Andy Williams
Encyclopedia
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams (born December 3, 1927) is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri
, named after the song "Moon River", with which he is closely identified.
, the son of Jay Emerson and Florence (née Finley) Williams. He first performed in a children's choir at the local Presbyterian
church. Williams and his three older brothers Bob, Don, and Dick formed the Williams Brothers
quartet in late 1938, and they performed on radio in the Midwest, first at WHO
in Des Moines, Iowa
, and later at WLS
in Chicago and WLW
in Cincinnati
. Williams graduated from Western Hills High School
in Cincinnati and his brother was engaged to Gene Ingram's car-pool partner, Peggy. The Williams Brothers
appeared with Bing Crosby
on the hit record "Swinging on a Star
" (1944). This led to a nightclub act with entertainer Kay Thompson
from 1947 to 1951.
After finally landing a spot as a regular on Steve Allen
's Tonight Show in 1954, he was signed to a recording contract with Cadence Records
, a small label in New York
run by conductor Archie Bleyer
. His third single, "Canadian Sunset
" reached #7 in the Top Ten in August 1956, and was soon followed by his only Billboard #1 hit, "Butterfly
" (a cover
of a Charlie Gracie
record on which Williams imitated Elvis Presley
) in February 1957. More hits followed, including "The Hawaiian Wedding Song" (U.S. #11), "Are You Sincere" (U.S. #3 in February 1958), "The Village of St. Bernadette" (U.S. #7 in December 1959), "Lonely Street" (U.S. #5 in September 1959), and "I Like Your Kind Of Love" with Peggy Powers (U.S. #8 in May 1957) before Williams moved to Columbia Records
in 1961, having moved from New York
to Los Angeles
and gaining another hit with "Can't Get Used to Losing You
" (U.S. #2). In terms of chart popularity, the Cadence era was Williams' peak although songs he introduced on Columbia became much bigger standards. Two top ten hits from the Cadence era, "Butterfly" and "I Like Your Kind of Love" were apparently believed to not suit Williams' later style; they were not included on a Columbia reissue of his Cadence greatest hits of/from the 1960s.
In 1964, Williams ultimately became the owner of the Cadence master tapes, which he occasionally licensed to Columbia, including not only his own recordings, but those of his fellow Cadence-era labelmates, The Everly Brothers
, Lenny Welch
, The Chordettes
, and Johnny Tillotson
. In 1968, although he was still under contract with Columbia for his own recordings, Williams formed a separate company called Barnaby Records
not only to handle reissuing of the Cadence material, especially that of The Everly Brothers (one of the first Barnaby LPs was a double LP set of the brothers long out of print Cadence hits) but new artists as well. Barnaby also had several Top 40 hits in the 70s with novelty artist Ray Stevens
(who had done a summer replacement show for Williams in 1970), including Top 10s such as "Everything Is Beautiful
" in 1970, and "The Streak
" in 1974.
Also in 1970, Barnaby signed and released the first album by an unknown singer-songwriter named Jimmy Buffett
("Jimmy Buffett Down to Earth
") produced by Travis Turk. Columbia was initially the distributor for Barnaby, but later distribution was handled first by MGM Records
and then GRT. Once Barnaby ceased operating as a working record company at the end of the 1970s, Williams licensed the old Cadence material to various other labels (such as Varese & Rhino in the U.S.) after 1980.
During the 1960s, Williams became one of the most popular vocalists in the country and was signed to what was at that time the biggest recording contract in history. He was primarily an album artist, and at one time he had earned more gold albums than any solo performer except Frank Sinatra
, Johnny Mathis
and Elvis Presley
. By 1973 he had earned as many as 18 gold album awards. Among his hit albums from this period were Moon River, Days of Wine and Roses (number one for 16 weeks in mid-1963), The Andy Williams Christmas Album, Dear Heart, The Shadow of Your Smile, Love, Andy, Get Together with Andy Williams, and Love Story. These recordings, along with his natural affinity for the music of the 1960s and early 1970s, combined to make him one of the premier easy listening
singers of that era. In the UK, Williams continued to reach high chart status until 1978. The albums Can't Help Falling In Love (1970), Andy Williams Show (1970) Home Lovin Man ( #1 1971), Solitaire (1973), The Way We Were (1974) and Reflections (1978) all reached the Top 10.
Williams forged an indirect collaborative relationship with Henry Mancini
, although they never recorded together. Williams was asked to sing Mancini and Johnny Mercer
's song "Moon River
" at the 1962 Oscar Awards (where it won), and it quickly became Williams' theme song; however, because it was never released as a single, "Moon River" was never actually a chart hit for Williams. The next year Williams sang "Days of Wine and Roses" which was written by Mancini and Mercer (this song also won). Two years later, he sang Mancini's "Dear Heart" at the 1965 awards and "The Sweetheart Tree" (also written with Mercer) at the 1966 awards.
On August 5, 1966, the 14-story, 700-room Caesars Palace
casino and nightclub opened in Las Vegas
, Nevada
, with the stage production of "Rome Swings", in which Williams starred. He performed live to a sold out crowd in the Circus Maximus showroom. He headlined for Caesars for the next twenty years.
In 1968, Columbia released a 45-rpm record of two songs Williams sang at the funeral of Robert F. Kennedy
, a close friend: "Ave Maria" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic
". These were never released on a long-playing record
.
Williams also competed in the teenage-oriented single
s market as well and had several charting hits including "Can't Get Used to Losing You
", "Happy Heart
", and "Where Do I Begin"
, the theme song from the 1970 blockbuster film, Love Story
. In addition Williams hit the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart
with "Almost There" (1965), "Can't Help Falling In Love
" (1970), "Home Lovin' Man" (1970) and "Solitaire" (1973).
Both Williams and Petula Clark
recorded "Happy Heart
" at the same time, just prior to his guest appearance on her second NBC-TV special. Unaware that she, too, was releasing the song as a single, he asked to perform it on the show. The exposure ultimately led to his having the bigger hit with the tune. The song "Happy Heart" is played during the final scene, and throughout the end credits, of the Danny Boyle film Shallow Grave.
Building on his experience with Allen and some short-term variety shows in the 1950s, he became the star of his own weekly television
variety show in 1962. This series, The Andy Williams Show
, won three Emmy Awards for outstanding variety program. Among his series regulars were the Osmond Brothers
. He gave up the variety show in 1971 while it was still popular and retrenched to three special
s per year. His Christmas
specials, which appeared regularly until 1974 and intermittently from 1982 into the 1990s, were among the most popular of the genre. Williams has recorded eight Christmas albums over the years and has been penned as Mr. Christmas.
Williams hosted the most Grammy telecasts, from the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971 through the 19th Annual Grammy Awards in 1977, totaling seven consecutive shows. He returned to television to do a syndicated half-hour series in 1976–77.
In the early 1970s, when the Nixon Administration
attempted to deport John Lennon
, Andy Williams was an outspoken defender of the Beatle's right to stay in the United States.
A caricature of Andy Williams is included in the montage of caricatures displayed on the cover of Ringo Starr's
1973 album, "Ringo"
.
Williams also sang the national anthem
at Super Bowl VII
in 1973 with Little Angels of Holy Angels Church in Chicago, Illinois.
" became a huge surprise UK hit to a new young TV audience in 1999, when it reached #9 after featuring in new TV ads for the Fiat Punto--and later for Diet Pepsi
--beating the original peak of #33 in 1967. A new generation was reminded of Williams' recordings and a sell-out UK tour followed the success of the single, and he was given the nickname "The Emperor of Easy" in the UK.
In 2002, he re-recorded "Can't Take My Eyes Off You
" as a duet with British actress and singer Denise van Outen
which reached number 23 in the UK singles charts.
He completed a sold-out tour of the United Kingdom and Asia in the winter and summer of 2007, in which he performed at several major concert halls including the Royal Albert Hall
, singing among other classics, Van Morrison
's "Have I Told You Lately
".
Williams returned to the UK singles charts with his 1963 recording of "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
" in December 2007 thanks to an advert for Marks And Spencer, reaching number 21 in its first appearance in the British charts, also reaching #108 on the EU Top 200. In 2008 he lip-synched the 45-year-old recording to welcome Santa at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
.
On October 3, 2009, Williams appeared live on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing
in London, singing Moon River to promote the UK edition of The Very Best of Andy Williams, which peaked at number 10 in the main pop chart.
town of Branson, Missouri
. Don Williams at the time was the manager for entertainer Ray Stevens
, who had just opened a theatre in Branson. While attending Stevens' show, Williams was encouraged by numerous Branson guests to open a venue in the town. This led Williams to build his own theater in Branson starting in August 1991, eventually opening on May 1, 1992 as the Moon River Theatre. The name came from a song he made famous from the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. It went on to become the first theater ever to be featured in Architectural Digest
, and also won the 1992 Conservation Award from the State of Missouri
.
The theater was designed to blend into the rough terrain of the Ozark Mountains. Reportedly when Williams was on his way to Big Cedar Lodge one day, he had noticed some rough rock outcroppings and said, "What about these? This could be the entrance." He had originally planned a marble style theater reminiscence of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
in Los Angeles, but soon had a change of mind. The Larson Company of Tucson, Arizona fabricated a section of rock on Missouri's Highway 76 and the theater was soon engulfed with waterfalls, koi filled ponds, ferns and trees native to the Ozarks. The inside of the theater incorporates the outside. Trees and plants are seen throughout the theater's three lobbies. Oak floors are accompanied by African ribbon striped mahogany walls that are filled with pictures of the Andy Williams Television Show. Williams' passion for art can be seen throughout as well. From the start of his career Williams had accumulated several paintings and sculptures and decided to fill his theater with his collection. Frankenthaler
, Diebenkorn
, Oldenburg
, Pollock
, Klee
and Moore
are a small list of artists the Moon River Theatre represents.
The theater's auditorium can accommodate 2,054 people. The seating is stadium style seating for the best view. The seats and carpets match Williams' Navajo rug
collection and are forest green, magenta, gold and blue. On display inside the auditorium are nineteen Japanese Kimonos. The stage has accommodated numerous shows and guest celebrities. On stage Williams has been joined by Glen Campbell
, Ann-Margret
, Petula Clark
and Charo
. The theater has also played host to Phyllis Diller
, Pat Boone
, The Osmond Family, Robert Goulet
, Rich Little
, Shari Lewis
& Lamb Chop, David Copperfield
, Pat Benatar
and Broadway on Ice starring Nancy Kerrigan
, Tara Lipinski
and Rudy Galindo
. In November and December of each year he presents his annual Andy Williams Christmas Show at the theater.
When it first opened, Williams' act was unique because it was the first non-country act to open in the then-mostly-country music town. It was said he was discouraged by many back home in California from making such a bold move, but that was what he wanted. Other non-country entertainers like Bobby Vinton
, Tony Orlando
, Wayne Newton
and the Osmond Brothers soon followed.
Williams and his theater were featured on three episodes of the soap opera
As the World Turns
in July 2007. Several of the cast (Gwen, Will, Cleo, Jade, Luke, Maddie and Noah) went to Branson for a concert of Gwen Munson held in the Moon River Theatre. The Simpsons
featured Williams at his Moon River Theatre in an episode titled "Bart on the Road
". Nelson Muntz
is an Andy Williams fan, and in the episode he forces the gang to make a detour to Branson so he could see his idol. The bully is reduced to tears as Williams performs "Moon River" during the second encore.
In the spring of 2007 Williams opened the Moon River Grill adjacent to his theater in Branson. The restaurant is decorated in photos from the Andy Williams Television Show with stars including Diana Ross
, Elton John
and Sammy Davis Jr. Art is center stage in the restaurant, with works by several artists including Andy Warhol
and Robert Indiana
.
when he pulled over to aid her on a Las Vegas
road. She was a dancer at the time at the Folies Bergère. They married on December 15, 1961. The union produced three children: Noelle, Christian, and Robert within the next eight years.
After a lengthy separation, Williams and Longet divorced in 1975. In March 1976, however, when Longet was charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend, alpine ski racer
Spider Sabich
in Aspen
, Williams played a public role in the subsequent events, escorting her to and from the courtroom, testifying to her character at the trial, and providing legal assistance. Longet claimed the shooting was accidental, and eventually received 30 days in jail, which was served at her convenience. Shortly thereafter, Longet vacationed in Mexico
with her defense attorney Ron Austin, whom she married in June 1985. They continue to reside in the Aspen
area.
Andy Williams married a second time (May 3, 1991), to the former Debbie Meyer, whom he met through a mutual friend. They make their homes at Branson, Missouri
, and La Quinta, California
. Williams' homes have been featured in Architectural Digest
, and he is a noted collector of modern art.
Williams is an avid golf
er, and hosted the PGA Tour
golf tournament in San Diego from 1968-88 at Torrey Pines
. Then known as the "Andy Williams San Diego Open", the tournament continues as the Farmers Insurance Open, usually played in February.
Williams' birthplace in Iowa is a tourist attraction, and is open most of the year.
On Friday, November 4, 2011, it was reported in the press that Williams has been diagnosed with bladder cancer
. He is undergoing chemotherapy treatments in Houston and will then move with his wife to a rented home in Malibu, California to be closer to cancer specialists in the Los Angeles
area.
and Ethel Kennedy, campaigning for Kennedy '68 for President. Williams was present at the Ambassador Hotel when RFK was assassinated in June 1968. Williams solemnly sang "Battle Hymn of the Republic" at RFK's funeral, by request of widow Ethel. By August 1969, over a year after Bobby Kennedy's death, Andy and Claudine named their newborn son 'Bobby' Williams. The Williams' friendship with Ethel Kennedy has endured, with Williams even serving as escort to Ethel, during events in the 1970s. He also raised funds for George McGovern
's 1972 presidential campaign
, performing at benefit concerts.
While close friends with the Democratic Kennedys, Williams is a lifelong Republican. On September 29, 2009, Williams was quoted by the Daily Telegraph as accusing President
Barack Obama
of "following Marxist theory" and "wanting the country to fail". He gave Rush Limbaugh
permission to use his recording of the song "Born Free
" for the theme to the "Animal Rights Update" on his Limbaugh's radio show
– in which a portion of the song is then followed by gunfire – saying "Hey, it's fine with me. I love what you're doing with it." The record company later blocked Limbaugh's use of the recording.
Branson, Missouri
Branson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s....
, named after the song "Moon River", with which he is closely identified.
Early life and career
Williams was born in Wall Lake, IowaWall Lake, Iowa
Wall Lake is a city in Sac County, Iowa, United States. The population was 841 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Wall Lake is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
, the son of Jay Emerson and Florence (née Finley) Williams. He first performed in a children's choir at the local Presbyterian
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
church. Williams and his three older brothers Bob, Don, and Dick formed the Williams Brothers
Williams Brothers
The Williams Brothers were a singing quartet that performed extensively on radio, movies, nightclubs, and television from 1938 through the 1990s.-History:...
quartet in late 1938, and they performed on radio in the Midwest, first at WHO
WHO (AM)
WHO is a clear channel radio station broadcasting 50,000 watts on 1040 AM with a news/talk format. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and is located in Des Moines, Iowa. The station can be heard over most of the continental United States during nighttime hours...
in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
, and later at WLS
WLS (AM)
WLS is a Chicago clear-channel AM station on 890 kHz. It uses C-QUAM AM stereo and transmits with 50,000 watts from transmitter and towers on the south edge of Tinley Park, Illinois....
in Chicago and WLW
WLW
WLW is a clear channel talk radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio, run by Clear Channel Communications. The station broadcasts locally on 700 kHz AM...
in Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. Williams graduated from Western Hills High School
Western Hills High School (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Western Hills High School is a high school located in the Western Hills area of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is part of the Cincinnati Public Schools district. The school was the location used to film Airborne, a movie filmed in the Cincinnati area....
in Cincinnati and his brother was engaged to Gene Ingram's car-pool partner, Peggy. The Williams Brothers
Williams Brothers
The Williams Brothers were a singing quartet that performed extensively on radio, movies, nightclubs, and television from 1938 through the 1990s.-History:...
appeared with Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
on the hit record "Swinging on a Star
Swinging on a Star
"Swinging on a Star" is an American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was sung by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year, and has been recorded by numerous artists since...
" (1944). This led to a nightclub act with entertainer Kay Thompson
Kay Thompson
Kay Thompson was an American author, composer, musician, actress and singer. She is best known as the creator of the Eloise children's books.-Background:Catherine Louise Fink was born in St...
from 1947 to 1951.
Solo career
Williams' solo career began in 1953. He recorded six sides (individual songs) for RCA Victor's label "X", but none of them were popular hits.After finally landing a spot as a regular on Steve Allen
Steve Allen (comedian)
Stephen Valentine Patrick William "Steve" Allen was an American television personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his television career. He first gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent...
's Tonight Show in 1954, he was signed to a recording contract with Cadence Records
Cadence Records
Cadence Records was an American record company based in New York City. It was founded by Archie Bleyer, who had been the musical director and orchestra leader for Arthur Godfrey in 1952...
, a small label in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
run by conductor Archie Bleyer
Archie Bleyer
Archie Bleyer was an American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive.-Early life:He was born in the Corona section of the New York City borough of Queens. He began playing the piano when he was only seven years old...
. His third single, "Canadian Sunset
Canadian Sunset
"Canadian Sunset" is a popular song with music by jazz pianist Eddie Heywood and lyrics by Norman Gimbel. An instrumental version by Heywood and Hugo Winterhalter reached #2 on the Billboard chart in 1956. A version sung by Andy Williams was also popular that year, reaching #7 on the Billboard chart...
" reached #7 in the Top Ten in August 1956, and was soon followed by his only Billboard #1 hit, "Butterfly
Butterfly (1957 song)
"Butterfly" is a popular song written by Bernie Lowe and Kal Mann and published in 1957. The song is credited to Anthony September as songwriter in some sources...
" (a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of a Charlie Gracie
Charlie Gracie
Charlie Gracie is an American rock pioneer and singer. He was born the same day as another rock and roll singer, Bobby Darin.His father encouraged him to play the guitar...
record on which Williams imitated Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
) in February 1957. More hits followed, including "The Hawaiian Wedding Song" (U.S. #11), "Are You Sincere" (U.S. #3 in February 1958), "The Village of St. Bernadette" (U.S. #7 in December 1959), "Lonely Street" (U.S. #5 in September 1959), and "I Like Your Kind Of Love" with Peggy Powers (U.S. #8 in May 1957) before Williams moved to Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in 1961, having moved from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and gaining another hit with "Can't Get Used to Losing You
Can't Get Used to Losing You
"Can't Get Used to Losing You" is a song written by Jerome "Doc" Pomus and Mort Shuman, first made popular by Andy Williams in a 1963 record release.-Andy Williams Recording:...
" (U.S. #2). In terms of chart popularity, the Cadence era was Williams' peak although songs he introduced on Columbia became much bigger standards. Two top ten hits from the Cadence era, "Butterfly" and "I Like Your Kind of Love" were apparently believed to not suit Williams' later style; they were not included on a Columbia reissue of his Cadence greatest hits of/from the 1960s.
In 1964, Williams ultimately became the owner of the Cadence master tapes, which he occasionally licensed to Columbia, including not only his own recordings, but those of his fellow Cadence-era labelmates, The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
, Lenny Welch
Lenny Welch
Lenny Welch , is an American MOR/pop singer.He was born in New York City on May 31, 1938 . He was raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey. His biggest hit, a cover version of the big band standard "Since I Fell for You," reached number 4 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1963...
, The Chordettes
The Chordettes
The Chordettes were a female popular singing quartet, usually singing a cappella, and specializing in traditional popular music. The Chordettes were one of the longest lived vocal groups with beginnings in the mainstream pop and vocal harmonies of the 1940s and early 1950s...
, and Johnny Tillotson
Johnny Tillotson
Johnny Tillotson is an American singer and songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored 9 top-ten hits on the pop, country and adult contemporary billboard charts including "Poetry In Motion" and the self-penned "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'"...
. In 1968, although he was still under contract with Columbia for his own recordings, Williams formed a separate company called Barnaby Records
Barnaby Records
Barnaby Records was an American record company founded by singer Andy Williams in 1963 with his purchase of soon-to-be-liquidated Cadence Records....
not only to handle reissuing of the Cadence material, especially that of The Everly Brothers (one of the first Barnaby LPs was a double LP set of the brothers long out of print Cadence hits) but new artists as well. Barnaby also had several Top 40 hits in the 70s with novelty artist Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs.-Early career:...
(who had done a summer replacement show for Williams in 1970), including Top 10s such as "Everything Is Beautiful
Everything Is Beautiful
"Everything is Beautiful" is a song by Ray Stevens. It has appeared on many of Stevens' albums, including one named after the song, and has become a pop standard and common in religious performances. The children heard singing the chorus of the song, using the hymn, "Jesus Loves the Little...
" in 1970, and "The Streak
The Streak
"The Streak" is a popular country/novelty song written, produced, and sung by Ray Stevens. It was released in March 1974 as the lead single to his album Boogity Boogity...
" in 1974.
Also in 1970, Barnaby signed and released the first album by an unknown singer-songwriter named Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
("Jimmy Buffett Down to Earth
Down to Earth (Jimmy Buffett album)
Down to Earth is the first album by American popular music singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. It was produced by Travis Turk and was initially released in 1970 on Andy Williams's small Barnaby Records label as Z 30093...
") produced by Travis Turk. Columbia was initially the distributor for Barnaby, but later distribution was handled first by MGM Records
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
and then GRT. Once Barnaby ceased operating as a working record company at the end of the 1970s, Williams licensed the old Cadence material to various other labels (such as Varese & Rhino in the U.S.) after 1980.
During the 1960s, Williams became one of the most popular vocalists in the country and was signed to what was at that time the biggest recording contract in history. He was primarily an album artist, and at one time he had earned more gold albums than any solo performer except Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. By 1973 he had earned as many as 18 gold album awards. Among his hit albums from this period were Moon River, Days of Wine and Roses (number one for 16 weeks in mid-1963), The Andy Williams Christmas Album, Dear Heart, The Shadow of Your Smile, Love, Andy, Get Together with Andy Williams, and Love Story. These recordings, along with his natural affinity for the music of the 1960s and early 1970s, combined to make him one of the premier easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
singers of that era. In the UK, Williams continued to reach high chart status until 1978. The albums Can't Help Falling In Love (1970), Andy Williams Show (1970) Home Lovin Man ( #1 1971), Solitaire (1973), The Way We Were (1974) and Reflections (1978) all reached the Top 10.
Williams forged an indirect collaborative relationship with Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
, although they never recorded together. Williams was asked to sing Mancini and Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
's song "Moon River
Moon River
"Moon River" is a song composed by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini in 1961, for whom it won that year's Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was originally sung in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's by Audrey Hepburn, although it has been covered by many other artists...
" at the 1962 Oscar Awards (where it won), and it quickly became Williams' theme song; however, because it was never released as a single, "Moon River" was never actually a chart hit for Williams. The next year Williams sang "Days of Wine and Roses" which was written by Mancini and Mercer (this song also won). Two years later, he sang Mancini's "Dear Heart" at the 1965 awards and "The Sweetheart Tree" (also written with Mercer) at the 1966 awards.
On August 5, 1966, the 14-story, 700-room Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace
Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, an unincorporated township in Clark County, Nevada, United States in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Caesars Palace is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp....
casino and nightclub opened in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, with the stage production of "Rome Swings", in which Williams starred. He performed live to a sold out crowd in the Circus Maximus showroom. He headlined for Caesars for the next twenty years.
In 1968, Columbia released a 45-rpm record of two songs Williams sang at the funeral of Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
, a close friend: "Ave Maria" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is a hymn by American writer Julia Ward Howe using the music from the song "John Brown's Body". Howe's more famous lyrics were written in November 1861 and first published in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1862. It became popular during the American Civil War...
". These were never released on a long-playing record
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
.
Williams also competed in the teenage-oriented single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
s market as well and had several charting hits including "Can't Get Used to Losing You
Can't Get Used to Losing You
"Can't Get Used to Losing You" is a song written by Jerome "Doc" Pomus and Mort Shuman, first made popular by Andy Williams in a 1963 record release.-Andy Williams Recording:...
", "Happy Heart
Happy Heart
"Happy Heart" is a song written by Hans Last and Jackie Rae. The song was recorded by both Petula Clark and Andy Williams and released as a single for each at the same time. "Happy Heart" was a top 20 Easy Listening hit for Clark as well as minor pop hit, while Williams went to number twenty-two on...
", and "Where Do I Begin"
(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story
" Love Story" is a popular song published in 1970, with music by Francis Lai and lyrics by Carl Sigman. The song was first introduced as an instrumental theme in the 1970 film Love Story. The lyrics were added after the theme music became popular.-Covers:The song has been covered many times...
, the theme song from the 1970 blockbuster film, Love Story
Love Story (1970 film)
Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story...
. In addition Williams hit the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
with "Almost There" (1965), "Can't Help Falling In Love
Can't Help Falling in Love
"Can't Help Falling in Love" is a pop song originally recorded by American singer Elvis Presley and published by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company. It was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss. The melody was based on "Plaisir d'Amour" but with a different...
" (1970), "Home Lovin' Man" (1970) and "Solitaire" (1973).
Both Williams and Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
recorded "Happy Heart
Happy Heart
"Happy Heart" is a song written by Hans Last and Jackie Rae. The song was recorded by both Petula Clark and Andy Williams and released as a single for each at the same time. "Happy Heart" was a top 20 Easy Listening hit for Clark as well as minor pop hit, while Williams went to number twenty-two on...
" at the same time, just prior to his guest appearance on her second NBC-TV special. Unaware that she, too, was releasing the song as a single, he asked to perform it on the show. The exposure ultimately led to his having the bigger hit with the tune. The song "Happy Heart" is played during the final scene, and throughout the end credits, of the Danny Boyle film Shallow Grave.
Building on his experience with Allen and some short-term variety shows in the 1950s, he became the star of his own weekly television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
variety show in 1962. This series, The Andy Williams Show
The Andy Williams Show
The Andy Williams Show is a television variety show which ran from 1959 to 1971 , and a short-lived run in syndication, beginning in the fall of 1976...
, won three Emmy Awards for outstanding variety program. Among his series regulars were the Osmond Brothers
The Osmonds
The Osmonds are an American family music group with a long and varied career—a career that took them from singing barbershop music as children, to achieving success as teen-music idols, to producing a hit television show, and to continued success as solo and group performers...
. He gave up the variety show in 1971 while it was still popular and retrenched to three special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
s per year. His Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
specials, which appeared regularly until 1974 and intermittently from 1982 into the 1990s, were among the most popular of the genre. Williams has recorded eight Christmas albums over the years and has been penned as Mr. Christmas.
Williams hosted the most Grammy telecasts, from the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971 through the 19th Annual Grammy Awards in 1977, totaling seven consecutive shows. He returned to television to do a syndicated half-hour series in 1976–77.
In the early 1970s, when the Nixon Administration
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
attempted to deport John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, Andy Williams was an outspoken defender of the Beatle's right to stay in the United States.
A caricature of Andy Williams is included in the montage of caricatures displayed on the cover of Ringo Starr's
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
1973 album, "Ringo"
Ringo (album)
Ringo is the third album by Ringo Starr, released in 1973 on Apple Records. It peaked at #7 on the UK Albums Chart and #2 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. In Canada, it reached #1 on the RPM national albums chart...
.
Williams also sang the national anthem
The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...
at Super Bowl VII
Super Bowl VII
Super Bowl VII was an American football game played on January 14, 1973, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, to decide the National Football League champion following the 1972 regular season...
in 1973 with Little Angels of Holy Angels Church in Chicago, Illinois.
National tour success
His 1967 recording of "Music to Watch Girls ByMusic to Watch Girls By
"Music to Watch Girls By" was the first Top 40 hit by Bob Crewe using his own name, recorded by his group The Bob Crewe Generation. Crewe first heard the song performed in a "jingle demo" for a Diet Pepsi commercial. The "big-band, horn driven" recording went to #15 on the pop chart and #2 on the...
" became a huge surprise UK hit to a new young TV audience in 1999, when it reached #9 after featuring in new TV ads for the Fiat Punto--and later for Diet Pepsi
Diet Pepsi
Diet Pepsi is a no-calorie carbonated cola soft drink produced by PepsiCo, introduced in 1964 as a variant of Pepsi-Cola with no sugar. First test marketed in 1963 under the name Patio Diet Cola, it was re-branded as Diet Pepsi the following year, becoming the first diet cola to be distributed on a...
--beating the original peak of #33 in 1967. A new generation was reminded of Williams' recordings and a sell-out UK tour followed the success of the single, and he was given the nickname "The Emperor of Easy" in the UK.
In 2002, he re-recorded "Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Can't Take My Eyes off You
"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 single by Frankie Valli. The song was among Valli's biggest hits, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning a gold record. It was Valli's biggest "solo" hit until he hit #1 in 1975 with "My Eyes Adored You"...
" as a duet with British actress and singer Denise van Outen
Denise van Outen
Denise van Outen is an English actress, singer and television presenter. Her most notable roles to date are as a presenter on The Big Breakfast, and as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago on both the West End and on Broadway.- Early life :Born Denise Kathleen Outen in Basildon, Essex, she is the...
which reached number 23 in the UK singles charts.
He completed a sold-out tour of the United Kingdom and Asia in the winter and summer of 2007, in which he performed at several major concert halls including the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, singing among other classics, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
's "Have I Told You Lately
Have I Told You Lately
"Have I Told You Lately" is a hit song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and recorded for his 1989 album Avalon Sunset. It is a romantic ballad often played at weddings although it was originally written also as a prayer....
".
Williams returned to the UK singles charts with his 1963 recording of "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is a popular Christmas song written in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle. It was recorded and released that year by pop singer Andy Williams for his first Christmas album, The Andy Williams Christmas Album...
" in December 2007 thanks to an advert for Marks And Spencer, reaching number 21 in its first appearance in the British charts, also reaching #108 on the EU Top 200. In 2008 he lip-synched the 45-year-old recording to welcome Santa at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, often shortened to Macy's Day Parade, is an annual parade presented by Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States along with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and four years younger than...
.
On October 3, 2009, Williams appeared live on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
in London, singing Moon River to promote the UK edition of The Very Best of Andy Williams, which peaked at number 10 in the main pop chart.
Moon River Theatre
In June 1991, Williams' brother Don invited him to the small OzarksThe Ozarks
The Ozarks are a physiographic and geologic highland region of the central United States. It covers much of the southern half of Missouri and an extensive portion of northwestern and north central Arkansas...
town of Branson, Missouri
Branson, Missouri
Branson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s....
. Don Williams at the time was the manager for entertainer Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs.-Early career:...
, who had just opened a theatre in Branson. While attending Stevens' show, Williams was encouraged by numerous Branson guests to open a venue in the town. This led Williams to build his own theater in Branson starting in August 1991, eventually opening on May 1, 1992 as the Moon River Theatre. The name came from a song he made famous from the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. It went on to become the first theater ever to be featured in Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest is an American monthly magazine. Its principal subject is interior design, not — as the name of the magazine might suggest — architecture more generally. The magazine is published by Condé Nast Publications and was founded in 1920, by the Knapp family, who sold it in 1993...
, and also won the 1992 Conservation Award from the State of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
.
The theater was designed to blend into the rough terrain of the Ozark Mountains. Reportedly when Williams was on his way to Big Cedar Lodge one day, he had noticed some rough rock outcroppings and said, "What about these? This could be the entrance." He had originally planned a marble style theater reminiscence of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center . The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall.The Pavilion has 3,197 seats spread over four tiers, with chandeliers, wide curving stairways and rich décor...
in Los Angeles, but soon had a change of mind. The Larson Company of Tucson, Arizona fabricated a section of rock on Missouri's Highway 76 and the theater was soon engulfed with waterfalls, koi filled ponds, ferns and trees native to the Ozarks. The inside of the theater incorporates the outside. Trees and plants are seen throughout the theater's three lobbies. Oak floors are accompanied by African ribbon striped mahogany walls that are filled with pictures of the Andy Williams Television Show. Williams' passion for art can be seen throughout as well. From the start of his career Williams had accumulated several paintings and sculptures and decided to fill his theater with his collection. Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler is an American abstract expressionist painter. She is a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work in six decades she has spanned several generations of abstract painters while continuing to produce vital and ever-changing new work...
, Diebenkorn
Richard Diebenkorn
Richard Diebenkorn was a well-known 20th century American painter. His early work is associated with Abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. His later work were instrumental to his achievement of worldwide acclaim.-Biography:Richard Clifford Diebenkorn Jr...
, Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg is a Swedish sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects...
, Pollock
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...
, Klee
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
and Moore
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
are a small list of artists the Moon River Theatre represents.
The theater's auditorium can accommodate 2,054 people. The seating is stadium style seating for the best view. The seats and carpets match Williams' Navajo rug
Navajo rug
Navajo rugs and blankets are textiles produced by Navajo people of the Four Corners area of the United States. Navajo textiles are highly regarded and have been sought after as trade items for over 150 years. Commercial production of handwoven blankets and rugs has been an important element of the...
collection and are forest green, magenta, gold and blue. On display inside the auditorium are nineteen Japanese Kimonos. The stage has accommodated numerous shows and guest celebrities. On stage Williams has been joined by Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
, Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret Olsson is a Swedish-American actress, singer and dancer whose professional name is Ann-Margret. She became famous for her starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, The Cincinnati Kid, Carnal Knowledge, and Tommy...
, Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
and Charo
Charo
María del Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Gutiérrez de los Perales Santa Ana Romanguera y de la Hinojosa Rasten , better known as Charo, is a Spanish-American actress, comedienne, and flamenco guitarist, best known for her flamboyant stage presence, her provocative outfits, and her trademark phrase...
. The theater has also played host to Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller is an American actress and comedian. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes jokes about a husband named "Fang" while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder...
, Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
, The Osmond Family, Robert Goulet
Robert Goulet
Robert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...
, Rich Little
Rich Little
Richard Caruthers "Rich" Little is a Canadian-American impressionist and voice actor. He has long been known throughout the world as a top impersonator of famous people, resulting in his nickname, "The Man of a Thousand Voices"....
, Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis was an American ventriloquist, puppeteer, and children's television show host, most popular during the 1960s and 1990s...
& Lamb Chop, David Copperfield
David Copperfield (illusionist)
David Copperfield is an Emmy Award-winning American illusionist, and was described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magician in history. Copperfield's network specials have been nominated for 38 Emmy Awards and won a total of 21 Emmys...
, Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar is an American singer and four-time Grammy winner. She had considerable commercial success particularly in the United States...
and Broadway on Ice starring Nancy Kerrigan
Nancy Kerrigan
Nancy Ann Kerrigan is a two-time American Olympic figure skating medalist and 1993 U.S. champion.-Early life and skating career:...
, Tara Lipinski
Tara Lipinski
Tara Kristen Lipinski is an American figure skater. At the age of 15, she won the Ladies' Singles Olympic gold medal in figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Lipinski remains the youngest individual gold medalist in the history of the Olympic Winter Games. She is also the 1997 World...
and Rudy Galindo
Rudy Galindo
Val Joe "Rudy" Galindo is an American figure skater who competed in both single skating and pair skating. As a single skater, he is the 1996 U.S. national champion and 1987 World Junior Champion. As a pairs skater, he competed with Kristi Yamaguchi and was the 1988 World Junior Champion and the...
. In November and December of each year he presents his annual Andy Williams Christmas Show at the theater.
When it first opened, Williams' act was unique because it was the first non-country act to open in the then-mostly-country music town. It was said he was discouraged by many back home in California from making such a bold move, but that was what he wanted. Other non-country entertainers like Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton
Bobby Vinton is an American pop music singer of Polish origin. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince".-Early life:...
, Tony Orlando
Tony Orlando
Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis , better known as Tony Orlando, is an American show business professional, best known as the lead singer of the group Tony Orlando and Dawn in the early 1970s. Discovered by producer Don Kirshner, Orlando had songs on the charts in 1961 when he was 16, "Halfway to...
, Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
and the Osmond Brothers soon followed.
Williams and his theater were featured on three episodes of the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
As the World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
in July 2007. Several of the cast (Gwen, Will, Cleo, Jade, Luke, Maddie and Noah) went to Branson for a concert of Gwen Munson held in the Moon River Theatre. The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
featured Williams at his Moon River Theatre in an episode titled "Bart on the Road
Bart on the Road
"Bart on the Road" is the twentieth episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 31, 1996. In the episode, Bart makes his own fake driver's license. He rents a car with it and takes Milhouse, Martin, and Nelson on a road trip to...
". Nelson Muntz
Nelson Muntz
Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and bully from the animated TV series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was introduced in Season 1's "Bart the General" as a bully but later turned into a friend of Bart Simpson, who is best identified by his signature laugh .-Role...
is an Andy Williams fan, and in the episode he forces the gang to make a detour to Branson so he could see his idol. The bully is reduced to tears as Williams performs "Moon River" during the second encore.
In the spring of 2007 Williams opened the Moon River Grill adjacent to his theater in Branson. The restaurant is decorated in photos from the Andy Williams Television Show with stars including Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
and Sammy Davis Jr. Art is center stage in the restaurant, with works by several artists including Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
and Robert Indiana
Robert Indiana
Robert Indiana is an American artist associated with the Pop Art movement.-Life and work:Robert Indiana was born Robert Clark in New Castle, Indiana. His family relocated to Indianapolis, where he graduated from Arsenal Technical High School...
.
Personal life
Williams met French-born Claudine LongetClaudine Longet
Claudine Georgette Longet is a French singer and recording artist who was popular during the 1960s and 1970s. She is also an actress and a dancer.Born in Paris, France, Longet was married to pop singer Andy Williams from 1961 until 1975...
when he pulled over to aid her on a Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
road. She was a dancer at the time at the Folies Bergère. They married on December 15, 1961. The union produced three children: Noelle, Christian, and Robert within the next eight years.
After a lengthy separation, Williams and Longet divorced in 1975. In March 1976, however, when Longet was charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend, alpine ski racer
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
Spider Sabich
Spider Sabich
Vladimir Peter Sabich, Jr. was an American alpine ski racer. He was a member of the U.S. Ski Team in the late 1960s and competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics; he was the pro ski racing champion in 1971 & 1972.-Early life:...
in Aspen
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
, Williams played a public role in the subsequent events, escorting her to and from the courtroom, testifying to her character at the trial, and providing legal assistance. Longet claimed the shooting was accidental, and eventually received 30 days in jail, which was served at her convenience. Shortly thereafter, Longet vacationed in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
with her defense attorney Ron Austin, whom she married in June 1985. They continue to reside in the Aspen
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
area.
Andy Williams married a second time (May 3, 1991), to the former Debbie Meyer, whom he met through a mutual friend. They make their homes at Branson, Missouri
Branson, Missouri
Branson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s....
, and La Quinta, California
La Quinta, California
La Quinta is a resort city in Riverside County, California, USA, specifically in the Coachella Valley between Indian Wells and Indio. The population was 37,467 at the 2010 census, up from 23,694 at the 2000 census. The Robb Report credits La Quinta as the nation's leading golf destination...
. Williams' homes have been featured in Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest is an American monthly magazine. Its principal subject is interior design, not — as the name of the magazine might suggest — architecture more generally. The magazine is published by Condé Nast Publications and was founded in 1920, by the Knapp family, who sold it in 1993...
, and he is a noted collector of modern art.
Williams is an avid golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er, and hosted the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
golf tournament in San Diego from 1968-88 at Torrey Pines
Torrey Pines Golf Course
Torrey Pines Golf Course is a municipal public golf course owned by the city of San Diego, California. It sits on the coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the community of La Jolla south of Torrey Pines State Reserve. It has two famous golf courses, the North Course and the South Course....
. Then known as the "Andy Williams San Diego Open", the tournament continues as the Farmers Insurance Open, usually played in February.
Williams' birthplace in Iowa is a tourist attraction, and is open most of the year.
On Friday, November 4, 2011, it was reported in the press that Williams has been diagnosed with bladder cancer
Bladder cancer
Bladder cancer is any of several types of malignant growths of the urinary bladder. It is a disease in which abnormal cells multiply without control in the bladder. The bladder is a hollow, muscular organ that stores urine; it is located in the pelvis...
. He is undergoing chemotherapy treatments in Houston and will then move with his wife to a rented home in Malibu, California to be closer to cancer specialists in the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area.
Politics
Williams was close friends with Robert F. KennedyRobert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
and Ethel Kennedy, campaigning for Kennedy '68 for President. Williams was present at the Ambassador Hotel when RFK was assassinated in June 1968. Williams solemnly sang "Battle Hymn of the Republic" at RFK's funeral, by request of widow Ethel. By August 1969, over a year after Bobby Kennedy's death, Andy and Claudine named their newborn son 'Bobby' Williams. The Williams' friendship with Ethel Kennedy has endured, with Williams even serving as escort to Ethel, during events in the 1970s. He also raised funds for George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
's 1972 presidential campaign
George McGovern presidential campaign, 1972
George McGovern, a United States Senator from South Dakota, launched his second candidacy for the presidency of the United States in an ultimately unsuccessful bid for the 1972 presidential election.-Leading up to the announcement:...
, performing at benefit concerts.
While close friends with the Democratic Kennedys, Williams is a lifelong Republican. On September 29, 2009, Williams was quoted by the Daily Telegraph as accusing President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
of "following Marxist theory" and "wanting the country to fail". He gave Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
permission to use his recording of the song "Born Free
Born Free (song)
"Born Free" is a popular song with music by John Barry, and lyrics by Don Black. It was written for the 1966 film of the same name and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song....
" for the theme to the "Animal Rights Update" on his Limbaugh's radio show
The Rush Limbaugh Show
The Rush Limbaugh Show is an American talk radio show hosted by Rush Limbaugh on Premiere Radio Networks...
– in which a portion of the song is then followed by gunfire – saying "Hey, it's fine with me. I love what you're doing with it." The record company later blocked Limbaugh's use of the recording.
Hit singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US AC Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||
| 1956 | "Walk Hand in Hand" | 54 | - | - | - |
| "Canadian Sunset Canadian Sunset "Canadian Sunset" is a popular song with music by jazz pianist Eddie Heywood and lyrics by Norman Gimbel. An instrumental version by Heywood and Hugo Winterhalter reached #2 on the Billboard chart in 1956. A version sung by Andy Williams was also popular that year, reaching #7 on the Billboard chart... " |
7 | - | - | - | |
| "Baby Doll" | 33 | - | - | - | |
| 1957 | "Butterfly Butterfly (1957 song) "Butterfly" is a popular song written by Bernie Lowe and Kal Mann and published in 1957. The song is credited to Anthony September as songwriter in some sources... " |
1 | - | 14 | 1 |
| "I Like Your Kind of Love" | 8 | - | - | 16 | |
| "Lips of Wine" | 17 | - | - | - | |
| 1958 | "Are You Sincere?" | 3 | - | - | - |
| "Promise Me, Love" | 17 | - | - | - | |
| "The Hawaiian Wedding Song Hawaiian Wedding Song "Hawaiian Wedding Song" is a 1926 love song written by Charles King for his operetta, Prince of Hawaii. It was originally entitled "Ke Kali Nei Au" - Hawaiian for "Waiting Here for You"... " |
11 | - | 27 | - | |
| 1959 | "Lonely Street" | 5 | - | 20 | - |
| "The Village of St. Bernadette" | 7 | - | - | - | |
| 1960 | "Wake Me When It's Over" | 50 | - | - | - |
| "Do You Mind?" | 70 | - | - | - | |
| "You Don't Want My Love" | 64 | - | - | - | |
| 1961 | "The Bilbao Song" | 37 | - | - | - |
| "Danny Boy" | 64 | 15 | - | - | |
| "Fly by Night" | 82 | 20 | - | - | |
| 1962 | "Twilight Time" | 86 | - | - | - |
| "The Wonderful World of the Young" | 99 | - | - | - | |
| "Stranger on the Shore Stranger on the Shore "Stranger on the Shore" is a piece for clarinet written by Acker Bilk for his young daughter and originally named Jenny after her. It was subsequently used as the theme tune of a BBC TV drama serial for young people that was also called Stranger on the Shore.The track, performed by Bilk "Stranger... " |
38 | 9 | - | 30 | |
| "Don't You Believe It" | 39 | 15 | - | - | |
| 1963 | "Can't Get Used to Losing You Can't Get Used to Losing You "Can't Get Used to Losing You" is a song written by Jerome "Doc" Pomus and Mort Shuman, first made popular by Andy Williams in a 1963 record release.-Andy Williams Recording:... " |
2 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| "Theme from The Days of Wine and Roses Days of Wine and Roses (song) "Days of Wine and Roses" is a popular song, from the 1962 movie of the same name.The music was written by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. They received the Academy Award for Best Original Song for their work... " |
26 | 9 | - | - | |
| "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is a popular Christmas song written in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle. It was recorded and released that year by pop singer Andy Williams for his first Christmas album, The Andy Williams Christmas Album... " |
85 | - | - | - | |
| "Hopeless" | 13 | 3 | - | - | |
| "The Peking Theme" | 115 | - | - | - | |
| 1964 | "Under Paris Skies" | 121 | - | - | - |
| "A Fool Never Learns" | 13 | 4 | - | 40 | |
| "Charade" | 100 | - | - | - | |
| "Wrong for Each Other" | 34 | 11 | - | - | |
| "On the Street Where You Live" | 28 | 3 | - | - | |
| "Almost There" | 67 | 12 | - | 2 | |
| "Dear Heart" | 24 | 2 | - | - | |
| 1965 | "...and Roses and Roses" | 36 | 4 | - | - |
| "Ain't It True" | 40 | - | - | - | |
| "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars" | 92 | 18 | - | - | |
| 1966 | "May Each Day" | - | - | - | 19 |
| "You're Gonna Hear from Me" | - | 13 | - | - | |
| "Bye Bye Blues" | 127 | 18 | - | - | |
| "How Can I Tell Her It's Over?" | 109 | 17 | - | - | |
| "In the Arms of Love In the Arms of Love "In the Arms of Love" is a song featured in the 1966 film, What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? The song's music was composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans and was performed by Andy Williams... " |
49 | 1 | - | 33 | |
| 1967 | "Music to Watch Girls By Music to Watch Girls By "Music to Watch Girls By" was the first Top 40 hit by Bob Crewe using his own name, recorded by his group The Bob Crewe Generation. Crewe first heard the song performed in a "jingle demo" for a Diet Pepsi commercial. The "big-band, horn driven" recording went to #15 on the pop chart and #2 on the... " |
34 | 2 | - | 33 |
| "More and More" | 88 | 2 | - | 45 | |
| "Holly" | 113 | 4 | - | - | |
| 1968 | "Can't Take My Eyes Off You Can't Take My Eyes off You "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 single by Frankie Valli. The song was among Valli's biggest hits, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning a gold record. It was Valli's biggest "solo" hit until he hit #1 in 1975 with "My Eyes Adored You"... " |
- | - | - | 5 |
| "Sweet Memories" | 75 | 4 | - | - | |
| "Battle Hymn of the Republic" | 33 | 11 | - | - | |
| 1969 | "Happy Heart Happy Heart "Happy Heart" is a song written by Hans Last and Jackie Rae. The song was recorded by both Petula Clark and Andy Williams and released as a single for each at the same time. "Happy Heart" was a top 20 Easy Listening hit for Clark as well as minor pop hit, while Williams went to number twenty-two on... " |
22 | 1 | - | 19 |
| "Live and Learn" | 119 | 12 | - | - | |
| "A Woman's Way" | 109 | 4 | - | - | |
| 1970 | "Can't Help Falling in Love" | 88 | 28 | - | 3 |
| "It's So Easy" | - | - | - | 13 | |
| "One Day of Your Life" | 77 | 2 | - | - | |
| "Home Lovin' Man" | - | 10 | - | 7 | |
| 1971 | "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story" | 9 | 1 | - | 4 |
| "A Song for You" | 82 | 29 | - | - | |
| "Love Is All" | - | 29 | - | - | |
| 1972 | "Music from Across the Way" | - | 30 | - | - |
| "Speak Softly Love (Love Theme from The Godfather) Speak Softly Love (Love Theme From The Godfather) "Speak Softly Love " is a song written for The Godfather , the first film in the Godfather trilogy. While its instrumental version is simply known as "The Godfather Love Theme", "Speak Softly Love" is the vocal version. The words are by Larry Kusik but the music itself is by Nino Rota... " |
34 | 7 | - | 42 | |
| "MacArthur Park MacArthur Park (song) "MacArthur Park" is a song by Jimmy Webb, originally composed as part of an intended cantata. The song was initially rejected by The Association. Richard Harris was the first to record it, in 1968; the song was subsequently covered by numerous artists. Among the best-known covers are Donna Summer's... " |
102 | 26 | - | - | |
| "Home Lovin' Man"(reissue) | - | 27 | - | - | |
| 1973 | "Solitaire Solitaire Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself or with other people. The solitaire card game Klondike is often known as simply Solitaire.... " |
- | 23 | - | 4 |
| 1974 | "Getting Over You" | - | - | - | 35 |
| "Remember"(with Noelle) | - | 30 | - | - | |
| "Love's Theme" | - | 16 | - | - | |
| "Another Lonely Song" | - | 29 | - | - | |
| 1975 | "You Lay So Easy on My Mind" | - | - | - | 32 |
| "Love Said Goodbye" | - | 24 | - | - | |
| "Cry Softly" | - | 20 | - | - | |
| "Sad Eyes" | - | 11 | - | - | |
| 1976 | "The Other Side of Me" | - | - | - | 42 |
| "Tell It Like It Is" | 72 | 17 | - | - | |
| 1999 | "Music to Watch Girls By Music to Watch Girls By "Music to Watch Girls By" was the first Top 40 hit by Bob Crewe using his own name, recorded by his group The Bob Crewe Generation. Crewe first heard the song performed in a "jingle demo" for a Diet Pepsi commercial. The "big-band, horn driven" recording went to #15 on the pop chart and #2 on the... "(reissue) |
- | - | - | 9 |
| 2002 | "Can't Take My Eyes Off You Can't Take My Eyes off You "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 single by Frankie Valli. The song was among Valli's biggest hits, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning a gold record. It was Valli's biggest "solo" hit until he hit #1 in 1975 with "My Eyes Adored You"... "(w/Denise Van Outen) |
- | - | - | 23 |
Cadence Records
- Andy Williams Sings Steve AllenAndy Williams Sings Steve AllenAndy Williams Sings Steve Allen is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released late in 1956 by Cadence Records. This was his first LP and features songs written or co-written by then-Tonight Show host Steve Allen...
(released late 1956) - Mono CLP 3027 [this number is not likely the first, but likely a second issue number] - Andy WilliamsAndy Williams (album)Andy Williams is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released early in 1958 by Cadence Records. This first album to compile the singer's material features his first six songs to make the Billboard Hot 100 along with their corresponding B-sides.In "The Music Lover's...
(early 1958, compilation of first six singles plus B-sides, later re-titled [?] Andy Williams Hits) - Mono CLP 3002 - Andy Williams Sings Rodgers and HammersteinAndy Williams Sings Rodgers and HammersteinAndy Williams Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was orchestrated and conducted by Alvy West...
(February, 1958) - Mono CLP 3005 - Two Time WinnersTwo Time WinnersTwo Time Winners is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the spring of 1959 by Cadence Records. This, his third LP for the label, is composed of songs that had been successful on two previous occasions or in two different ways....
(Spring 1959) Mono CLP 3026, Stereo CLP 25026 - To You Sweetheart, AlohaTo You Sweetheart, AlohaTo You Sweetheart, Aloha is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released late in the summer of 1959 by Cadence Records. This, his fourth LP for the label, has a Hawaiian theme that coincides with the admission of the 50th of the United States...
(late Summer 1959) - Mono CLP 3029, Stereo CLP 25029 - Lonely StreetLonely Street (album)Lonely Street is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in late 1959 by Cadence Records. This, his fifth LP of new material for the label, is described by William Ruhlmann on AllMusic.com as "an album full of songs of lost love and loneliness that found Williams using more...
(December, 1959) - Mono CLP 3030, Stereo CLP 25030 - The Village of St. BernadetteThe Village of St. BernadetteThe Village of St. Bernadette is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in early 1960 by Cadence Records. This, his sixth LP for the label, was described by Billboard magazine as "a lovely set of pop inspirational, hymns and religious themes."The title song from the album...
(early 1960) - Mono CLP 3038, Stereo CLP 25038 - Under Paris SkiesUnder Paris SkiesUnder Paris Skies is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the fall of 1960 by Cadence Records. This, his seventh and final LP for the label, is a collection of songs that Joseph Laredo describes in the liner notes of the CD release by Varèse Sarabande as "a delightful...
(Fall 1960) - Mono CLP 3047, Stereo CLP 25047 - Andy Williams' Best (late 1961, compilation) - Mono CLP 3054, Stereo CLP 25054
- Million Seller Songs (1962, compilation) - Mono CLP 3061, Stereo CLP 25061
Columbia Records
- Danny Boy and Other Songs I Love to SingDanny Boy and Other Songs I Love to SingDanny Boy and Other Songs I Love to Sing is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released early in 1962 by Columbia Records...
(1962) - Moon River and Other Great Movie ThemesMoon River and Other Great Movie ThemesMoon River and Other Great Movie Themes is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in 1962 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated May 12 of that year and remained on the album chart for 176 weeks , peaking...
(1962) - Warm and WillingWarm and WillingWarm and Willing is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in 1962 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated October 20 of that year and remained on the album chart for 44 weeks, peaking at number 16.The...
(1962) - Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV RequestsDays of Wine and Roses and Other TV RequestsDays of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in April 1963 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated April 20 of that year and remained on the album chart for 107...
(1963, aka Can't Get Used To Losing You) - The Andy Williams Christmas AlbumThe Andy Williams Christmas AlbumThe Andy Williams Christmas Album is the first Christmas holiday album released by singer Andy Williams. It was issued by Columbia Records in 1963, and it would prove to be the first of eight Christmas albums released by Williams...
(1963) - The Wonderful World of Andy WilliamsThe Wonderful World of Andy WilliamsThe Wonderful World of Andy Williams is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released by Columbia Records to coincide with the December 31, 1963, broadcast of The Andy Williams Show...
(1964) - Call Me Irresponsible And Other Hit Songs From The MoviesThe Academy Award-Winning "Call Me Irresponsible" and Other Hit Songs from the MoviesThe Academy Award-Winning "Call Me Irresponsible" and Other Hit Songs from the Movies is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the spring of 1964 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated May 9 of that...
(1964) - The Great Songs from "My Fair Lady" and Other Broadway HitsThe Great Songs from "My Fair Lady" and Other Broadway HitsThe Great Songs from "My Fair Lady" and Other Broadway Hits is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in September 1964 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated September 26 of that year and remained on the...
(1964) - Andy Williams' Dear HeartAndy Williams' Dear HeartAndy Williams' Dear Heart is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the spring of 1965 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated April 10 of that year and remained on the album chart for 65 weeks, peaking...
(1965) - HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
an Wedding Song (1965, reissue of the Cadence Records album To You Sweetheart, Aloha) - Canadian Sunset (1965, reissue of the 1962 Cadence Records compilation Andy Williams' Best)
- Merry ChristmasMerry Christmas (Andy Williams album)Merry Christmas is a Christmas album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released by Columbia Records in 1965. This, his second holiday LP, is focused exclusively on 20th century compositions, unlike 1963's The Andy Williams Christmas Album, which, of its 12 tracks, had six with origins...
(1965) - Andy Williams' Newest Hits (1966, compilation of early Columbia singles)
- The Shadow of Your SmileThe Shadow of Your Smile (Andy Williams album)The Shadow of Your Smile is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in April 1966 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated May 14 of that year and remained on the album chart for 54 weeks, peaking at number six...
(1966) - In the Arms of LoveIn the Arms of Love (Andy Williams album)In The Arms of Love is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in December 1966 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated January 21, 1967, and remained on the album chart for 22 weeks, peaking at number...
(1967) - Born FreeBorn Free (Andy Williams album)Born Free is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the spring of 1967 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on Billboards Top LP's chart in the issue dated May 13, 1967, and remained on the album chart for 79 weeks, peaking at number five...
(1967) - Love, AndyLove, AndyLove, Andy is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the fall of 1967 by Columbia Records to coincide with the NBC special of the same name, which aired on November 6. The album made its first appearance on Billboards Top LP's chart that same month in the issue dated...
(1967) - HoneyHoney (Andy Williams album)Honey is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the spring of 1968 by Columbia Records. The album made its first appearance on Billboards Top LP's chart in the issue dated June 8, 1968, and remained on the album chart for 40 weeks, peaking at number nine...
(1968) - Happy HeartHappy Heart (Andy Williams album)Happy Heart is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the spring of 1969 by Columbia Records. The album made its first appearance on Billboards Top LP's chart in the issue dated May 17, 1969, and remained on the album chart for 23 weeks, peaking at number nine...
(1969) - Get Together with Andy WilliamsGet Together with Andy WilliamsGet Together with Andy Williams is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the fall of 1969 by Columbia Records. The album made its first appearance on the Billboard 200 chart in the issue dated November 8, 1969, and remained on the album chart for 21 weeks, peaking at...
(1969) - The Andy Williams' Sound of Music (1969)
- Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My HeadRaindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head (Andy Williams album)Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the spring of 1970 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on the Billboard 200 chart in the issue dated June 13, 1970, and remained on the album chart for 19 weeks, peaking at number 43...
(1970) - Andy Williams' Greatest HitsAndy Williams' Greatest HitsAndy Williams' Greatest Hits is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in early 1970 by Columbia Records...
(1970) - The Andy Williams ShowThe Andy Williams Show (album)The Andy Williams Show is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the fall of 1970 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on the Billboard 200 chart in the issue dated November 14, 1970, and remained on the album chart for 17 weeks, peaking at number 81. It...
(1970) - Love Story (US release)Love Story (Andy Williams album)Love Story is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in February 1971 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on the Billboard 200 chart in the issue dated February 20, 1971, and remained on the album chart for 33 weeks, peaking at number three...
(1971) - Love Story (UK release)Love Story (Andy Williams album, U.K. version)Love Story is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the UK in July 1971 by the CBS Records division of Columbia. It entered the UK album chart on July 31 of that year and reached number 11 over the course of 11 weeks....
(July, 1971) - Home Lovin' ManLove Story (Andy Williams album)Love Story is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in February 1971 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on the Billboard 200 chart in the issue dated February 20, 1971, and remained on the album chart for 33 weeks, peaking at number three...
(1971) - You've Got a FriendYou've Got a Friend (Andy Williams album)You've Got a Friend is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in August 1971 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on the Billboard 200 chart in the issue dated August 28, 1971, and remained on the album chart for 12 weeks, peaking at number 54...
(1971) - Love Theme from "The Godfather" (Speak Softly Love)Love Theme from "The Godfather" (Andy Williams album)Love Theme from "The Godfather" is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the spring of 1972 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on the Billboard 200 chart in the issue dated April 8, 1972, and remained on the album chart for 26 weeks, peaking at number 29....
(1972) - Alone Again (Naturally)Alone Again (Naturally) (album)Alone Again is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in September 1972 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on the Billboard 200 chart in the issue dated September 30, 1972, and remained on the album chart for 18 weeks, peaking at number 86...
(1972) - SolitaireSolitaire (Andy Williams album)Solitaire is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the fall of 1973 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on the Billboard 200 chart in the issue dated November 17, 1973, and remained on the album chart for 6 weeks, peaking at number 185...
(1973) - Andy Williams' Greatest Hits Vol. II (1973)
- The Way We WereThe Way We Were (Andy Williams album)The Way We Were is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the spring of 1974 by Columbia Records. This was his first studio album out of 25 released by Columbia that didn't make either the Billboard 200 or Christmas Albums charts, but it did reach number seven in the UK...
(1974) - You Lay So Easy on My MindYou Lay So Easy on My MindYou Lay So Easy on My Mind is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the fall of 1974 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on the Billboard Top LP's & Tapes chart in the issue dated December 28, 1974, and remained there for four weeks, peaking at number 150...
(1974) - Christmas PresentChristmas Present (album)Christmas Present is a Christmas album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in late 1974 by Columbia Records. A brief blurb in Billboard magazine's Inside Track column in that year's November 23 issue revealed the album's television tie-in: "'Christmas Present' is title [sic] of...
(1974) - The Other Side of MeThe Other Side of Me (album)The Other Side of Me is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the summer of 1975 by Columbia Records. Although it did not make it onto Billboard magazine's Top LP's & Tapes chart in the US, it did spend one week on the UK album chart in October 1975 at number 60.The UK...
(1975) - AndyAndy (album)Andy is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the fall of 1976 by Columbia Records. In the liner notes for the album's 2002 CD release, writer Richard M. Erickson explains that the album "was recorded at six different studios to accommodate Andy's touring schedule...
(1976) - Let's Love While We CanLet's Love While We CanLet's Love While We Can is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the U.K. in 1980 by CBS Records. It was made available on June 21, 2004, as one of two albums on one CD by Sony Music Distribution, the other album being Williams's Columbia release from the fall of 1974,...
(1980, UK release, not released in U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
until 2004)
Other labels
- Christmas with Andy Williams and The Williams Brothers (1971), Barnaby
- Greatest Love Classics with the Royal Philharmonic OrchestraRoyal Philharmonic OrchestraThe Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
(1984), EMI - Close Enough for Love (1986), Atco
- I Still Believe in Santa ClausSanta ClausSanta Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
(1990), Curb - Nashville (1991), Curb – re-released in 1998 as Best Of Country
- The New Andy Williams Christmas Album (1994), Laserlight
- We Need A Little Christmas (1997), Unison
- It's a Wonderful Christmas (1997), Publishing Mills
- Lonely Street (2000), Varese Sarabande
- To You Sweetheart, Aloha (2001), Varese Sarabande
- Andy (2002), Collectables
- Easy Does It (2002) Metro
- Together (2006) – duet with Petula ClarkPetula ClarkPetula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
- I Don't Remember Ever Growing Up (2006), Demon
Compilations
- (see Cadence Records list above for 3 previous compilations)
- 16 Most Requested Songs (1990), Columbia/Legacy
- 16 Most Requested Songs: Encore! (1995), Columbia/Legacy
- I Like Your Kind Of Love, The Best of the Cadence Years (1997), Varese Sarabande
- Hits From Cadence (1999), Victor – (Japan only)
- In The Lounge With... Andy Williams (1999), Columbia Records/Sony Music UK
- Christmas Album (1999), Columbia Records/Sony Music UK
- The Very Best Of Andy Williams (2000), Columbia Records/Sony Music UK
- Complete Columbia Chart Singles Collection (2002), Taragon
- 25 All-Time Greatest Hits 1956–1961: The Cadence Years (2002), Varese Sarabande
- Best Of The 70s (2003), Columbia
- B Sides and Rarities (2003), Collectables
- The Essential Andy Williams (June, 2002), Columbia Records/Sony Music UK
- Moon River: The Very Best Of Andy WilliamsMoon River: The Very Best of Andy WilliamsMoon River: The Very Best of Andy Williams is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released on October 13, 2009. A note from Williams inside the CD booklet explains that the album "was put together to coincide with my memoir Moon River and Me, published by...
(2009), Columbia Records
Filmography
- Janie (1944)
- Kansas City KittyKansas City KittyKansas City Kitty is a 1944 American romantic musical film directed by Del Lord and starring Jane Frazee.- Cast :* Joan Davis - Polly Jasper* Bob Crosby - Jimmy* Jane Frazee - Eileen Hasbrook* Erik Rolf - Dr. Henry Talbot* Tim Ryan - Dave Clark...
(1944) - Ladies' Man (1947)
- Something in the Wind (1947)
- The Man in the Moon (1960)
- I'd Rather Be RichI'd Rather Be RichI'd Rather Be Rich is a 1964 romantic comedy film with musical aspects directed by Jack Smight, produced by Ross Hunter and starring Sandra Dee. The film focuses on dying man who wishes to meet his granddaughter's fiancé, but he is unavailable, so the woman persuades another man to substitute for...
(1964) - Dorival CaymmiDorival CaymmiDorival Caymmi was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, actor, and painter active for more than 70 years beginning in 1933...
(1999) – documentary - SebringJay SebringJay Sebring was an American hair stylist for celebrities, and the founder of the hairstyling corporation Sebring International. He is also known as one of the murder victims of the Manson Family.-Early life:...
(2009) – documentary