Alone Again (Naturally) (album)

Last updated
Alone Again (Naturally)
Williams-Alone.jpg
Studio album by
Released1972
RecordedAugust 29, 1970 [1]
1972 [2] [3]
Genre
Length37:11
Label Columbia
Producer Dick Glasser [5]
Andy Williams chronology
Love Theme from 'The Godfather'
(1972)
Alone Again (Naturally)
(1972)
Andy Williams' Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (CBS)
(1972)
Alternate cover
Williams-First.jpg
The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face) (UK)

Alone Again (Naturally) is the thirtieth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in September 1972 by Columbia Records [6] and mainly consisting of songs originated by other artists. For its release in the UK, the album was titled The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face), and three of the songs were replaced with the 7-inch single tracks "Who Was It?" and "Marmalade, Molasses & Honey" and a recording that was not released on vinyl in the U.S., "If You're Gonna Break Another Heart".

Contents

The album made its first appearance on the Top LP's & Tapes chart in the issue dated September 30, 1972, and remained there for 18 weeks, peaking at number 86. [7] it also debuted on the Cashbox albums chart in the issue dated October 21, 1972, and remained on the chart for in a total of 11 weeks, peaking at 80 [8]

The only song on the album ever released as a single by Williams was "Home Lovin' Man", which had already had its chart run on Billboard magazine's list of the 40 most popular Easy Listening songs of the week in the U.S. back in 1970, when it reached number 10. [9] The song had also reached number seven on the UK singles chart by the end of that year. [10] Coinciding with its first North American release on a Williams LP, the same recording entered the Easy Listening chart again in the November 4, 1972, issue of Billboard and made it to number 27 during its five weeks there. [11]

Alone Again (Naturally) was released on compact disc as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records on February 19, 2002, along with Williams's 1973 Columbia album, Solitaire . [12] Collectables included the CD in a box set entitled Classic Album Collection, Vol. 2, which contains 15 of his studio albums and two compilations, released on November 29, 2002. [13] It was again paired with Solitaire on a single CD by Sony Music Distribution in 2003. [14]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Billboard Spotlight Pick [6]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [15]

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic says the album proves Williams "surveyed the hit parade and mined it for his own easy listening versions of hits by America, Roberta Flack, Neil Diamond, and the Beatles". [4]

In their capsule review for retailers, Billboard magazine wrote, "Chalk up another important chart item for Williams as he takes on some strong hits of today and adds his own fine touches to them." [6] They singled out a few tracks in particular. “Along with the title tune, Williams delivers exceptional readings of 'Where Is the Love', 'Song Sung Blue', 'Amazing Grace' and 'I Need You'. His treatment of 'The Long and Winding Road' is also a gem." [6]

Cashbox wrote "The combination of the singer and the song has made Andy Williams one of the most successful performers to date". [16]

Track listing

North American release

Side one
  1. "Pieces of April" (Dave Loggins) – 3:36
  2. "Day by Day" from Godspell (Stephen Schwartz) – 3:11
  3. "Where Is the Love" (Ralph MacDonald, William Salter) – 2:34
  4. "If I Could Go Back" from Lost Horizon (1973) (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 4:28
  5. "I Need You" (Gerry Beckley) – 2:58
Side two
  1. "Alone Again (Naturally)" (Gilbert O'Sullivan) – 4:04
  2. "The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face)" (Ewan MacColl) – 3:19
  3. "Song Sung Blue" (Neil Diamond) – 3:05
  4. "Home Lovin' Man" (Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway, Tony Macaulay) – 3:10
  5. "The Long and Winding Road" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 3:18
  6. "Amazing Grace" (John Newton) – 3:27

UK release

Side one
  1. "The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face)" (MacColl) – 3:19
  2. "Pieces of April" (Loggins) – 3:36
  3. "Day by Day" (Schwartz) – 3:11
  4. "Where Is the Love" (MacDonald, Salter) – 2:34
  5. "If I Could Go Back" (Bacharach, David) – 4:28
Side two
  1. "I Need You" (Beckley) – 2:58
  2. "Alone Again (Naturally)" (O'Sullivan) – 4:04
  3. "Song Sung Blue" (Diamond) – 3:05
  4. "Who Was It?" (O'Sullivan) – 2:50
  5. "Marmalade, Molasses & Honey" from The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Maurice Jarre) – 3:40
  6. "If You're Gonna Break Another Heart" (Albert Hammond, Mike Hazlewood) – 2:29

Recording dates

Personnel

From the liner notes for the original album: [5]

Charts

Chart (1972/73)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [17] 68
United States (Billboard 200)86
United States (Cashbox) [8] 80

Related Research Articles

<i>Danny Boy and Other Songs I Love to Sing</i> 1962 studio album by Andy Williams

Danny Boy and Other Songs I Love to Sing is the eighth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams. It was released in early 1962 by Columbia Records. This was his first project after leaving Cadence Records, where his albums each had a specific theme. Additionally, it was his first in a series of LPs that covered songs established on stage, screen, and other hits from the pop chart and the Great American Songbook. This trend would not be interrupted until his 1966 album, The Shadow of Your Smile, hinted at a shift toward contemporary material with its inclusion of songs first recorded by the Beatles.

<i>The Wonderful World of Andy Williams</i> 1964 studio album by Andy Williams

The Wonderful World of Andy Williams is the thirteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released by Columbia Records to coincide with the December 31, 1963, broadcast of The Andy Williams Show. Various tracks were recorded with members of his family, including The Williams Brothers, who joined him for a remake of his first top 10 hit, "Canadian Sunset", from 1956.

<i>The Great Songs from "My Fair Lady" and Other Broadway Hits</i> 1964 studio album by Andy Williams

The Great Songs from "My Fair Lady" and Other Broadway Hits is the fifteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in September 1964 by Columbia Records, one month before the premiere of the film version of My Fair Lady starring Audrey Hepburn.

<i>In the Arms of Love</i> (album) 1966 studio album by Andy Williams

In the Arms of Love is the nineteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released on December 19, 1966, by Columbia Records and was the last of twelve consecutive Williams studio LPs produced by Robert Mersey.

<i>Born Free</i> (Andy Williams album) 1967 studio album by Andy Williams

Born Free is the twentieth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released on April 10, 1967, by Columbia Records and includes half a dozen songs associated with movies or musicals. Two of these tracks, however, originated in the scores of the films indicated on the album jacket but had lyrics added later: the melody for "Strangers in the Night" was written for A Man Could Get Killed, and "Somewhere My Love" began as "Lara's Theme" from Doctor Zhivago.

<i>Love, Andy</i> 1967 studio album by Andy Williams

Love, Andy is the twenty-first studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released on October 16, 1967, by Columbia Records to coincide with the NBC special of the same name, which aired on November 6. The LP had a mix of covers of old and recent hits that included two songs from the 1940s that also had chart success in 1966 via Chris Montez: "The More I See You" and "There Will Never Be Another You".

<i>The Andy Williams Show</i> (album) 1970 studio album by Andy Williams

The Andy Williams Show is the twenty-sixth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the fall of 1970 by Columbia Records. In his review on AllMusic, William Ruhlmann writes that "The Andy Williams Show LP was not a soundtrack recording from the TV series, and it was not really a live album, although it gets categorized as such. What appears to be the case is that Columbia Records took a group of Williams' studio recordings, most of them made during the summer of 1970 and consisting of his versions of recent soft rock hits, and added a lot of canned applause along with some of the kind of musical interludes used to usher numbers on and off on the show, including bits of its "Moon River" theme music at the start and the finish."

<i>Love Story</i> (Andy Williams studio album) 1971 studio album by Andy Williams

Love Story is the twenty-seventh studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released on February 3, 1971, by Columbia Records. This was another in his series of cover albums, but the title track, subtitled "Where Do I Begin", was the one song included that he originated.

<i>Love Story</i> (compilation album) 1971 compilation album by Andy Williams

Love Story is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the UK in July 1971 by the CBS Records division of Columbia and was mainly composed of tracks that had not been included on his studio LPs.

<i>Youve Got a Friend</i> (Andy Williams album) 1971 studio album by Andy Williams

You've Got a Friend is the twenty-eighth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in August 1971 by Columbia Records. The album bears a striking resemblance to the Johnny Mathis album You've Got a Friend released that same month. Besides sharing their name, the two albums are both made up of covers of easy listening hits of the time, with 11 songs each, and the two albums have seven songs in common that are positioned in a similar order.

<i>Love Theme from "The Godfather"</i> (album) 1972 studio album by Andy Williams

Love Theme from "The Godfather" is the twenty-ninth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released on March 21, 1972, by Columbia Records. The two new songs on what was otherwise another LP of covers of hits by other artists were the title track and "Music from Across the Way", which came from the songwriters behind his recent hits "Happy Heart" and "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story".

<i>Solitaire</i> (Andy Williams album) 1973 studio album by Andy Williams

Solitaire is the thirty-first studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the fall of 1973 by Columbia Records and was an attempt to move away from his formulaic series of recent releases that relied heavily on songs that other artists had made popular.

<i>The Way We Were</i> (Andy Williams album) 1974 studio album by Andy Williams

The Way We Were is the thirty-second studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the spring of 1974 by Columbia Records and was a return to singing songs that his audience was already familiar with after Solitaire, his previous LP that was less reliant on covers of recent pop hits, did not perform well.

<i>You Lay So Easy on My Mind</i> 1974 studio album by Andy Williams

You Lay So Easy on My Mind is the thirty-fourth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in November 1974 by Columbia Records. The idea for this LP was mentioned in an interview with Williams in the November 3, 1973, issue of Billboard magazine that emphasized his desire to move away from recording albums of Easy Listening covers of hits by other artists, noting that he was "planning an album to be cut in Nashville with Columbia's high-flying country-pop producer, Billy Sherrill." The article coincided with the release of his first attempt to shift directions, Solitaire, which performed poorly. A return to the Easy Listening hits formula, The Way We Were, followed in the spring of 1974 but failed to even chart, so this next attempt to eschew soft rock songs leaned heavily on Country hits.

<i>The Other Side of Me</i> (Andy Williams album) 1975 studio album by Andy Williams

The Other Side of Me is the thirty-fifth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the summer of 1975 by Columbia Records and including the 1973 recording of "Solitaire" from his album of the same name alongside 10 original recordings, four of which were also by "Solitaire" composer Neil Sedaka. After unsuccessful attempts to leave behind the formulaic album genre of easy listening covers of pop hits, The Other Side of Me offered a compromise by filling half of the sides with material that was popularized by other artists and the other half with either new or obscure selections.

<i>Andy Williams Greatest Hits Vol. 2</i> (American album) 1973 compilation album by Andy Williams

Andy Williams' Greatest Hits Vol. 2 is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in June 1973 by Columbia Records. This collection follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, Andy Williams' Greatest Hits, in that it is not limited to his biggest and most recent hit singles, although his final two US Top 40 entries were included. It also has an album track not released as a single, a couple of hits from his time with Cadence Records, two other singles that could have been included on the first volume, and two Easy Listening chart entries that never made the Billboard Hot 100.

<i>Reflections</i> (Andy Williams album) 1977 compilation album by Andy Williams

Reflections is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the UK on December 30, 1977, by the CBS Records division of Columbia. The subtitle on the cover reads, "A collection of 20 of my favorite songs", and a statement from Williams in the liner notes says, "Songs have very special memories for all of us. They pinpoint moments in our time. On this album I have chosen 20 songs that do just that. I hope you like them." While there was one new song ("Sad"), the collection was otherwise a balanced mix of album cuts and chart hits from his years with Columbia Records, including the seven top 10 UK singles he'd had during this period.

<i>B Sides and Rarities</i> (Andy Williams album) 2003 compilation album by Andy Williams

B Sides and Rarities is a compilation album by the American pop singer Andy Williams that was released by Collectables Records on May 27, 2003. Although the collection starts with two 1947 recordings by Kay Thompson and The Williams Brothers, the rest of the material comes from his time at Columbia Records and includes covers of contemporary hits as well as lesser-known material from the songwriters of "Can't Get Used to Losing You", "Home Lovin' Man" and "Moon River".

<i>The Very Best of Andy Williams</i> (2009 album) 2009 compilation album by Andy Williams

The Very Best of Andy Williams is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the UK on October 5, 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 Orion Press. It includes many of the songs that you made hits. I truly appreciate that, and I hope you enjoy the songs we selected for this CD." This compilation includes recordings that either charted in the UK but not in the US or charted much higher on the UK singles chart than they did on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It entered the UK albums chart on October 17, 2009, and reached number 10 during its six weeks there.

<i>Song Sung Blue</i> (album) 1972 studio album by Johnny Mathis

Song Sung Blue is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 13, 1972, by Columbia Records and featured his renditions of mostly recent chart hits.

References

  1. 1 2 (2002) Album notes for The Complete Columbia Chart Singles Collection by Andy Williams [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 (2002) Album notes for Alone Again (Naturally)/Solitaire by Andy Williams, [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music.
  3. 1 2 (2003) Album notes for B Sides and Rarities by Andy Williams, [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music.
  4. 1 2 3 "Alone Again (Naturally) - Andy Williams". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  5. 1 2 (1972) "Alone Again (Naturally)" by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records KC 31625.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Album Reviews". Billboard . 1972-09-23. p. 20.
  7. Whitburn 2010 , p. 844.
  8. 1 2 Hoffmann, Frank W (1988). The Cash box album charts, 1955-1974. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. p. 404. ISBN   0-8108-2005-6.
  9. Whitburn 2007 , p. 295.
  10. "Andy Williams". Official Charts. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  11. Whitburn 2007 , p. 296.
  12. "Alone Again (Naturally)/Solitaire - Andy Williams". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  13. "Classic Album Collection, Vol. 2". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  14. "Solitaire/Alone Again Naturally". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  15. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 1498. ISBN   9781846098567 . Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  16. "Cashbox Album Pop Picks Reviews: Alone Again (Naturally)". Cash Box . Vol. 34, no. 12. September 23, 1972. p. 24.
  17. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 338. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.

Bibliography