‘Voice Of Romance’ Singer Johnny Mathis To Perform In San Diego On Sunday

Speaker 1: 00:00 There are only a handful of genuine American music legends who are still performing for audiences across the nation. And one of them is coming to San Diego this weekend. Singer Johnny Mathis brings his voice of Romance tour to Copley Symphony Hall. Mr. Mathis, who will be 84 at the end of this month, is marking his 63rd year as a recording artist. His hits create a dreamy soundtrack in American pop music and he's still making audiences Speaker 2: 00:27 swoon. Oh my Speaker 3: 00:33 [inaudible] Speaker 4: 00:34 and a thousand mile in me again. Speaker 3: 00:39 [inaudible] Speaker 4: 00:40 or it might be the sound. Speaker 2: 00:43 Hello. Speaker 4: 00:49 Hi. I get missed the moment. [inaudible] Speaker 1: 00:54 joining me is Johnny Mathis and Johnny, welcome to the program. Speaker 5: 00:58 Well, bless your heart. Thank you so much. Speaker 1: 01:00 Now your songs are such a part of so many people's Romances. I just wonder what kind of Fan Mail you get. What do people tell you your songs mean to them? Speaker 5: 01:11 All the above. Yeah, it's, it's a wonderful, very gratifying feeling, I think because my dad signed, uh, my dad, my mom had seven kids. Uh, so my dad also was the first person that I listened to and I kind of emulated him. Uh, his whole style of singing was very relaxed and not too much pressure. Uh, and, uh, I think I kind of, uh, adapted that to, to my own kind of way of singing. Um, and it's, uh, it's been very gratifying for me. It's, it's, I was very lucky at a very young age. My Dad suggested voice lessons and we found a wonderful woman who, uh, taught me the fundamentals at an early age before my voice changed. And, uh, uh, I'm still able to, uh, sing anything that I want to and it, uh, very gratifying. And, uh, uh, I've, I've been very fortunate. I still sing and I still enjoy it. Speaker 1: 02:16 Yeah. Huh. Do people tell you that they've fallen in love with, to your songs? Speaker 5: 02:20 Oh yeah. I mean, that's so personal and you, you kind of take it to heart and just let it go at that. Speaker 1: 02:31 How have you chosen your signature songs through the years? Like chances are, and it's not for me to say, what do you look for in a song? Speaker 5: 02:39 I'm melody. Uh, that's the most important thing for me. Speaker 2: 02:48 [inaudible] Speaker 4: 02:49 silly question. The moment you called and to view those. Are you saying that, Speaker 6: 03:02 uh, where do you, Speaker 4: 03:08 she lost me. Speaker 5: 03:10 Oh, a little words are important too. Everybody seems to listen to my voice and it just mentioned about how pretty it sounds. So I figured I'd better find a good melody. Speaker 1: 03:24 Now your latest release, Johnny Mathis sings the new great American Song Book includes new songs like Pharell Williams. Speaker 2: 03:31 Happy. [inaudible] happy bye. See you. [inaudible] Speaker 1: 04:03 do you feel comfortable with today's music? Speaker 5: 04:06 Well, uh, it's Kinda difficult to find, uh, music that, that I kind of adhere to, but I have, I have extraordinary library of, of, of recordings over the years that I've collected. Speaker 4: 04:23 It's not for me to say Speaker 2: 04:27 [inaudible] you Speaker 6: 04:31 [inaudible] Speaker 2: 04:35 [inaudible] Speaker 4: 04:36 it's not for me. Speaker 6: 04:40 You, hello? Speaker 2: 04:47 [inaudible] Speaker 5: 04:48 oh, and I listened to a lot of those. It gives me a confidence to know that somebody is listening to these particular songs, even though, um, they were written, you know, many, many years ago. Most of the young people nowadays, uh, are interested in the, uh, people of their age singing songs of their age. Um, I haven't found anything, I don't think as far as my own thinking gets concerned, um, to rival the songs that I grew up singing with. And that's sort of what I do. And some of the young people say, oh, that's a great song. I've never heard that song before. Of course not. You aren't born then. Speaker 1: 05:34 Yeah. Tell me, after more than 60 years in show business, what do you get out of performing? Speaker 5: 05:40 Oh, you, you get out of this wonderful visceral of a feeling of, of emotion. Uh, and it's a, it's kind of like having a, um, no, a captive audience at that you can express yourself too. And uh, it's a, it's a wonderful feeling to be able to do it. Uh, I'm very lucky, as I mentioned that before, that I still have the, uh, the capability vocally to, to sing anything that I really can imagine. And it's for all different occasions, uh, and it's, uh, uh, I have no idea why it happened or how it happened. It's just that all of the necessary things, uh, vocally from the time I was a little kid, uh, went into place. And, uh, I owe a lot of it, of course, to my dad and all these wonderful voice teachers that I had over the use. Speaker 1: 06:43 Well, as I said, you'll be bringing the voice of Romance tour to San Diego this Sunday. You'll be performing at the Jacobs Music Center, Copley Symphony Hall on Sunday evening. Johnny Mathis, thank you so much for speaking with us. Speaker 7: 06:56 Oh, bless your heart. Thank you so much. Nice to talk to you. [inaudible] we stuck beneath and [inaudible] moments some days soon. [inaudible] [inaudible] tomorrow was another day. The morning found me miles away with still a million things to say, hey, [inaudible] wouldn't twilight then was a sky Oba. Rick calling one [inaudible] [inaudible].