Warm and Willing

Warm and Willing
Studio album by Andy Williams
Released	1962
Recorded	1962
Genre	Traditional pop, Standards, Vocal pop, Early pop/rock[1]
Length	40:24
Label	Columbia
Producer	Robert Mersey
Andy Williams chronology
Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes (1962) Warm and Willing (1962) Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests (1963)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

Warm 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.^[3]

The single from the album, "Stranger on the Shore," made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart four months prior, reaching number 38 during its seven-week stay.^[4] It performed even better on the magazine's Easy Listening chart, peaking at number 9.^[5]

The album was released on compact disc for the first time by Sony Music Distribution on December 28, 1999, as tracks 1 through 12 on a pairing of two albums on one CD with tracks 13 through 24 consisting of Williams's Columbia album from May 1966, The Shadow of Your Smile.^[6] It was also released as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records on February 5, 2002, the other album being a 1966 compilation from Columbia entitled Andy Williams' Newest Hits.^[7]

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Song information 3 Notes 4 References

Track listing

1. "Embraceable You" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 3:40
2. "How Long Has This Been Going On?" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 3:34
3. "The Touch of Your Lips" (Ray Noble) – 3:09
4. "I See Your Face Before Me" (Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz) – 3:34
5. "The Way You Look Tonight" (Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern) – 3:36
6. "If Ever I Would Leave You" (Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe) – 3:38
7. "My One and Only Love" (Robert Mellin, Guy Wood) – 3:49
8. "Stranger on the Shore" (Acker Bilk) – 2:50
9. "Warm All Over" (Frank Loesser) – 3:16
10. "More Than You Know" (Edward Eliscu, Billy Rose, Vincent Youmans) – 3:26
11. "Love Is Here to Stay" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 2:43
12. "Warm and Willing" (Ray Evans, Jay Livingston, Jimmy McHugh) – 2:52

Song information

• "Embraceable You" was originally performed in the 1930 Broadway musical Girl Crazy and was first charted by Red Nichols & His Five Pennies, who took the song to number two in 1931.^[8][9]

• Originally written as a male-female duet for what would eventually become the 1927 musical Funny Face but instead used in the 1928 musical Rosalie, "How Long Has This Been Going On?" has been performed in many variations: Sarah Vaughan skips over the female verse on her 1958 album Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin, while Carmen McRae leaves out the male verse on her 1958 album Book of Ballads.^[10][11][12] For his recording, Williams sings just two of the lines from the female verse that are not gender-specific and then moves on to the refrain.

• Three artists debuted the song "The Touch of Your Lips" in April 1936, including the song's composer, Ray Noble. He and his orchestra reached number 12, Bing Crosby went to number four, and Hal Kemp & His Orchestra took the song to number three.^[13][14][15]

• "I See Your Face Before Me" first appeared in the Broadway musical Between the Devil, which opened on December 22, 1937, and the song first charted in the Billboard issue dated December 25, 1937, with a version by Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians that reached number 12. Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra made it to number 13 just three months later.^[16][17][18]

• The 1936 film Swing Time premiered on August 27 and featured a performance of "The Way You Look Tonight" by the film's star, Fred Astaire, whose recording of the song spent six weeks at number one after its chart debut in the Billboard issue dated August 29, 1936.^[19][20] The song went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song, beating out "Pennies from Heaven," which Williams would go on to record in December 1963.^[21][22]

• "If Ever I Would Leave You" is from the 1960 musical Camelot, where it was first performed by Robert Goulet.^[23][24]

• "My One and Only Love" first appeared as a number 28 hit in 1953 for Frank Sinatra.^[25]

• "Stranger on the Shore" first became known in the instrumental version by its composer, clarinetist Acker Bilk, that spent a week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and seven weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart in 1962.^[26][27]

• "Warm All Over" comes from the 1956 musical The Most Happy Fella, where it was performed by one of the musical's Tony-nominated performers, Jo Sullivan.^[28][29]

• "More Than You Know" originated in the 1929 musical Great Day and was first charted by Ruth Etting, who made it to number nine in 1930.^[30] Mildred Bailey took the song to number 15 in 1937, and Perry Como reached number 19 with it in 1946.^[31] On this album, Williams leaves out the first two verses and starts the song with the bridge.

• "Love Is Here to Stay" was written for the 1938 film The Goldwyn Follies and charted twice in February of that year. Larry Clinton & His Orchestra peaked at number 15, and Red Norvo & His Orchestra got to number 16.^[32][33]

• "Warm and Willing" was written for the 1959 film A Private's Affair starring Sal Mineo, who went on to star in the 1960 film Exodus, the score of which resulted in "The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine)," which Williams recorded earlier in 1962 for his album Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes.^[34]

Notes

References