Live It Up! (Johnny Mathis album)
Live It Up! is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on December 11, 1961,[1] by Columbia Records and was the second of two album collaborations with arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle. The singer again eschewed ballads as he had on Swing Softly and selected a balance of new and established material.
Live It Up! | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | December 11, 1961[1] | |||
Recorded | April 24–25, 1961[1] | |||
Genre | Vocal[2] | |||
Length | 37:29 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Irving Townsend[3] | |||
Johnny Mathis chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Billboard | positive[4] |
New Record Mirror | 5/5[5] |
The album debuted on Billboard magazine's album chart in the issue dated February 24, 1962, to begin a stay of 39 weeks, during which time it got as high as number 14.[6]
This album was released for the first time on compact disc in a two-disc set with his other Riddle project, 1961's I'll Buy You A Star, on June 9, 2009.[7]
Reception
Billboard was enthusiastic. "This is easily one of Mathis's best albums",[4] they wrote. "He's really in a swingin' mood, and he gets standout arrangements to match from Nelson Riddle."[4]
Track listing
Side one
- "Live It Up" (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman) – 3:28
- "Just Friends" (John Klenner, Sam M. Lewis) – 4:01
- "Ace in the Hole" from Let's Face It! (Cole Porter) – 2:46
- "On a Cold and Rainy Day" (Lee Pockriss, Paul Vance) – 3:06
- "Why Not" (Otis G. Clements, Sydney Shaw) – 2:08
- "I Won't Dance" from Roberta (Dorothy Fields, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, Jerome Kern, Jimmy McHugh) – 3:58
Side two
- "Johnny One Note" from Babes in Arms (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 2:39
- "Too Much Too Soon" (Marvin Fisher, Jack Segal) – 2:51
- "The Riviera" (Cy Coleman, Joseph Allen McCarthy) – 3:03
- "Crazy in the Heart" (William Engvick, Alec Wilder) – 3:55
- "Hey, Look Me Over" from Wildcat (Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) – 1:48
- "Love" from Ziegfeld Follies (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin) – 3:46
Recording dates
From the liner notes for The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection:[1]
- April 24, 1961 — "Ace in the Hole", "Johnny One Note", "Just Friends", "Live It Up", "The Riviera"
- April 25, 1961 — "Crazy in the Heart", "Hey, Look Me Over", "I Won't Dance", "Love", "On a Cold and Rainy Day", "Too Much Too Soon", "Why Not"
Personnel
- Johnny Mathis – vocals
- Irving Townsend – producer[3]
- Nelson Riddle – arranger and conductor[3]
- Bob Cato – cover photo[3]
- Curtis F. Brown – liner notes[3]
References
- (2017) The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment 88985 36892 2.
- "Live It Up! - Johnny Mathis". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
- (1962) Live It Up! by Johnny Mathis [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CS 8511.
- "Spotlight Albums of the Week". Billboard. 1962-02-03. p. 24.
- Watson, Jimmy (10 March 1962). "Johnny Mathis: Live It Up" (PDF). New Record Mirror. No. 52. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
- Whitburn 2010, p. 503.
- "I'll Buy You a Star/Live It Up! - Johnny Mathis". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
Bibliography
- Whitburn, Joel (2010), Joel Whitburn Presents Top Pop Albums, Seventh Edition, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-183-7