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Song Sung Blue
Studio album by
Johnny Mathis
ReleasedSeptember 13, 1972 [1]
RecordedApril 3, 1972
June 7, 1972
June 21, 1972
July 24, 1972
July 28, 1972 [1]
Genre
Length37:37
Label Columbia
Producer Jerry Fuller [2]
Johnny Mathis chronology
Johnny Mathis' All-Time Greatest Hits
(1972) 		Song Sung Blue
(1972) 		Me and Mrs. Jones
(1973)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Billboardpositive [3]

Song Sung Blue is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 13, 1972, [1] by Columbia Records and featured his renditions of mostly recent chart hits.

The album made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's & Tapes chart in the issue dated October 21, 1972, and remained there for 18 weeks, peaking at number 83. [4] In the UK it was retitled Make It Easy on Yourself and reached number 49 on the album chart. [5]

The song " Make It Easy on Yourself" was the first single from the album and " bubbled under" the Billboard Hot 100 to number 103 [6] while making it as high as number 16 on the magazine's Easy Listening chart. [7] The song on the flip side, "Sometimes", was written by Henry Mancini and his daughter Felice [8] but was not included on the LP.

Reception

In their capsule review, Billboard enthusiastically announced that "this one is by far one of his best!" [3] They also singled out certain tracks. "Along with 'Song Sung Blue' and 'Play Me', Mathis is in great voice on 'Run to Me', 'Where Is the Love', 'How Can I Be Sure', and 'Alone Again (Naturally)', and he's truly at home with 'Too Young'." [3]

Track listing

Side one

  1. " Play Me" ( Neil Diamond) – 3:49
  2. " Alone Again (Naturally)" ( Gilbert O'Sullivan) – 4:20
  3. " Where Is the Love" ( Ralph MacDonald, William Salter) – 2:32
  4. " Goodbye to Love" ( John Bettis, Richard Carpenter) – 3:12
  5. " Too Young" ( Sylvia Dee, Sidney Lippman) – 3:16

Side two

  1. " Make It Easy on Yourself" ( Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 3:29
  2. " Lean on Me" ( Bill Withers) – 3:51
  3. " How Can I Be Sure" ( Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati) – 3:42
  4. " Run to Me" ( Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb) – 2:58
  5. " Song Sung Blue" ( Neil Diamond) – 3:12
  6. " He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" ( Bob Russell, Bobby Scott) – 3:16

2017 CD bonus tracks

This album's CD release as part of the 2017 box set The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection included two bonus tracks that were previously unavailable:

Recording dates

From the liner notes for The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection: [1]

  • April 3, 1972 – "Make It Easy on Yourself"
  • June 7, 1972 – "How Can I Be Sure", "Morning Has Broken", "Song Sung Blue"
  • June 21, 1972 – "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", "Too Young", "Where Is the Love"
  • July 24, 1972 – "Alone Again (Naturally)", "I'm on the Outside Looking In", "Lean on Me"
  • July 28, 1972 – "Goodbye to Love", "Play Me", "Run to Me"

Song information

Neil Diamond's " Play Me" reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 [9] and spent two weeks at number three on the magazine's Easy Listening chart. [10] " Alone Again (Naturally)" by Gilbert O'Sullivan enjoyed six weeks at number one on both of those charts, [11] [12] got as high as number three in the UK, [13] and earned Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. [14] " Where Is the Love" had its biggest success as a duet by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway that spent a week in the top spot on the magazine's Easy Listening [15] and R&B [16] charts, reached number five pop [17] and number 29 UK, [18] earned Gold certification from the RIAA, [19] and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus. [20]

" Goodbye to Love" was a number seven pop hit for The Carpenters [21] that also reached number two Easy Listening [22] and number nine in the UK. [23] " Too Young" had the most success as a recording by Nat King Cole that spent five weeks at number one in Billboard magazine in 1951. [24] " Make It Easy on Yourself" had its first chart success as a 1962 hit for Jerry Butler that reached number 20 pop [25] and number 18 R&B. [26] Another Gold record, " Lean on Me" by Bill Withers [27] had its best showing on the pop chart with three weeks at number one [28] compared to just one week at the top of the R&B chart [29] and peak positions at number four Easy Listening [30] and number 18 UK. [31]

The first chart appearance of " How Can I Be Sure" was by The Young Rascals, who took the song to number four on the Billboard Hot 100. [32] " Run to Me" by The Bee Gees made it to number 16 on that same chart [33] as well as number six Easy Listening. [34] Diamond's Gold record " Song Sung Blue" [35] was number one for seven weeks Easy Listening [10] and one week on the pop chart [9] in addition to reaching number 14 in the UK. [36] He also had the best Easy Listening showing of " He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", which he took to number four, [10] but his peak position with the song at number 20 on the Hot 100 [9] fell short of the number seven spot that The Hollies attained with their original recording of the song [37] that was released in 1969 and had also been to number three in the UK by the time that Mathis released this album. [38]

Personnel

References

  1. ^ a b c d (2017) The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment 88985 36892 2.
  2. ^ a b c d e (1972) Song Sung Blue by Johnny Mathis [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records KC 31626.
  3. ^ a b c "Album Reviews". Billboard. 1972-10-07. p. 58.
  4. ^ Whitburn 2010, p. 503.
  5. ^ "Johnny Mathis". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  6. ^ Whitburn 2009, p. 628.
  7. ^ Whitburn 2007, p. 179.
  8. ^ (1972) "Make It Easy on Yourself/Sometimes" by Johnny Mathis [7-inch single]. New York: Columbia Records 4-45635.
  9. ^ a b c Whitburn 2009, p. 274.
  10. ^ a b c Whitburn 2007, p. 79.
  11. ^ Whitburn 2009, p. 733.
  12. ^ Whitburn 2007, p. 210.
  13. ^ "Gilbert O'Sullivan". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  14. ^ RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for titles by Gilbert O'Sullivan
  15. ^ Whitburn 2007, p. 98.
  16. ^ Whitburn 2004, p. 206.
  17. ^ Whitburn 2009, p. 350.
  18. ^ "Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  19. ^ "Gold & Platinum". riaa.com. Retrieved 22 December 2016. Type Roberta Flack in the Search box and press Enter.
  20. ^ O'Neil 1999, p. 196.
  21. ^ Whitburn 2009, p. 162.
  22. ^ Whitburn 2007, p. 44.
  23. ^ "Carpenters". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  24. ^ Whitburn 1986, p. 88.
  25. ^ Whitburn 2009, p. 146.
  26. ^ Whitburn 2004, p. 94.
  27. ^ "Gold & Platinum". riaa.com. Retrieved 22 December 2016. Type Bill Withers in the Search box and press Enter.
  28. ^ Whitburn 2009, p. 1072.
  29. ^ Whitburn 2004, p. 633.
  30. ^ Whitburn 2007, p. 300.
  31. ^ "Bill Withers". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  32. ^ Whitburn 2009, p. 799.
  33. ^ Whitburn 2009, p. 80.
  34. ^ Whitburn 2007, p. 22.
  35. ^ "Gold & Platinum". riaa.com. Retrieved 22 December 2016. Type Neil Diamond in the Search box and press Enter.
  36. ^ "Neil Diamond". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  37. ^ Whitburn 2009, p. 447.
  38. ^ "Hollies". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 April 2013.

Bibliography

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