| Andy Williams | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | 1958 | |||
| Recorded | March 15, 1956 July 2, 1956 August 30, 1956 January 23, 1957 April 5, 1957 August 6, 1957 [1] | |||
| Genre |
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| Length | 29:03 | |||
| Label | Cadence Records | |||
| Andy Williams chronology | ||||
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| Alternate cover | ||||
 Reissue cover | ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Billboard | |
Andy Williams is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released early in 1958 by Cadence Records. [3] This first album to compile the singer's material features his first six songs to make the Billboard Hot 100 along with their corresponding B-sides.
A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for release together as a single work, but may be collected together as a greatest hits album or box set. If from several performers, there may be a theme, topic, time period, or genre which links the tracks, or they may have been intended for release as a single work—such as a tribute album. When the tracks are by the same recording artist, the album may be referred to as a retrospective album or an anthology.
Howard Andrew Williams was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold-certified and three platinum-certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a television variety show, from 1962 to 1971, and numerous TV specials. The Andy Williams Show won three Emmy awards. The Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri is named after the song for which he is best known—Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini's "Moon River". He sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including more than 10 million certified units in the United States.
Cadence Records was an American record company based in New York City whose labels had a picture of a metronome. It was founded by Archie Bleyer, who had been the musical director and orchestra leader for Arthur Godfrey in 1952. Bleyer had written a few hot songs in 1932–34 and had a band that recorded for ARC in 1934 and 1935.
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In The Music Lover's Guide to Record Collecting, author Dave Thompson writes, "Of additional interest among Cadence LPs of this period was [company founder Archie] Bleyer's insistence on adding droll commentaries" to the cover design. [4] For example, the cover for the album Kenneth Patchen Reads His Poetry quotes Bleyer as saying, "' Puts muscles in your ears.'" [5] Thompson, however, adds that "the most bizarre phrase is surely that which attends Andy Williams' Andy Williams album: 'He's All Male and Catnip to Quail,' Says Archie". [4] The cover photo alongside it shows Williams standing next to a quail and a squatting figure in a lion costume with a man in the far background seated on a stool with his back to the camera. [6] A much simpler cover design featuring the artist's name and photo with a list of the album's contents was eventually released. [7]
Dave Thompson is an English writer who is the author of more than 100 books, largely dealing with rock and pop music, but also covering film, sports, philately, numismatics and erotica.
Archibald Martin Bleyer was an American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive.
The album was issued on compact disc for the first time as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records on September 12, 2000, the other album being Williams's other Cadence release from early 1958, Andy Williams Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein . [8] Collectables included this CD in a box set entitled Classic Album Collection, Vol. 1, which contains 17 of his studio albums and three compilations and was released on June 26, 2001. [9] It was also released as one of two albums on one CD by Ace Records on January 8, 2008, paired this time with his first Cadence album, Andy Williams Sings Steve Allen . [10]
Collectables is a reissue record label founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Greene was previously associated with New York City's Times Square Record Shop, Philadelphia's Record Museum retail chain, and the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels.
Andy Williams Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein is the second studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was orchestrated and conducted by Alvy West. It was released in February 1958 by Cadence Records and focuses upon songs composed by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Andy Williams Sings Steve Allen is the first studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released late in 1956 by Cadence Records. This was his first LP and features songs written or co-written by then-Tonight Show host Steve Allen. The review of the album in the December 22 issue of The Billboard that year reads, "Cover shows only a photo of the singer with no copy and it might have been a better bet to identify the personality." The cover of the 1960 reissue of the album attempts to rectify this situation with the title presented in two lines of large capital letters that sandwich a headshot of Williams this time instead of the seated pose of the original.
