''Swing Softly'' is the fifth album by American pop singer

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

that was released on July 28, 1958, by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

and was a departure from the ballads that accounted for the vast majority of singles and album tracks he had recorded thus far. This project features uptempo arrangements of popular standards, most of which originated in a movie or stage musicals, and a couple of new songs: "To Be in Love" and "Easy to Say (But Hard to Do)". The album made its first appearance on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine's list of the 25 Best-Selling Pop LPs in the US in the issue dated September 8, 1958, and peaked at number six over the course of 16 weeks. It also spent its one week on the UK album chart at number 10 and received Gold certification from the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for sales of 500,000 copies in the US on December 4, 1962. Type ''Johnny Mathis'' in the Search box and press ''Enter''. The album was released for the first time on compact disc in 2000 as one of two albums on one CD, the other LP being another of his Gold records, ''

Warm Warm, WARM, or Warmth may refer to: * A somewhat high temperature * Kindness Music * ''Warm'' (The Lettermen album), 1967, and the title song * ''Warm'' (Johnny Mathis album), 1958, and the title song * ''Warm'' (Herb Alpert album), 1969 * '' ...

'' from 1957.

Reception

Allmusic's Greg Adams noted, "Close listeners will appreciate the purity of Mathis's vocal technique, which differs markedly from that of later singers for its infrequent use of modulation." He concludes, "Mathis swings with ease on these twelve favorites and offers something a little bit different from his previous albums."

Track listing

Side one

#"You Hit the Spot" from '' Collegiate'' ( Mack Gordon, Harry Revel) – 2:52 #" It's De-Lovely" from ''

Red Hot and Blue ''Red, Hot and Blue'' is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It premiered on Broadway in 1936 and introduced the popular song "It's De-Lovely," sung by Ethel Merman and Bob Hope. T ...

'' (

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

) – 2:47 #" Get Me to the Church on Time" from '' My Fair Lady'' (

Alan Jay Lerner Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre bot ...

Frederick Loewe Frederick Loewe (, originally German Friedrich (Fritz) Löwe ; June 10, 1901 – February 14, 1988) was an Austrian-United States, American composer. He collaborated with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner on a series of Broadway musicals, including ''Br ...

) – 1:45 #" Like Someone in Love" from '' Belle of the Yukon'' ( Johnny Burke,

Jimmy Van Heusen James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Life and care ...

) – 2:40 #" You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" from '' Something to Shout About'' (Porter) – 2:12 #" Love Walked In" from '' The Goldwyn Follies'' ( George Gershwin,

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

) – 2:38

Side two

#" This Heart of Mine" from '' Ziegfeld Follies'' ( Arthur Freed,

Harry Warren Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...

) – 2:31 #"To Be in Love" ( Bart Howard) – 3:01 #" Sweet Lorraine" (Clifford Burrell, Mitchell Parish) – 2:24 #"

Can't Get Out of This Mood Frank Henry Loesser (; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals '' Guys and Dolls'' and '' How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', among others. He won a T ...

" from '' Seven Days' Leave'' ( Frank Loesser, Jimmy McHugh) – 3:08 #" I've Got the World on a String" (

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ...

, Ted Koehler) – 3:11 #"Easy to Say (But So Hard to Do)" (Marvin Fisher,

Jack Segal Jack Segal (October 19, 1918 – February 10, 2005) was a pianist and composer of popular American songs, known for writing the lyrics to '' Scarlet Ribbons''. His composition '' May I Come In?'' was the title track for a Blossom Dearie album. ...

) – 2:44

Recording dates

From the liner notes for '' The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection'': *May 15, 1958 — "Can't Get Out of This Mood", "Like Someone in Love", "To Be in Love", "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" *May 16, 1958 — "Easy to Say (But Hard to Do)", "I've Got the World on a String", "It's De-Lovely", "Love Walked In" *June 17, 1958 — "Get Me to the Church on Time", "Sweet Lorraine", "This Heart of Mine", "You Hit the Spot"

Personnel

*Johnny Mathis – vocals * Mitch Miller – producer * Al Ham – producer * Percy Faith – arranger and conductor(1958) ''Swing Softly'' by Johnny Mathis lbum jacket New York: Columbia Records CL 1165. *Friedman Abeles – photography

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control 1958 albums Jazz albums by American artists Johnny Mathis albums Columbia Records albums Albums arranged by Percy Faith Albums conducted by Percy Faith Albums produced by Mitch Miller Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio