Open Fire, Two Guitars

Open Fire, Two Guitars
Studio album by
Johnny Mathis
ReleasedJanuary 5, 1959[1]
RecordedOctober 2–3, 1958[2]
StudioCBS 30th Street Studio
New York City
GenreVocal[3]
Length43:05
LabelColumbia
ProducerMitch Miller[1][2]
Johnny Mathis chronology
Merry Christmas
(1958) 		Open Fire, Two Guitars
(1959) 		More Johnny's Greatest Hits
(1959)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
Billboardpositive[4]

Open Fire, Two Guitars is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on January 5, 1959,[1] by Columbia Records on which he opts for guitar and bass accompaniment instead of performing alongside an orchestra. Two new songs ("An Open Fire" and "I'm Just a Boy in Love") are mixed in with covers of popular standards.

The album made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's list of the 25 Best-Selling Pop LPs in the US in the issue dated February 9, 1959, and got as high as number four during its 96 weeks there.[5] It received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 500,000 copies in the US on December 4, 1962.[6]

The album was released for the first time on compact disc on June 28, 1994,[7] as part of the Master Sound series in which Sony Music used the Super Bit Mapping process to remaster certain titles and burn them onto discs with 24-karat gold plating.[8] It was also issued on a standard compact disc on December 23, 1999.[9]

  1. ^ a b c (1999) Open Fire, Two Guitars by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Columbia Records CK 65862.
  2. ^ a b (2017) The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection by Johnny Mathis [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment 88985 36892 2.
  3. ^ "Open Fire, Two Guitars - Johnny Mathis". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  4. ^ "The Billboard Spotlight Winners of the Week". Billboard. 1959-02-09. p. 28.
  5. ^ Whitburn 2010, p. 503.
  6. ^ "Gold & Platinum". riaa.com. Retrieved 18 October 2016. Type Johnny Mathis in the Search box and press Enter.
  7. ^ "Open Fire, Two Guitars - Johnny Mathis – Release Info [1994 edition]". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  8. ^ "Davis, Brubeck, Dylan Among Acts Set For Special Legacy CDs". Billboard. 1992-06-13. p. 73.
  9. ^ "Open Fire, Two Guitars - Johnny Mathis – Release Info [1999 edition]". allmusic.com. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 24 October 2016.