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" I've been very happy to see some of the success that I've had along the way in opening the eyes of people, especially people who listen to music. "
Johnny Mathis
Music
Success
See
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" It's always nice to hear people say, 'You sound the same,' when I know I don't. "
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" I've recorded in Portuguese, too. I didn't set out to just sing ballads or romantic songs. "
Johnny Mathis
Sing
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Romantic
" I drank too much, only champagne. "
Johnny Mathis
Champagne
Too
Too Much
" I go to the gym rather early with a workout pal. I get there at 7, or a little before, and do weights and a little cardio for an hour, five days a week. "
Johnny Mathis
Go
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" 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. "
Johnny Mathis
Care
Future
I Can
" I always felt like what I was doing wasn't selling toys; I was making a happy sound at Christmas. When people hear something so familiar, it brings them back to a special place, and that's been meaningful for me. "
Johnny Mathis
Christmas
Happy
Place
" I'd rather starve than not have what I really want to eat. I'm good at preparation. "
Johnny Mathis
Rather
Good
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" The fact that I'm not a good musician - I throw it around, tell people that - it doesn't matter that much. It only matters to me, because I idolized good musicians. I absolutely worshiped them. "
Johnny Mathis
People
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Matter
" Nat was my hero right from the very beginning. My dad brought his music into the house and played it over and over again. "
Johnny Mathis
Music
House
Hero
" As a child, all I knew was that people kept asking me to sing, and because I liked to please, I would sing. It wasn't until my dad told me that my singing made him happy that I began to think my voice might be good. "
Johnny Mathis
Voice
Think
Good
" Over the years, I was lucky; right from the beginning, I studied with a lady who had a lot of... she was a classical singer, and of course, they're a little bit more into, you know, preserving the voice, making sure your instrument is ready to perform. "
Johnny Mathis
Lady
Beginning
Know
" Mitch Miller knew exactly what he wanted me to sing. He didn't want me to improvise at all. "
Johnny Mathis
Improvise
He
Want
" I have no way of knowing why my career has lasted so long other than the fact that people like the sound of my voice. Fortunately, I've been able to maintain it. "
Johnny Mathis
Why
Voice
People
" It's the most personal thing that I do is sing. Because I can't tell a lie. I want them to know exactly what I'm feeling. "
Johnny Mathis
Feeling
Lie
Personal
" I have one room off my kitchen filled with nothing but cookbooks and recipes that are sent to me from around the world. Every two years, I have to go through them and pick out ones to send to the local schools. There's a need for books, especially cookbooks. "
Johnny Mathis
Me
Kitchen
World
" I think there are a lot of people who really want to be famous, they really do. I don't. It sort of gets in the way of the everyday things that I do. "
Johnny Mathis
Way
Famous
Think
" When you say, 'I'm going to sing it once, and everyone is going to hear it forever,' that's kind of frightening. "
Johnny Mathis
You
Forever
Going
" I think most people don't understand: I have nothing to do with that. I just open my mouth, and it comes out that way. "
Johnny Mathis
Open
People
Way
" I was a mediocre basketball player. But I was there, and I could remember the plays. And my basketball coach, after he retired from teaching, would come to my performances all the time. And I was very happy about that, because I was not memorable as a basketball player. "
Johnny Mathis
Time
Basketball
Remember
" 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. "
Johnny Mathis
Waiting
Time
People
" I've found that the more friends I have, the luckier I am. "
Johnny Mathis
More
I Am
Found
" Each person's voice is very different, so you need to find what works for you. Make sure you keep to your routine. "
Johnny Mathis
Find
Voice
You
" I also met, early on Ella Fitzgerald. Her songbooks are some of the most amazing bodies of work. "
Johnny Mathis
Amazing
Early
Her
" You know the secret to dunking a ball? Big hands. You've got to be able to palm it, and I couldn't. "
Johnny Mathis
Know
Secret
You
" Tony Bennett and me are all the same... and he's still singing. I don't know what else to do. "
Johnny Mathis
He
Me
Same
" When I got a chance, I went back and shared those experiences that were important to me. George Washington High, the campus at San Francisco State, and even back to Emerson Elementary school and Roosevelt Junior High. I was happy to do it, to go back and see if all the same teachers were there. "
Johnny Mathis
Chance
Happy
Me
" 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. "
Johnny Mathis
Work
Children
City
" It's very much like opera singers. They do the same thing. The first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, the thing they think about is their voice and how to take care of it. "
Johnny Mathis
Care
Night
Morning
" Most of the people I hang out with who sing love it, and they just want to do it until they die. I still look forward to the performances. And believe it or not, they're all kind of different. Even though you sing the same songs, and maybe you go to the same venues, it just feels completely different every time you go on stage. "
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Love
Look
Time
" There are situations when, in your singing, in your interpretation of songs, for instance, when you want a straight tone. And I have to work really hard at getting a straight tone... That's sort of like if you have curly hair, you have curly hair. "
Johnny Mathis
Curly
Singing
Want