In 1969, Billboard magazine published a chart ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the easy listening market. The chart, which in 1969 was entitled Easy Listening, has undergone various name changes and has been published since 1996 under the title Adult Contemporary. [1] In 1969, 17 songs topped the chart based on playlists submitted by easy listening radio stations and sales reports submitted by stores. [1]
On the first chart of 1969, Glen Campbell held the top spot with "Wichita Lineman", which was in its fourth week at number one, [2] and remained atop the chart for a further two weeks. Campbell would go on to top the chart with "Galveston" and "Try a Little Kindness", making him the only act to achieve three Easy Listening number ones in 1969. His total of ten weeks in the top spot was also the highest achieved by any act during the year. The only other act with multiple chart-toppers during the year was the 5th Dimension, who reached the top spot with "Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" and "Wedding Bell Blues". The longest unbroken run at number one by a song was eight weeks, achieved by the conductor [3] Henry Mancini's "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet". Unusually, the number-one song on Billboard's year-end easy listening chart for the year was a track which did not reach number one in the weekly charts: "Hurt So Bad" by the Lettermen. [4] [5]
Several of 1969's chart-toppers came from films and stage musicals. These included Mancini's theme from the film Romeo and Juliet , [6] Oliver's song "Jean" from the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie , [7] "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" by B. J. Thomas from the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , [8] the 5th Dimension's medley of two songs from the musical Hair , [9] and Sammy Davis Jr.'s version of "I've Gotta Be Me", which placed highly on both the easy listening and pop charts even though the musical in which it originated, Golden Rainbow , was unsuccessful. [10] There was considerable crossover in 1969 between the Easy Listening chart and Billboard's pop chart, the Hot 100. Five songs topped both listings during the year: Mancini's "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet", [11] both of the 5th Dimension's chart-toppers, [12] "In the Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus)" by Zager and Evans, [13] and "Leaving on a Jet Plane" by Peter, Paul and Mary. [14] Additionally, the final Easy Listening number one of the year, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", went on to top the Hot 100 early in 1970. [14] Although Zager and Evans achieved the feat of topping both listings, the duo proved to be a one-hit wonder and never placed another song on either the pop or easy listening chart. [13] [15] [16]
"In the Year 2525 " is a 1969 hit song by the American pop-rock duo of Zager and Evans. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks commencing July 12, 1969. It peaked at No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in August and September that year. The song was written and composed by Rick Evans in 1964 and released on Truth Records in 1968. It was picked up by RCA Records. Zager and Evans disbanded in 1971.
"Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet", also known as "A Time for Us", is an instrumental arranged by Henry Mancini.
"Spinning Wheel" is a song from 1968 by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, written by Canadian lead vocalist David Clayton-Thomas and appearing on their eponymous album.
"Come Saturday Morning" is a popular song with music by Fred Karlin and lyrics by Dory Previn, published in 1969.
Get Together with Andy Williams is the twenty-fourth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams which was released on October 6, 1969, by Columbia Records and contained covers of recent hits. The one new song was "You Are", which was written by Mac Davis.
Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head is the twenty-fifth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in the spring of 1970 by Columbia Records. Williams was less focused on covering recent hits on this project and instead selected several songs from the singer-songwriter genre. The concept for the album came from Mason Williams, who contacted producer Dick Glasser about co-producing an album that would give Williams's fans a medley of songs that did more than just highlight the most familiar parts of popular songs but rather focus on a unifying theme or storyline of songs that were not necessarily hit records. Billboard magazine opined that the album "may well be titled 'A Journey Through Life.' Through carefully selected songs it conveys a message of dreams, hopes, reality, frustrations and ultimate truth."
Love Theme from "Romeo and Juliet" is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on July 30, 1969, by Columbia Records. Of its 11 tracks, eight had been hits for other performers earlier that year, and one of the remaining three, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", would become a huge success for Dionne Warwick several months later.
Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on February 25, 1970, by Columbia Records and included several covers of chart hits from the previous year along with 1964's "Watch What Happens" and the 1966 tunes "Alfie" and "A Man and a Woman".
Love Story is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on February 10, 1971, by Columbia Records and included a recent Oscar nominee, a flashback to 1967 ("Traces"), a new song by Bacharach & David, a lesser-known one by Goffin & King, and two songs that originated in film scores from 1970 and had lyrics added later: the album closer, "Loss of Love", from Sunflower and the album opener from Love Story, which was subtitled "Where Do I Begin". The norm for Mathis projects from this era was to cover recent hits, and the title track of this one was so recent that the version by Andy Williams began a 13-week run to number nine on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in February 1971, coinciding with the release of this LP.
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The uplifting lyrics describe somebody who overcomes his troubles and worries by realising that "it won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me."
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.
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.
"Odds and Ends" is a 1969 song by Dionne Warwick, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It was released as a non-album single. Narrowly missing the U.S. Billboard Top 40, it reached the Top 20 on the Adult Contemporary charts of Canada and the U.S., where it peaked at number seven.