Live It Up/Just Friends/Ace In The Hole/On A Cold & Rainy Day/Why Not/I Won’t Dance/Johnny One Note/Too Much Too Soon/The Riviera/Crazy In The Heart/Hey Look Me Over/Love
Live It Up! was the second album in which Johnny Mathis was paired with Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra. Riddle worked with many of the greatest vocalists of the time. (US:14)
“Boasts arrangements by the great Nelson Riddle, whose sublime orchestral work helped take this high on the 1962 charts.”
“Riddle fully understood the Mathis preference for lush romantic ballads; using a backdrop of strings to anchor the chosen repertoire.”
“One of only two albums Mathis recorded with Nelson Riddle and most of Riddle's arrangements are such great swingers.”
“Live It Up! surpasses the previous effort and pulls out all the stops to present a dozen tracks which swing wildly through sizzling Riddle arrangements that can still excite the listener today. There are some splendid tracks here even among the uptempo tracks.”
“More than half of the tunes on Live It Up were unfamiliar to me and some were perhaps best left on the cupboard shelves.”
“Nelson Riddle was at his peak as arranger at this time and he arranged albums for a whole host of different stars in the 1960s. This is one for both Johnny Mathis and Nelson Riddle fans to enjoy.”
“I was not familiar with a lot of these songs and am glad to have added this to my collection. I know that anyone who appreciates JM's voice and talent will be glad they got this one.”
"The title song sets the pace with Love, The Riviera and Johnny One Note amongst the up-front swinging gems, with Hey Look Me Over another example that shows Johnny's sheer enjoyment of the occasion with perfect phrasing and sense of rhythm. Only On A Cold & Rainy Day and Crazy In The Heart does the pace slow ever so slightly.”
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