 27, 1989.
  4. ↑ (1993) The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Columbia Records C4K-48932.

References

  • Whitburn, Joel (1994), Joel Whitburn's Pop Hits, 1940-1954, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898201063
  • Whitburn, Joel (2002), Joel Whitburn's Top Country Singles, 1944-2001, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898201519
  • Whitburn, Joel (2004), Joel Whitburn Presents Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles, 1942-2004, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898201608
  • Whitburn, Joel (2007), Joel Whitburn Presents Billboard Top Adult Songs, 1961-2006, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898201691
  • Whitburn, Joel (2009), Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955-2008, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898201802