Andy Williams

Andy Williams

For other people named Andrew Williams, see Andrew Williams (disambiguation).

Howard Andrew Williams (born December 3, 1927 in Wall Lake, Iowa), known as Andy Williams, is an American pop singer. Andy Williams has recorded 18 Gold albums and performed with Ray Charles, Elton John, Ella Fitzgerald, Simon and Garfunkel, Mama Cass and Michael Jackson. He has had his own TV show as well as starring in a number of films. He also owns his own theatre, the Moon River in Branson, Missouri.

Early life

Williams first performed in a children's choir at the local Presbyterian church. Williams and his three older brothers Bob, Dick, and Don, formed a quartet, the Williams Brothers, in the late 1930s, 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. 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.

Solo career

Williams's solo career began in 1952 after his brothers left the act. He recorded six sides for RCA Victor's label "X," but none of them were popular hits. After landing a spot as a regular on Steve Allen's Tonight Show in 1955, 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" (1956) hit the Top Ten, and was soon followed his only Billboard #1 hit, "Butterfly" (a cover of a Charlie Gracie record on which Williams imitated Elvis Presley). More hits followed, including "The Hawaiian Wedding Song," "Are You Sincere," "The Village of St. Bernadette," and "Lonely Street," before Williams moved to Columbia Records in 1961, having moved from New York to Los Angeles. In terms of chart popularity, the Cadence era was Williams's 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's later style; they were not included on a Columbia reissue of his Cadence greatest hits in the 1960s.In 1964, Williams ultimately became the owner of the Cadence master tapes, which he did occasionally license 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 1970, 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 ("Down To Earth") Columbia initially was the distributor for Barnaby, but later distribution was handled by GRT. Once Barnaby ceased operating as a working record company at the end of the 70s, 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. In these recordings Williams displays an incredible vocal technique along with an uncanny ability to make each song his very own, often rivaling or surpassing the version by the original artist. These attributes, 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.

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Williams in the 1950s

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's theme song. (Interestingly, "Moon River" was never a chart hit by Andy). 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.

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 singles 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 UK Top 10 singles chart with, "Almost There" (1965),"Can't Help Falling In Love" (1970), "Home Lovin' Man"(1970) and "Solitaire"(1973). 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 specials 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. He hosted the Grammy Awards for three consecutive years in the 1970s. He returned to television to do a syndicated half-hour series in 1976–77.

In the early 1990s, Williams gave up most of his touring schedule in order to open his own theatre in Branson, Missouri, the Andy Williams Moon River Theater. He continues to do 8 to 12 shows a week from September to December and occasionally makes tours of Europe earlier in the year. Andy Williams also invites Star Guests to appear with him in the Spring time yearly. In 2006, Petula Clarke appeared with him, and in 2007, he had Charo and Glen Campbell.

His 1967 recording of "Music to Watch Girls By" was a surprise UK hit in 1999, when it reached number 9 after featuring in an advert (beating the original peak of number 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 took part in a new duet of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" with British actress and singer Denise van Outen. Nearly everything Williams ever recorded has now been made available on CD through a series of compilations from 1997 to 2006.

Williams also sang the national anthem at Super Bowl VII with Little Angels of Holy Angels Church in Chicago, Illinois

Marriages

Williams met Claudine Longet 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 Christmas Day, 1961, and had three children, Noelle, Christian, and Robert. They separated in 1969 and finally divorced six years later. In 1976 Longet was charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend, skier Vladimir "Spider" Sabich and Williams supported her. Williams was close friends with Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy. The friendship with Ethel has endured, with him serving as her escort during the 1970s. He married a second time in May 1991 to the former Debbie Haas. 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 golfer. He hosted a major golf tournament in San Diego for many years, which was known as the Andy Williams San Diego Open during that time.

Williams' birthplace is a tourist attraction open most of the year.

Trivia

• A persistent rumor states that Andy Williams, while a teenager, provided the dubbed singing voice of Lauren Bacall for her song "How Little We Know" in the movie To Have and Have Not. Bacall herself addressed it in her autobiography, stating that Williams did dub a couple of high notes for her, not the whole song.
• Williams hosted Happy New Year America on CBS for a number of years. Between the start of the show and the countdown, he would try to reach a particular destination.
• The Simpsons' Nelson Muntz is an Andy Williams fan. In the episode "Bart on the Road", he forces the gang to make a detour to Branson so he can see his idol. The bully is reduced to tears as Williams performs an encore of "Moon River".
• His nephews, Andy and David Williams, were minor teen idols in the 1970s.
• Williams appeared on an episode of 1950s panel game show What's My Line as a mystery guest. He stumped the panel of his identity by concealing his voice. The panel thought he was a female.
• 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.
• The greatest love song, according to Andy, is "Moon River", which was a hit for him in 1962.

Discography

Cadence Records

• Andy Williams, 1957 (compilation of A and B sides of second through seventh Cadence singles)
• Andy Williams Sings Steve Allen, 1959
• Andy Williams Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein, 1959
• Two Time Winners, 1959
• To You, Sweetheart, Aloha, 1959
• Lonely Street, 1959
• The Village of St. Bernadette, 1960
• Under Paris Skies, with Quincy Jones, 1961 (William's last album of new material for Cadence)
• Andy Williams' Best, 1961 (compilation including Cadence singles which had never appeared on an album)
• Million Seller Songs, 1962

Columbia Records

• Danny Boy and Other Songs I Love to Sing, 1962
• Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes, 1962
• Warm and Willing, 1962
• Can't Get Used To Losing You, 1963
• Days of Wine and Roses, 1963
• The Andy Williams Christmas Album, 1963
• The Wonderful World of Andy Williams, 1964
• Call Me Irresponsible, 1964
• The Great Songs from My Fair Lady and Other Shows, 1964
• Dear Heart, 1965
• Canadian Sunset, 1965 (reissue of the 1962 Cadence Records compilation Andy Williams' Best)
• Hawaiian Wedding Song, 1965 (reissue of the Cadence Records album To You Sweetheart, Aloha)
• Merry Christmas, 1965
• Andy Williams' Newest Hits, 1966 (compilation of early Columbia singles)
• The Shadow of Your Smile, 1966
• In the Arms of Love, 1967
• Born Free, 1967
• Love, Andy, 1967
• Honey, 1968
• Happy Heart, 1969
• Get Together with Andy Williams, 1969
• The Andy Williams' Sound of Music, 1969
• The Andy Williams Show, 1970
• Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head, 1970
• Andy Williams' Greatest Hits, 1970
• Love Story, 1971
• You've Got a Friend, 1971
• Love Theme from The Godfather (Speak Softly Love), 1972
• Alone Again (Naturally), 1972
• Solitaire, 1973
• Andy Williams' Greatest Hits Vol. II, 1973
• The Way We Were, 1974
• You Lay So Easy on My Mind, 1974
• Christmas Present, 1974
• The Other Side of Me, 1975
• Andy, 1976
• Spanish Eyes, 1976
• Let's Love While We Can, 1980 (not released in U.S. until 2004)

Other labels

• Greatest Love Classics, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, EMI, 1984
• Close Enough for Love, Atco, 1986
• I Still Believe in Santa Claus, Curb, 1990
• Nashville, Curb, 1991
• The New Andy Williams Christmas Album, Laserlight, 1994
• We Need A Little Christmas, Unison, 1997
• It's a Wonderful Christmas, Publishing Mills, 1997
• Andy Williams Live: Christmas Treasures, 2001
• Easy Does It, Metro, 2002
• Together, 2006, a duet with Petula Clark, who also wrote the lyrics and music
• I Don't Remember Ever Growing Up, Demon, 2006

Compilations of interest to collectors

• 16 Most Requested Songs, Columbia/Legacy, 1986
• 16 Most Requested Songs Encore, Columbia/Legacy, 1995
• The Best of the Cadence Years, Varese Sarabande, 1997
• Complete Columbia Chart Singles Collection, Taragon, 2002
• B Sides and Rarities, Collectables, 2003, (contains recordings as early as 1948, many of which had never appeared on any album before)

Filmography

• Janie (1944)
• Kansas City Kitty (1944)
• Ladies' Man (1947)
• Something in the Wind (1947)
• The Man in the Moon (Film) (1960)
• I'd Rather Be Rich (1964)
• Dorival Caymmi (1999) (documentary)

Commercials

• Honda: Impossible Dream (2005)

External links

• Official Site
• Fan Site
• BBC Radio Nottingham Interview

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