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GEMEBAL ABTI5TS COBPOBATION and gave me a summer ?╟ ^b.^ He was set to return to school, until Helen Ncga heard him and brought him to the attention of George Avakian* He's the fourth of seven children, and his biggest debt is to his r>9. rents. "They gave me everything without depriving my brothers and sisters of anything," he says, "We've all had music lessons.": His father, Clemmie Mathis, took him to a local voice teacher named Connie Cox and told her he couldn*t afford to pay for lessons, but felt Johnny had a unique voice. Hiss Cox taught him for seven years without any fee. "She taught me from the time X was 13," he recalls. "All day long between her paying pupils. I don't know how to say it, but she's been a real angel." Johnny, who is grateful for his success, never thought he'd be near it. During his year and a half at San Francisco State the only profes- sion he had in mind was being a physical ed teacher. "I was always in- volved in sports," he says. "Sure I took music in high school and college, but I never thought X could master music enough to even teach it." It's safe to assume Johnny won't have to worry about his future - not with a voice that is truly one of the greatest of our timet if 4$ #