Song Sung Blue (album)
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June 7, 1972
June 21, 1972
July 24, 1972
July 28, 1972[1]
| Song Sung Blue | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 13, 1972[1] | |||
| Recorded | April 3, 1972 June 7, 1972 June 21, 1972 July 24, 1972 July 28, 1972[1] | |||
| Genre |
| |||
| Length | 37:37 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Jerry Fuller[2] | |||
| Johnny Mathis chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Billboard | positive[3] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |   [4] |
Song Sung Blue is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 13, 1972,[1] by Columbia Records and featured his renditions of mostly recent chart hits.
The album made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's & Tapes chart in the issue dated October 21, 1972, and remained there for 18 weeks, peaking at number 83.[5]. It debuted on the Cash Box albums chart in the issue dated October 28, 1972, and remained on the chart for 15 weeks, peaking at number 91.[6] In the UK it was retitled Make It Easy on Yourself and reached number 49 on the album chart.[7]
The song "Make It Easy on Yourself" was the first single from the album and "bubbled under" the Billboard Hot 100 to number 103[8] while making it as high as number 16 on the magazine's Easy Listening chart.[9] The song on the flip side, "Sometimes", was written by Henry Mancini and his daughter Felice[10] but was not included on the LP.
In their capsule review, Billboard enthusiastically announced that "this one is by far one of his best!"[3] They also singled out certain tracks. "Along with 'Song Sung Blue' and 'Play Me', Mathis is in great voice on 'Run to Me', 'Where Is the Love', 'How Can I Be Sure', and 'Alone Again (Naturally)', and he's truly at home with 'Too Young'."[3]
Track listing
Side one
- "Play Me" (Neil Diamond) – 3:49
- "Alone Again (Naturally)" (Gilbert O'Sullivan) – 4:20
- "Where Is the Love" (Ralph MacDonald, William Salter) – 2:32
- "Goodbye to Love" (John Bettis, Richard Carpenter) – 3:12
- "Too Young" (Sylvia Dee, Sidney Lippman) – 3:16
Side two
- "Make It Easy on Yourself" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 3:29
- "Lean on Me" (Bill Withers) – 3:51
- "How Can I Be Sure" (Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati) – 3:42
- "Run to Me" (Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb) – 2:58
- "Song Sung Blue" (Neil Diamond) – 3:12
- "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (Bob Russell, Bobby Scott) – 3:16
2017 CD bonus tracks
This album's CD release as part of the 2017 box set The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection included two bonus tracks that were previously unavailable:
- "Morning Has Broken" (Eleanor Farjeon, Cat Stevens) – 3:40
- "I'm on the Outside Looking In" (Teddy Randazzo, Bobby Weinstein) – 3:05
Recording dates
From the liner notes for The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection:[1]
- April 3, 1972 – "Make It Easy on Yourself"
- June 7, 1972 – "How Can I Be Sure", "Morning Has Broken", "Song Sung Blue"
- June 21, 1972 – "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", "Too Young", "Where Is the Love"
- July 24, 1972 – "Alone Again (Naturally)", "I'm on the Outside Looking In", "Lean on Me"
- July 28, 1972 – "Goodbye to Love", "Play Me", "Run to Me"
Song information
Neil Diamond's "Play Me" reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100[11] and spent two weeks at number three on the magazine's Easy Listening chart.[12] "Alone Again (Naturally)" by Gilbert O'Sullivan enjoyed six weeks at number one on both of those charts,[13][14] got as high as number three in the UK,[15] and earned Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.[16] "Where Is the Love" had its biggest success as a duet by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway that spent a week in the top spot on the magazine's Easy Listening[17] and R&B[18] charts, reached number five pop[19] and number 29 UK,[20] earned Gold certification from the RIAA,[21] and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus.[22]
"Goodbye to Love" was a number seven pop hit for The Carpenters[23] that also reached number two Easy Listening[24] and number nine in the UK.[25] "Too Young" had the most success as a recording by Nat King Cole that spent five weeks at number one in Billboard magazine in 1951.[26] "Make It Easy on Yourself" had its first chart success as a 1962 hit for Jerry Butler that reached number 20 pop[27] and number 18 R&B.[28] Another Gold record, "Lean on Me" by Bill Withers[29] had its best showing on the pop chart with three weeks at number one[30] compared to just one week at the top of the R&B chart[31] and peak positions at number four Easy Listening[32] and number 18 UK.[33]
The first chart appearance of "How Can I Be Sure" was by The Young Rascals, who took the song to number four on the Billboard Hot 100.[34] "Run to Me" by The Bee Gees made it to number 16 on that same chart[35] as well as number six Easy Listening.[36] Diamond's Gold record "Song Sung Blue"[37] was number one for seven weeks Easy Listening[12] and one week on the pop chart[11] in addition to reaching number 14 in the UK.[38] He also had the best Easy Listening showing of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", which he took to number four,[12] but his peak position with the song at number 20 on the Hot 100[11] fell short of the number seven spot that The Hollies attained with their original recording of the song[39] that was released in 1969 and had also been to number three in the UK by the time that Mathis released this album.[40]
