The Wonderful World of Andy Williams

The Wonderful World of Andy Williams
Studio album by Andy Williams
Released	1964
Recorded	1963
Genre	Traditional pop music, Vocal pop, Early pop/rock[1]
Length	33:31
Label	Columbia
Producer	Robert Mersey
Andy Williams chronology
Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests (1963) The Wonderful World of Andy Williams (1964) The Academy Award-Winning "Call Me Irresponsible" and Other Hit Songs from the Movies (1964)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

The 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.^[3] It made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated January 25 of that year and remained on the album chart for 24 weeks, peaking at number nine.^[4] The album received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on August 17, 1964.^[5]

The single from the album, "A Fool Never Learns," made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 11, 1964, eventually reaching number 13 during its 10-week stay.^[6] The single performed even better on the Easy Listening (or Adult Contemporary) chart, peaking at number four.^[7]

The album was released on compact disc for the first time as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records on January 22, 2002, the other album being Williams's Columbia album from February 1962, Danny Boy and Other Songs I Love to Sing.^[8]

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Recording dates 3 Song information 4 Personnel 5 Notes 6 References

Track listing

1. "Canadian Sunset" _{performed with The Williams Brothers} (Norman Gimbel, Eddie Heywood) – 2:32
2. "Sing a Rainbow" _{performed with The Williams Family Children} (Arthur Hamilton) – 2:40
3. "Dream" _{performed with The Williams Brothers} (Johnny Mercer) – 2:40
4. "This Is All I Ask" (Gordon Jenkins) – 3:19
5. "Wives and Lovers" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 2:20
6. "First Born" _{performed with The Entire Williams Family} (John Lehman, Jerry Reed) – 2:41
7. "A Fool Never Learns" (Sonny Curtis) – 2:01
8. "Noelle" (Paul Kenny, Edward Pola, George Wyle) – 2:48
9. "Pennies from Heaven" _{performed with The Williams Brothers} (Johnny Burke, Arthur Johnston) – 3:32
10. "September Song" (Maxwell Anderson, Kurt Weill) – 3:00
11. "Let It Be Me" _{performed with Claudine Longet} (Gilbert Bécaud, Mann Curtis, Pierre Delanoë) – 2:51
12. "Softly, As I Leave You" (Giorgio Calabrese, Antonio De Vita, Hal Shaper) – 3:13

Recording dates

• 1/13/1963 - "Softly, As I Leave You"
• 11/1/1963 - "A Fool Never Learns"
• 11/7/1963 - "This Is All I Ask", "First Born", "Noelle", "September Song"
• 11/27/1963 - "Canadian Sunset"
• 12/3/1963 - "Sing a Rainbow", "Dream", "Wives and Lovers", "Pennies from Heaven", "Let It Be Me"^[9]

Song information

• Williams's original solo version of "Canadian Sunset" was his first top 10 hit, reaching number seven in 1956.^[10]

• "Sing a Rainbow" was performed in the 1955 film Pete Kelly's Blues by Peggy Lee, whose portrayal of a jazz singer earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role.^[11][12]

• The Pied Pipers spent a week at number one in 1945 with "Dream", but there were three other acts that charted with the song in that same year.^[13] Frank Sinatra reached number five, Freddy Martin & His Orchestra took the song to number nine with Artie Wayne on vocal, and Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra made it to number 15 with Teddy Walters on vocal.^[14][15][16]

• "This Is All I Ask" appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 twice in 1963: Burl Ives reached number 67, and Tony Bennett went to number 70.^[17][18]

• Jack Jones's 1963 recording of "Wives and Lovers" won him a Grammy Award for Best Solo Vocal Performance, Male, beating out Williams and his recording of "Days of Wine and Roses". Jones also made it to number 14 on the pop chart and number nine Easy Listening.^[19][20][21]

• "First Born" went to number 46 for Tennessee Ernie Ford in 1956.^[22]

• "A Fool Never Learns" was written by Sonny Curtis, who also wrote "Love is All Around", the theme from The Mary Tyler Moore Show.^[23]

• Two of the songwriters of "Noelle", Edward Pola and George Wyle, also wrote "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", which Williams was the first to record.^[24]

• There were six different recordings of "Pennies from Heaven" that charted over the course of 1936 and 1937, the most popular belonging to Bing Crosby, who spent 10 weeks at number one after first charting in the issue of Billboard Hot 100 dated November 28, 1936.^[25][26] Because of its inclusion in the Crosby film of the same name, it was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song but lost to "The Way You Look Tonight", which Williams recorded for his 1962 album Warm and Willing.^[27] According to Joel Whitburn, "Pennies from Heaven" ranks at number 89 out of the 100 songs most recorded between 1890 and 1954.^[28]

• "September Song" was introduced in the 1938 Broadway musical Knickerbocker Holiday by Walter Huston, whose recording went to number 12 the following year and received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1984.^[29][30][31] On Whitburn's list of the 100 songs that were recorded the most between 1890 and 1954, it comes in at number 29.^[32]

• "Let It Be Me" was first recorded by Jill Corey, who reached number 57 in 1957, but the song reached even greater success when it was recorded by The Everly Brothers, who took it to number seven in 1960.^[33]

• "Softly, As I Leave You" was a number 10 hit in the UK for Matt Monro in 1962.^[34]

Personnel

• Andy Williams – vocals
• The Williams Brothers - vocals
• Claudine Longet - vocals
• Robert Mersey - arranger, conductor, producer
• Frank Bez - photography
• Parker of Vienna, Inc. - sweaters

Notes

References