BARRY LEVINE:

Johnny Mathis had a career decision to make in 1956 and, fortunately for him and his legion of fans, he made the right one.

“It’s true, I had the possibility of a career in sports,” Mathis said recently during a concert. “I came this close to participating in the 1956 Olympics at Melbourne, Australia.

“When I was a freshman at San Francisco State College in 1954, I played on the basketball team as well as being a high jumper and hurdler on the track team,” he said.

While there, Mathis set a school high jump record of 6-foot-5 1/2 inches, which was only 2 inches shy of the Olympic record. The San Francisco high jump record was held by teammate Bill Russell, who later starred in the NBA. What made his jump even more impressive is that Mathis is only is 5-foot-7, 15 inches shorter than Russell.

He was often referred to as “the best all-around athlete to come out of the San Francisco Bay Area.”

“Opportunity knocked with two doors thousands of miles apart – the Olympics in Australia and a singing career in New York,” he said.

On the advice of his father, a former vaudevillian, Mathis opted to embark on a professional singing career and decided to keep his appointment in New York to make his first recordings and skip the Olympic trials.

“When I saw the record-breaking times and distances from the 1956 Olympics, I realized that I made the right choice to become a singer,” Mathis said, laughing.

Mathis kept that appointment and made his first recordings.

The pop singer, who began his career with singles of standard music, became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status and 73 charting. His worldwide record sales have surpassed 360 million, making him the third-biggest selling artist of the 20th century, trailing only Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.

Mathis, however, did not enjoy immediate success. His first release, “Johnny Mathis: A New Sound In Popular Song,” was a slow-selling jazz album. After the album was recorded in 1956, the California resident opted to remain in New York to perform in nightclubs.

His second album was produced by Columbia Records Vice President Mitch Miller.

Miller helped define the “Mathis Sound,” preferring that he sing soft, romantic ballads, pairing him with conductor and music arranger Ray Conniff and later with Ray Ellis, Glenn Osser and Robert Mersey.

In late 1956, Mathis recorded two of his most popular songs: “Wonderful! Wonderful!” and “It’s Not For Me To Say.” Both were Top 15 hits.

In 1958, “Johnny’s Greatest Hits” was released, and the album spent an unprecedented 490 consecutive weeks, or approximately 9½ years through 1967, on the Top 100 album chart. It was No. 1 for three weeks. The album held the record for the most consecutive weeks on the top 200 albums list for 15 years until Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” reached 491 weeks in October 1983.

While he concentrated on making successful albums, Mathis enjoyed success with singles as he had five Top 15 hits from 1957 to 1958: “Wonderful, Wonderful,” “It’s Not for Me to Say, “Chances Are,” “The Twelfth of Never” and “A Certain Smile.”

As with most established acts, Mathis’ career waned during the mid-1960s with the beginning of the British Invasion. He had a career renaissance in 1978, though, when “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late,” a duet with Deniece Williams, reached No. 1.

Despite his age (82), Mathis continues to perform a heavy concert schedule, doing approximately 50 shows a year.

Mathis has earned a plethora of honors during his distinguished career.

The Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences awarded Mathis the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. This Special Merit honor is presented by a vote of the Recording Academy’s National Trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artist significance to the field of recording.

Mathis has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for three of his recordings: “Chances Are” in 1998, “Misty” in 2002 and “It’s Not for Me to Say” in 2008. He has had five of his albums on the charts simultaneously, an achievement equaled by only two other singers: Frank Sinatra and Barry Manilow.

A gourmet cook and avid golfer, Mathis also has an excellent business acumen that has helped him amass a net worth estimated at $400 million.

Mathis obviously made the right decision to jump into the music industry more than six decades ago.

Johnny Mathis’ Top 15 Hits

1957 — “Wonderful, Wonderful”

1957 — “It’s Not for Me to Say”

1857 — “Chances Are”

1957 — “The Twelfth of Never”

1958 — “A Certain Smile”

1959 — “Misty”

1962 — “Gina”

1963 — “What Will My Mary Say”

1978 — “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late”

* Sung with Deniece Williams

Top acts to perform in Georgia:

Some of music’s top acts are scheduled to perform in Georgia later this summer. Here’s a list of those set to appear in the Peach State.

— Def Leppard and Journey, 6 p.m., July 1, at SunTrust Park, Atlanta

— Chicago and REO Speedwagon, 7:30 p.m., July 14, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Alpharetta

— Robert Plant, no time listed, Black Sea Jazz Festival, July 19, Batumi

— Lynryd Skynyrd, 7 p.m., Sept. 1, at Aarons Amphitheatre at Lakewood, Atlanta

— Paul Simon, 8 p.m. Sept. 12, Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood, Atlanta

This week in rock history: Sam Cooke started a two-week stay at New York’s Copacabana on June 24, 1964. A 70-foot billboard announcing the engagement was erected in Times Square. … The final Beatles’ world tour began in Munich, Germany, on June 25, 1966, as the Fab Four saw “Paperback Writer” jump from No. 15 to No. 1. Although John Lennon was the Beatle who actually wrote books, the song was penned by Paul McCartney. … The Byrds’ “Mr. Tambourine Man” reached the top of the Hot 100 on June 26, 1965. The only member of the group to actually play on the record was Roger McGuinn on vocals and 12-string guitar. Studio musicians Leon Russell, Glen Campbell, Larry Knechtel and Hal Blaine recorded the other instruments. … After 12 previous Top 40 songs, “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” became Connie Francis’ first No. 1 hit on June 27, 1960. … Dick Clark announced his first “Caravan of Stars” tour on June 29, 1959, which would feature The Skyliners, who were still riding high on their hit “Since I Don’t Have You.” Chubby Checker, Duane Eddy, Bobby Darin, Fabian, Buddy Holly, Annette Funicello and Bo Diddley also toured with the Caravan.

Barry “The Old Rocker” Levine is an entertainment writer for The Albany Herald. He can be reached at [email protected].