Live It Up! (Johnny Mathis album)
| Live It Up! | ||||
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| Studio album by Johnny Mathis | ||||
| Released | 1962 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 37:29 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Irving Townsend | |||
| Johnny Mathis chronology | ||||
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Live It Up! (1962) is the 16th album released by Johnny Mathis. It was his 13th original studio album, with three compilations of hit singles having been released by him at this point.
Overview
This is the second and final album collaboration between singer Mathis and arranger/conductor Nelson Riddle. Where their earlier album together featured a set list of ballads and swingers, this album features all uptempo songs. As such, it makes a perfect companion to the earlier album.
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| Allmusic | link |
Track listing
- "Live It Up" (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman) - 3:28
- "Just Friends" (John Klenner, Sam M. Lewis) - 4:01
- "Ace in the Hole" (Cole Porter) - 2:46
- "On a Cold and Rainy Day" (Lee Pockris, Paul Vance) - 3:06
- "Why Not" - 2:08
- "I Won't Dance" (Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields, Otto Harbach, Jimmy McHugh, Oscar Hammerstein II)- 3:58
- "Johnny One Note" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) - 2:39
- "Too Much Too Soon" - 2:51
- "The Riveria" (Cy Coleman, Joseph McCarthy) - 3:03
- "Crazy in the Heart" (Alec Wilder, William Engvick) - 3:55
- "Hey, Look Me Over" (Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) - 1:48
- "Love" (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin) - 3:46
Billboard Album Chart
This was Mathis' 15th consecutive charting album peaking at #14 on the Billboard album chart in its original release.[1] Arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, it was a stronger seller than the previous collaboration between singer and conductor released the year before which had stalled at #38.[2]
Highlights
As was often the case in the early years of his career, Mathis includes a song by Cole Porter, "Ace in the Hole", even including the seldom-heard verse. The title track has lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, the husband-and-wife lyric-writing team whose work Mathis would frequently record later in his career. From Broadway comes "Hey, Look Me Over" from the 1960 musical Wildcat, which starred Lucille Ball ,while "Johnny One Note" from 1937's Babes in Arms is the work of Rodgers and Hart and allows Mathis the chance to display a full range of notes at a swinging tempo. From Hollywood comes the song "Love" from the 1946 film Ziegfeld Follies, where it was introduced by one of Mathis' all-time favorites Lena Horne, while "I Won't Dance" was featured in the 1935 film Roberta, where it was amusingly performed by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The only true Tin Pan Alley standard on the album is "Just Friends".