The Academy Award-Winning "Call Me Irresponsible" and Other Hit Songs from the Movies | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1964 | |||
Recorded | 1964 | |||
Genre |
| |||
Length | 35:30 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Robert Mersey [2] | |||
Andy Williams chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Billboard | Spotlight Pick [3] |
The Academy Award-Winning "Call Me Irresponsible" and Other Hit Songs from the Movies is the fourteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in the spring of 1964 by Columbia Records. [3] Williams had already had great success with his albums named after Henry Mancini's Oscar winners from 1961 and 1962, "Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses", [4] and was asked to sing Mancini and Johnny Mercer's title song collaboration from the 1963 film Charade at the Academy Awards on April 13, 1964, after it was nominated for Best Original Song, but the winner that year was the other song that Williams performed at the ceremony, "Call Me Irresponsible". [5]
The album made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated May 9 of that year and remained on the album chart for 63 weeks, peaking at number five. [4] It received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on December 18, 1964. [6]
As the B-side of the single "A Fool Never Learns," the album's opening track, "Charade", made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 18, 1964, spending its only week on the chart at number 100. [7]
The album was released on compact disc for the first time as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records on March 23, 1999, the other album being Williams's Columbia album from September 1964, The Great Songs from "My Fair Lady" and Other Broadway Hits . [8] This same pairing was also released as two albums on one CD by Sony Music Distribution in 2000. [9] The Collectables CD was included 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. [10]
William Ruhlmann of Allmusic was complimentary. "The songs tended to be evocative of a mood rather than specific, and Williams's warm, yet homogenized approach, backed by sympathetic orchestral arrangements with occasional vocal choruses, brought out their haunting, romantic qualities." [1] He even singled out specific tracks. "Especially impressive here were 'Laura,' a version of 'Gigi' with the introductory verse, and a restrained (well, compared to Mario Lanza) 'Be My Love.' But the whole album suggested that Williams and movie songs remained perfect partners." [1]
In their capsule review at the time of its release, Billboard magazine described the album as a "fine collection" [3] and noted that "Andy's singing is most enjoyable". [3]
This album brought the fifth of six Grammy nominations that Williams received over the course of his career, this time in the category for Best Vocal Performance, Male. This nomination did not focus on the performance of a particular song but rather Williams's performance of the album as a whole. The winner was Louis Armstrong for the single "Hello, Dolly!", a song that Williams went on to record on his next album, The Great Songs from "My Fair Lady" and Other Broadway Hits . [11]
From the liner notes for the original album: [2]
"Moon River" is a song composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was originally performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany's, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The song also won the 1962 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
"Be My Love" is a popular song with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Nicholas Brodszky. Published in 1950, it was written for Mario Lanza who sang it with Kathryn Grayson in the 1950 movie The Toast of New Orleans. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1950 but lost out to “Mona Lisa”.
Lonely Street is the fifth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in late 1959 through Cadence Records. This, his fifth LP of new material for the label, is described by William Ruhlmann on AllMusic.com as "an album full of songs of lost love and loneliness that found Williams using more of the Mel Tormé-like foggy lower register of his voice." The liner notes on the back of the album jacket read, "The selections in Lonely Street, Andy confides, are those for which he feels a special affection. Every vocalist has a few personal favorites... and it is quite clear to the listener that this collection presents songs which Andy Williams believes, feels -- and loves."
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.
Danny Boy and Other Songs I Love to Sing is the eighth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released early in 1962 by Columbia Records. This was his first project after leaving Cadence Records, where his albums each had a specific theme, and his first in a series of LPs that covered songs established on stage and 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.
Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes is the ninth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released on March 26, 1962 by Columbia Records and covered film songs that were mostly from the previous decade.
Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests is the eleventh studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in April 1963 by Columbia Records following his first season as host of his variety series, The Andy Williams Show. The LP has a studio recording of the closing theme from the show, "May Each Day", and continues the format of his previous Columbia releases by including songs from the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
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.
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.
Andy Williams' Dear Heart is the sixteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in the spring of 1965 by Columbia Records and was the last of his Columbia releases that remained exclusively within the realm of traditional pop. After covering two Beatles hits on his next non-holiday studio album, The Shadow of Your Smile, he would try out samba music on In the Arms of Love, aim for a much younger crowd with "Music to Watch Girls By" on Born Free, and focus more on contemporary material on subsequent albums.
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.
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.
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.
Under Paris Skies is the seventh studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in the fall of 1960 by Cadence Records. This, his final LP for the label, is a collection of songs that Joseph Laredo describes in the liner notes of the CD release by Varèse Sarabande as "a delightful program of twelve compositions, selected by Williams, that proved an engaging mixture of genuine French popular songs and American-penned emulations."
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".
Greatest Hits is a live album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was digitally recorded live in concert at the Andy Williams Moon River Theater in Branson, Missouri and released by the LaserLight division of Delta Music Inc. in 1994. It includes performances of songs that he had previously recorded during his time with the Cadence and Columbia labels as well as one he had never recorded before -- "L-O-V-E", which Nat King Cole took to number 81 pop and number 17 Easy Listening in Billboard magazine in 1964.
16 Most Requested Songs: Encore! is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released by Columbia Records on May 16, 1995.