“Chances Are” you’re too young to remember Johnny Mathis’ 1957 pop hit of the same name, but his rendition of Robert Allen and Al Stillman’s song was famous enough in its era that celebrated American songbook interpreter Alex Chilton could derisively name-check it during a performance at Manhattan punk club CBGB 20 years later. Born in Texas in 1935 and raised in San Francisco, Mathis was an athlete before he scored with “Chances Are,” and his subsequent recordings — more hits, many Christmas albums and, mercy sakes, 1986’s Because You Loved Me: The Songs of Diane Warren — make a case for Mathis as a well-conditioned purveyor of the Higher Schlock. Mathis is a superb vocalist who manages to be simultaneously lithe and detached, a quality that’s perhaps best heard on I Love My Lady, his 1981 collaboration with super-detached disco theorists Chic. It’s a fascinating experiment, but the record remains unreleased. Mathis is currently working with producer Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds on a forthcoming collection, Johnny Mathis Sings the New Great American Songbook. EDD HURT
Johnny Mathis w/The Nashville Symphony
