Seven things to know about Johnny Mathis, master of the romantic ballad

Mr. Romance, Johnny Mathis, 88, will sing at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Oct. 13.

Credit: Rojon Productions

Credit: Rojon Productions

Everyone knows his ready-for-Valentine’s Day ballads, his Christmas albums and other elements from his illustrious music career. But not everybody knows his sports background. Here’s a primer on both sides.

Credit: Columbia Records

Born Sept. 30, 1935, Mathis was the fourth of seven children. At George Washington High School in San Francisco, Mathis was a high jumper and hurdler and played on the basketball team.
He set a high jump record at San Francisco State University that remained unbroken for years. At a meet in 1955 in Reno he jumped 6 feet, 5 ½ inches, beating his competitor (and future NBA star ) Bill Russell. Mathis is only 5′7″. Russell is 6′10″. For decades Mathis has supported athletics at SF State, and the school hosts the Johnny Mathis Invitational in his honor.
In 1956 Mathis was invited to compete in trials for the U.S. track team headed to the Melbourne Olympics. Unfortunately Columbia Records scheduled his first recording session for the same summer. Mathis chose music.
The crooner said he is influenced by Lena Horne, Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby. He recorded his monster hit, “It’s Not For Me to Say,” in 1956, then sang it in the 1957 MGM film “Lizzie,” in which he performed as a tavern singer. That year during his television debut, he sang the same song on the Ed Sullivan Show. His skinny frame, delicate tenor and post-adolescent gawkiness endeared him to the audience. His other hits include “Chances Are,” “Hurry! It’s Lovely Up Here,” “Wonderful, Wonderful” and “Misty.”
He has performed for kings and heads of state, including Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Mathis plays golf almost every day, but he probably skipped the links on his 88th birthday, Saturday, Sept. 30, after tweaking his back during a golf outing the previous week.
His 1959 “Johnny’s Greatest Hits” album remained on the Billboard top albums chart for 490 consecutive weeks, an achievement eventually outdone by Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.” Mathis has sold 360 million records, and shows no sign of quitting. His seventh Christmas Record, “Christmas Time Is Here,” comes out this month.