Johnny Mathis Interview (page: 7 / 7) Grammy Hall of Fame	Print Interview

In Las Vegas in the 1950s, the major venues had a history of disrespectful treatment of black artists. That changed when you played the Sands. Can you tell us about that?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Johnny Mathis: Once again, I was following my big iconic hero Lena Horne, Sammy Davis, Jr., Billy Eckstine, I think, and then of course in the lounges there were the big bands of Count Basie, Duke Ellington. So I was booked at the Sands Hotel for a month at a time, but I didn't really have a problem because of these people. The only thing I thought was amusing, and then I got a little mad about it after I kind of thought about it, was that I couldn't stay at the hotel, I had to stay at some other place. And I thought, "Hmm, well I'll take the money and run," or something. I don't know. I was a little annoyed later on. But then, of course, I realized how important these entertainers who have gone before were to my life. Fortunately, over the years -- as I have mentioned, I think, before -- I had a chance to meet them all. Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine, and even Duke Ellington and Count Basie and all the great black entertainers who had gone before, and I actually sat down and told them how proud I was of them and what they had done, and how easy they made it for me. Because not only did they make it easy for me, but the laws of the country changed. They changed the laws. So they would have had to answer to denying me my right to stay at the hotel or stay anywhere I wanted to.

Don't you think you had something to do with that, too?

Johnny Mathis: I think we all do, in our way, but I wasn't conscious of it. I was so enamored with what they had done that what I had done is really just float in after them.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I always made sure that I kept the dignity, or tried to keep the dignity that they showed, by standing there and singing and not doing too much else, because I didn't know what else to do. But you know, sometimes you can get carried away and I don't know, lose your composure or something. But I was very conscious of that, I said, "All I'm going to do is sing. I'll be out of here in a minute. You guys just enjoy. I'll sing my hit songs," and that's kind of the way I thought about it. But then, of course, the natural kind of intellect that you have comes into being, and I realized that what they were -- people who were ignorant of the fact that we were all doing the same thing -- I mean, come on, the skin color's a little different. But then you go on television. I said, "I look white! My hair isn't nappy, it's straight," and I said, "What's the big deal?" And then, of course, before I knew it, things got better.

[ Key to Success ] Integrity

I think you had something to do with it.

Johnny Mathis: I hope so.

You don't give yourself a whole lot of credit for a lot of things you've done. You are a humble person.

Johnny Mathis: I've got a lot to be humble about.

You've talked about always looking forward to the next level, not being satisfied with what you've already done. Do you still think that way?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Johnny Mathis: I had some goals to get to. As I mentioned, I saw a couple of my icons, who I worshiped as an entertainer, at the age of 72. I remember it vividly. I was watching them on Broadway in some productions that they were doing. And I said -- I must have been about 50 at the time -- and I said, "When I get to be 72, I would like to perform that well and have my ability still intact." And when I was 72, I remember, I took note of where I was, what I was doing, and I said, "Okay, everything's all right. Now what do I do? I've done a thing that I kind of had my eye on," and I said, "I want to see if I can do what I admired about them," and maybe blaze a few trails and do something at a later age that maybe will inspire someone else.

[ Key to Success ] Vision

It's hard to believe you're that old.

Johnny Mathis: No, but we don't feel that. We don't feel old. I don't feel old, except in the morning once in a while, when I can't turn over properly and say, "What's that, when did that happen?" Our brain doesn't accept that. We're geared to last.

Well, you certainly have done everything to make that voice last, I'll tell you. All of those songs that you sang are as new today, and when young people hear them, they like them.

Johnny Mathis: Thank God for vinyl! It's wonderful to be involved in something that captures your life from almost the beginning to the end. I'm absolutely blessed.

Do you listen to your own music?

Johnny Mathis: Yeah, and I think, "Oh, I'd love to do that again now that I know the melody!" A lot of the music that I had to sing, I had to learn it very fast. So I never got a chance to really get into it until later on, after I had lived with it and learned the proper way to sing it. Oh gosh, I listen to some of the harmless stuff that I recorded, where I know that I sang the right melody, and I know that it's a good performance. The questionable things I listen to once in a while and say, "Well, it's not that bad. Maybe nobody will listen to it."

You're too modest. Thank you so much for talking with us today.

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