Andy Williams' Greatest Hits Vol. 2 | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | June 1973 | |||
Recorded | 1959, [1] 1966−1972 [2] | |||
Genre |
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Length | 35:36 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Andy Williams chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [3] |
Billboard | Top Album Pick [4] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [5] |
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. [4] 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 ("(Where Do I Begin) Love Story" and "Speak Softly Love (Love Theme from 'The Godfather')") were included. [6] It also has an album track not released as a single ("The Impossible Dream (The Quest)"), a couple of hits from his time with Cadence Records ("Lonely Street" and "The Village of St. Bernadette"), two other singles that could have been included on the first volume ("In the Arms of Love" and "Music to Watch Girls By"), and two Easy Listening chart entries that never made the Billboard Hot 100 ("Home Lovin' Man" and "Music from Across the Way"). [6] [7]
The front and back cover design for the LP (by Anne Garner and Norman Seeff) shows Williams as he is bursting through a wall-sized collage of black-and-white images from various periods of his career, mainly involving the Williams Brothers and his variety program. While the front cover does not show the one foot that it would seem he is standing on, the back cover depicts the front cover setpiece as seen from the reverse angle behind him and is shot so that neither foot is touching the floor, as if to suggest that Williams is literally flying through the wall.
The British CBS album of the same name had only three of its 12 tracks in common with those on this album and used a different cover photo and design. [8]
This U.S. release made its first appearance on the Billboard Top LP's & Tapes chart in the issue dated July 7, 1973, and remained there for five weeks, peaking at number 174. [9] it also debuted on the Cashbox albums chart in the issue dated July 7, of that year, and remained on the chart for 7 weeks, peaking at number 137 [10]
This album was released on compact disc for the first time by Columbia Records in 1989. [3] A Columbia 3-CD box set including this album along with the US versions of Andy Williams' Greatest Hits and his 1971 album Love Story was released on August 12, 1997. [11]
Billboard magazine was pleasantly surprised. "Can time be slipping away so quickly that we now have a second volume of top tunes as interpreted with genuine skill by Andy? It seems like he was just singing these contemporary biggies only yesterday. But here they are in the all-familiar greatest hits package, rekindling memories of the artistry and beauty of such writers as Jimmy Webb, Sigman and Lai, Leon Russell, Henry Mancini, etc. These songs are from Andy's Dick Glasser-Nick DeCaro dates of the past few years, and they incorporate all the richness and large orchestral settings that people associate with the veteran singer." [4]
Andy Williams' Greatest Hits is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in early 1970 by Columbia Records. It was not, however, as its title might suggest, strictly a hit singles compilation, although some of his biggest songs since joining Columbia were included. A couple of selections were never released as singles by Williams, and his signature song, "Moon River", was released in the 7-inch single format but only for jukeboxes. His six Cadence singles that made the Top 10 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 are passed over for the inclusion of his number 11 hit from that label, "The Hawaiian Wedding Song", and 17 of his Columbia recordings that made the Hot 100 up until 1970 are left out here in favor of "Charade", which spent its one week on the chart at number 100.
Moon 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 Viking/Penguin. 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." The collection covers a wide assortment of his material, including crossover hits, stabs at the youth market, a pair of Mancini-Mercer Oscar winners, a Christmas classic, and a eulogy to Robert F. Kennedy.
Johnny's Newest Hits is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Columbia Records on February 25, 1963, and includes the A- and B-sides of six of his singles.
The Andy Williams Show is the twenty-sixth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the fall of 1970 by Columbia Records. In his review on AllMusic.com, 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'll Search My Heart and Other Great Hits is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Columbia Records in April 1964 and gathered up five A-sides that reached the Billboard Hot 100, a corresponding B-side, and six songs that had previously been unreleased.
The Great Years is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released by Columbia Records in July 1964. Billboard magazine described the two-LP set, which included chart hits and album tracks, as "the best of Mathis".
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.
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".
Alone Again (Naturally) is the thirtieth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in September 1972 by Columbia Records 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".
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.
Andy is the thirty-sixth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the fall of 1976 by Columbia Records. Williams is not as focused on covering pop hits and standards on this album and instead relies mainly on original or lesser-known songs. 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. One recording session was at a portable studio set up at a Marriott hotel."
Andy Williams' Best is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released late in 1961 by Cadence Records. This second album to compile the singer's material features 10 songs that made the Billboard Hot 100 along with two of their corresponding B-sides.
Andy Williams' Newest Hits is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released early in 1966 by Columbia Records and was the first LP to compile the singer's Columbia material. Seven of the 12 tracks had reached the charts in Billboard magazine, and another had been released as a single in the UK. Three album cuts were also included along with a recent B-side.
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".
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.
Andy Williams recorded 43 studio albums, 17 of which received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for selling 500,000 units. Andy Williams has sold over 11 million records in the US alone. Three of those recipients went on to reach one million in sales, for which they were awarded Platinum certification. Between studio, Christmas, and compilation albums he had 37 entries on the pop albums chart in Billboard magazine with 12 of those making the top 10. One of those 12, his 1963 album Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests, spent 16 weeks at number one and comes in at number five on the list of the top albums released in the 1960s in terms of Billboard chart performance. During the 1960s and early 1970s two of his Platinum LPs, The Andy Williams Christmas Album and Merry Christmas, made annual appearances on the magazine's Christmas Albums chart, where they each reached the number one position in multiple holiday seasons. In a ranking of the top album artists of the 1960s in terms of Billboard chart performance, he comes in at number eight.
Johnny Mathis' All-Time Greatest Hits is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the spring of 1972 by Columbia Records and, despite its title, overlooks a good number of his Top 40 hits in favor of his singles that did not make the Billboard Hot 100 and album tracks that were not released as singles.
Feelings is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 20, 1975, by Columbia Records and strayed slightly from the singer's usual practice of covering hits by other artists by including two new songs, both written by Jerry Fuller: "Hurry Mother Nature" and "That's All She Wrote", which Ray Price took to number 34 on the Country chart the following spring.
The First 25 Years – The Silver Anniversary Album is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 1981 by Columbia Records. The back cover of the album notes that there are four new tracks. A cover of the Commodores hit "Three Times a Lady" had been released on the UK version of his 1980 album Different Kinda Different, which was retitled All for You, but the Mathis rendition of the song makes its US debut here.
16 Most Requested Songs: Encore! is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released by Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings on May 16, 1995.