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" All of a sudden, I was in charge of my own decisions in the studio, and I didn't have someone to guide me on what I was doing, right or wrong... I wasn't a producer, and I didn't realize until then how important producers were and how much they assisted me in my work. I tried to do what I could, but I had no idea what would be good for the market. "

Johnny Mathis

Decisions

My Own

Doing

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" My music has always been enough. "

" Christmas is never going to go away, and it's always going to be there. And there's always room for one more Christmas song, I think. "

" For me, hearing my voice is sometimes a little nauseating, especially at Christmas. "

Johnny Mathis

Voice

Hearing

" I have no memories of my childhood in Texas. When I was about four, we moved to San Francisco. I was in the middle of seven brothers and sisters: three girls and four boys. Most of my older brothers and sisters got the blame for everything, and the little ones had a free ride. We loved each other but fought like cats and dogs. "

" It doesn't mean a thing when others tell you you're good. You have to feel it yourself. "

" You know the secret to dunking a ball? Big hands. You've got to be able to palm it, and I couldn't. "

" Most of our physical education teachers were just teachers, and they had to do the extra stuff on their own. I remember very vividly that they would hold a cane pole between two of the students down low, and we would all jump over it. And they would raise it and raise it and raise it. "

" That's a big important deal, the way people see you from the stage. Once in a while, I'd ask people, 'How did you enjoy the show?' 'Hey, you looked great.' But how did I sound? That visual look is very important to people. "

" People are stubborn about what they perceive to be the right thing or the wrong thing, and it takes a long time to filter this human condition. There's a waiting period until people catch up. But if you have patience - which it takes when someone thinks differently from you - everybody always catches up. That patience is a wonderful virtue. "

" Along the way, everyone's been saying, 'Make sure you take care of your voice because you're going to want to do it the rest of your life.' And it's absolutely true. "

" Dad would come home from doing odd jobs, and sometimes he'd come home late at night with lumber, and he'd rumble around with all this wood in our small place. We'd finish putting it away, and then we'd play that piano. I'll be eternally grateful to him. "

" I love Puccini and that oriental influence in his music. "

" I invite a lot of my friends to some of the performances that I do locally, and some of them know that I'm involved with music, but they're not quite sure how. And so it's kind of fun to play golf with a lot of my friends and then invite them to hear me sing once in a while. "

Johnny Mathis

Friends

Music

" The one who really captured me and became my absolute favorite was Nat King Cole. He was a genius at what he did. Most people don't realize what a great pianist he was. After listening to him for years, I finally met him, and he was the nicest human being. "

Johnny Mathis

Listening

King

" It's a joy to listen to someone at the top of their craft. "

" Every performer has a little gem, a little pearl they have done that nobody pays much attention to. And then one day, somebody does recognize it, which is so gratifying. "

" Pavarotti's is the best male voice, and Joan Sutherland had a big voice but also acquired great coloratura notes. "

" Years ago, I went to Brazil and fell in love with it. I really like the music, samba, bossa nova, the language and the people. "

" The thing that means most to me is the joy that my mom and my dad got because of my career... They raised seven children on domestic wages, in a city like San Francisco, and did nothing but work, work, work. "

" When I was 12 and started to take singing lessons from a woman, she told me that I would probably spend the rest of my life taking care of my voice. "

Johnny Mathis

Singing

Life

" When you do interviews, you have to talk about yourself - and I like to find out about other people. I am so familiar with everything that I do. I've said it over and over again. I think it is boring. "

" Even though there's no forum for me on the radio for the kind of music I sing anymore, I am still excited about having a career where I can sing the best music in the world, and people will come and hear me because of the hit records I've had in the past. "

" First, I try to take everything away that doesn't matter to singing. It sounds simplistic, but it works. There is absolute focus on singing: producing sounds and emotions that I have always enjoyed. This is key. "

" The voice muscle doesn't last forever. I have a lot of friends who are classical and opera singers. My friend Beverly Sills stopped singing in her 50s, so I'm careful with mine. But I'll keep going as long as it lets me. "

" I cannot tell you how lucky I am: the songs that I sing, I like! "

" My mom and dad always tried to make Christmas special for us. We were poor, but it's funny because we had no idea. "

" In other words, the celebrity gets out of hand, and if you're not careful, you will forget what you are about - and that is you are about making music that people want to hear. "

" I would say three-quarters of what I do depends on the sincerity of it. You can croak, but if you croak good, they'll still listen. "

" I don't think about the future. It sort of will take care of itself; there's not really much that I can do other than fundamental things like taking care of my voice, keeping to my exercise routine, and getting some rest. "

" I've recorded in Portuguese, too. I didn't set out to just sing ballads or romantic songs. "