The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection
The Music of Johnny Mathis: A Personal Collection is a four-CD box set by Johnny Mathis, released in 1993 by Columbia Records. It covers his career from 1956 to 1992 and features 86 tracks that Mathis chose himself. In the liner notes, he thanks the lyricists and composers who helped shape his career, saying, “Without the words and music I have sung over the years, my career as a singer would not have existed.”
The collection includes three tracks that were previously unreleased: Baía (Na Baixa do Sapateiro), recorded for but not included on his 1986 Henry Mancini collaboration The Hollywood Musicals; and two songs from an unreleased Sergio Mendes album, “Photograph” and “The Island.” It also features two rarities: “Evie,” a 1971 single not on any of his studio albums, and “El Amar y el Querer,” from his 1983 CBS Discos album Cuando Vuelvas A Casa.
The original release came in an oblong box, while the 2001 reissue was repackaged with a cardboard slipcase to fit the original 96-page booklet alongside a 4-CD jewel case.
Reviews highlight how this set differs from typical Greatest Hits collections. AllMusic’s Greg Adams said the songs demonstrate Mathis’s vocal abilities better than many chart-topping pop tunes, and People magazine noted that the 86-song collection underscores Mathis’s lasting place in popular culture.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 00:22 (CET).