ON JULY 23, 1960, MY 13TH BIRTHDAY, MY MOTHER PRESENTED ME WITH A JOHNNY
MATHIS RECORD ALBUM, "MORE JOHNNY'S GREATEST HITS," THAT SHE HAD ORDERED
FROM THE COLUMBIA RECORD CLUB. IT DIDN'T MATTER THAT I HAD ALREADY SEEN THE LP
WHEN IT WAS DELIVERED. IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY AND THIS WAS MY PRESENT. THE REAL
SURPRISE, YET TO BE UNFOLDED, WAS THE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC AWAITING TO BE PLAYED ON
OUR ADMIRAL HI-FI. FROM SMALL WORLD TO THE FLAME OF LOVE, ON TO LET'S LOVE AND
STAIRWAY TO THE SEA, I HAD FOUND MY ONE AND ONLY LOVE, AS MANY 13 YEAR OLD
MUSIC FANS DO. I LOVED THE MUSIC, I LOVED THE BEAUTIFUL FACE ON THE ALBUM, AND
EVEN MORE, THE JOHNNY MATHIS STORY, THAT PROVED TO BE A GREAT INSPIRATION TO
ME THROUGHTOUT MY LIFE. FROM THAT POINT, ON I SEARCHED EVERY MAGAZINE,
NEWSPAPER, AS WELL AS MEDIA STATIONS FOR INFORMATION ON JOHNNY MATHIS.
EVERYONE WHO KNEW ME, WAS AWARE OF MY ADORATION FOR JOHNNY, AND TRIED TO
PASS ON ANY INFORMATION AND/OR PICTURES, ETC. THAT THEY CAME ACROSS OF
JOHNNY MATHIS. I ACQUIRED A VERY IMPRESSIVE SCRAPBOOK.
FOR WEEKS I OGLED THE JOHNNY'S GREATEST HITS ALBUM DISPLAYED FOR SALE AT THE
NEIGHBORHOOD GROCERY STORE AT 72ND AND STEWART AVENUE, CHICAGO,
ILLINOIS....AND WITH THE PROCEEDS FROM MY FIRST $12.00 WEEKLY SALARY FROM
BABYSITTING FOR A NEIGHBOR, I BOUGHT THE ALBUM---$3.98, AND SHARED THE BALANCE
WITH MY MOTHER FOR MINOR ESSENTIALS. WE WERE POOR, STRUGGLING, BUT
ARTISTICLY RICHER THAT ANYONE IN THE WORLD---IN MY OPINION. MY MOTHER SHARED
WITH ME HER COUNTLESS MEMORIES OF THE JAZZ GREATS....DUKE ELLINGTON,
COUNT BASIE, SARAH VAUGHN, ELLA FITZGERALD, NINA SIMONE, DINAH WASHINGTON,
JUST TO NAME A FEW---AND NANCY WILSON, WHO I MISSED BY SECONDS.
MY MOTHER HAD A NICE GROUP OF JAZZ MUSICIAN FRIENDS, AND ONE TRUMPETER, BY THE
NAME OF RUBEN, BROUGHT NANCY BY OUR HUMBLE APARTMENT TO MEET MY MOTHER.
THERE WERE MANY MUSICIANS WHO WERE ENTHRALLED WITH MY MOTHER'S KNOWLEDGE
OF THE JAZZ MUSIC WORLD .
ONE AFTERNOON, WHEN I CAME HOME FROM SCHOOL, ( I WAS IN MY JUNIOR YEAR OF HIGH
SCHOOL BY THEN), MY MOTHER SHARED THAT NANCY WILSON (a popular jazz vocalist)
HAD VISITED WITH RUBEN . I ALMOST DIED. I ASKED HER WHY DIDN'T SHE TRY TO KEEP
HER THERE UNTIL I CAME HOME---AND I PLEADED WITH HER TO SEND A MESSAGE TO
RUBEN TO BRING HER BACK. MAMA CHUCKLED AT ME LIKE I WAS MAD. "I AIN'T THINKING
ABOUT YOU." (HER FAMOUS SHRUG-OFF STATEMENT). SHE OF COURSE DID NOT ENGAGE
IN IDOL WORSHIP OR ENCOURAGE IT. BUT---I GUESS SHE FELT MY ENTHRALLMENT WITH
JOHNNY WAS BETTER THAN THE THINGS THAT MOST GIRLS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD WERE
GETTING INTO.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS ON THIS PAGE WERE GIVEN TO ME BY LORETTA DABIEDATH. THEY BELONGED TO HER DECEASED MOTHER WHO WAS ALSO AN ARDENT MATHIS FAN AND MEMBER OF THE JOHNNY MATHIS FAN CLUB. I CAN JUST IMAGINE THE WONDERFUL STORIES JOHNNY'S PARENTS ARE SHARING WITH HER.
MORE MEMORIES TO SHARE...............................>
MATHIS MEMORIES 3
MATHIS MEMORIES 4
MATHIS MAGIC PLACE HOME PAGE