Song Sung Blue (album)

In their capsule review, Billboard enthusiastically announced that "this one is by far one of his best!"[3] They also singled out certain tracks. "Along with 'Song Sung Blue' and 'Play Me', Mathis is in great voice on 'Run to Me', 'Where Is the Love', 'How Can I Be Sure', and 'Alone Again (Naturally)', and he's truly at home with 'Too Young'."[3]

From the liner notes for The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection:[1]

• April 3, 1972 – "Make It Easy on Yourself"
• June 7, 1972 – "How Can I Be Sure", "Morning Has Broken", "Song Sung Blue"
• June 21, 1972 – "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", "Too Young", "Where Is the Love"
• July 24, 1972 – "Alone Again (Naturally)", "I'm on the Outside Looking In", "Lean on Me"
• July 28, 1972 – "Goodbye to Love", "Play Me", "Run to Me"

Neil Diamond's "Play Me" reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100[9] and spent two weeks at number three on the magazine's Easy Listening chart.[10] "Alone Again (Naturally)" by Gilbert O'Sullivan enjoyed six weeks at number one on both of those charts,[11][12] got as high as number three in the UK,[13] and earned Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.[14] "Where Is the Love" had its biggest success as a duet by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway that spent a week in the top spot on the magazine's Easy Listening[15] and R&B[16] charts, reached number five pop[17] and number 29 UK,[18] earned Gold certification from the RIAA,[19] and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus.[20]

"Goodbye to Love" was a number seven pop hit for The Carpenters[21] that also reached number two Easy Listening[22] and number nine in the UK.[23] "Too Young" had the most success as a recording by Nat King Cole that spent five weeks at number one in Billboard magazine in 1951.[24] "Make It Easy on Yourself" had its first chart success as a 1962 hit for Jerry Butler that reached number 20 pop[25] and number 18 R&B.[26] Another Gold record, "Lean on Me" by Bill Withers[27] had its best showing on the pop chart with three weeks at number one[28] compared to just one week at the top of the R&B chart[29] and peak positions at number four Easy Listening[30] and number 18 UK.[31]

The first chart appearance of "How Can I Be Sure" was by The Young Rascals, who took the song to number four on the Billboard Hot 100.[32] "Run to Me" by The Bee Gees made it to number 16 on that same chart[33] as well as number six Easy Listening.[34] Diamond's Gold record "Song Sung Blue"[35] was number one for seven weeks Easy Listening[10] and one week on the pop chart[9] in addition to reaching number 14 in the UK.[36] He also had the best Easy Listening showing of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", which he took to number four,[10] but his peak position with the song at number 20 on the Hot 100[9] fell short of the number seven spot that The Hollies attained with their original recording of the song[37] that was released in 1969 and had also been to number three in the UK by the time that Mathis released this album.[38]

• Johnny Mathis - vocals
• Jerry Fuller - producer[2]
• D'Arneill Pershing - arranger[2]
• Peter Romano - engineer[2]
• Ed Caraeff - photos[2]