The Very Best of Andy Williams (2009 album)

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The Very Best Of Andy Williams
Williams-Very.jpg
Compilation album by Andy Williams
Released October 5th, 2009 [1]
Recorded 1962–1973
Genre
Length76:37
Label Sony Music Entertainment
Andy Williams chronology
Moon River: The Very Best Of Andy Williams
(2009) Moon River: The Very Best Of Andy Williams2009
The Very Best Of Andy Williams
(2009)
The Classic Christmas Album
(2013) The Classic Christmas Album 2013

The Very Best of Andy Williams is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the UK on October 5th, 2009. [1] 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." [2] This compilation includes recordings that either charted in the UK but not in the US ("Can't Take My Eyes off You", "It's So Easy", "May Each Day") or charted much higher on the UK singles chart than they did on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US ("Almost There", "Can't Help Falling in Love"). It entered the UK albums chart on October 17, 2009, and reached number 10 during its six weeks there. [3]

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.

Andy Williams American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer

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.

"It's So Easy" is a song composed by Dave Watkins with words by Watkins and Dor Lee and performed by Andy Williams. The song reached #13 in the UK in 1970.

Contents

On July 22, 2013, the British Phonographic Industry awarded the album with Gold certification for sales of 100,000 units. [1]

British Phonographic Industry organization

The BPI Limited, commonly known as the British Phonographic Industry or BPI, is the British recorded music industry's trade association.

An 18-track compilation album released in conjunction with the book publication in the US was titled Moon River: The Very Best of Andy Williams and had the same cover photo and design but had only nine of the 24 tracks on this album in common. [4]

<i>Moon River: The Very Best of Andy Williams</i> compilation album by Andy Williams

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.

Track listing

  1. "Moon River" (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer) – 2:46
    <i>Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes</i> album by Andy Williams

    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.

  2. "Can't Get Used to Losing You" (Jerome "Doc" Pomus, Mort Shuman) – 2:25
    • rec. 12/2/62; [5] UK singles chart: #2 (1 week) [3]
  3. "Music to Watch Girls By" (Sid Ramin, Tony Velona) – 2:38
    • rec. 2/21/67; [4] UK singles chart: #33 [3]
  4. "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio) – 3:15
    • rec. 9/18/67; [4] UK singles chart: #5 [3]
  5. "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" from Man of La Mancha (Joe Darion, Mitch Leigh) – 2:39
    • rec. 1968 for his album Honey
  6. "Happy Heart" (James Last, Jackie Rae) – 3:15
    • rec. 3/8/69; [5] UK singles chart: #19 [3]
  7. "Solitaire" (Phil Cody, Neil Sedaka) – 4:22
    • rec. 7/73; [5] UK singles chart: #4 [3]
  8. "Never Can Say Goodbye" (Clifton Davis) – 3:33
  9. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 3:11
    <i>Raindrops Keep Fallin on My Head</i> (Andy Williams album) album by Andy Williams

    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. 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."

  10. "It's So Easy" (Dor Lee, Dave Watkins) – 2:29
    • rec. 1/14/70 & 1/16/70; [5] UK singles chart: #13 [3]
  11. "Born Free" (John Barry, Don Black) – 2:27
  12. "Up, Up and Away" (Jimmy Webb) – 2:36
    • rec. 1968 for his album Honey
  13. "Home Lovin' Man" (Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway, Tony Macaulay) – 3:10
    • rec. 8/29/70; [5] UK singles chart: #7 [3]
  14. "Can't Help Falling in Love" (George Weiss, Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore) – 3:15
    • rec. 1/14/70; [5] UK singles chart: #3 [3]
  15. "MacArthur Park" (Jimmy Webb) – 5:03
  16. "We've Only Just Begun" (Roger Nichols, Paul Williams) – 3:15
  17. "Almost There" (Jerry Keller, Gloria Shayne) – 2:59
    • rec. 2/28/64; [5] UK singles chart: #2 (3 weeks) [3]
  18. "Abraham, Martin and John" (Dick Holler) – 3:43
  19. "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story" (Francis Lai, Carl Sigman) – 3:10
    • rec. 12/17/70; [5] UK singles chart: #4 [3]
  20. "Ave Maria" performed with the St. Charles Borromeo Choir (Franz Schubert) – 4:55
  21. "The Look of Love" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 2:55
  22. "May Each Day" (Mort Green, George Wyle) – 2:54
    • rec. 1/16/63; [9] UK singles chart: #19 (1966) [3]
  23. "Somethin' Stupid" (C. Carson Parks) – 2:59
  24. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (Edward Pola, George Wyle) – 2:32

Personnel

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "BPI Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 15 June 2017. Type Andy Williams in the Keywords box and select Artist in the Search by box and click Search.
  2. (2009) The Very Best of Andy Williams by Andy Williams [CD booklet]. London: Sony Music Entertainment 88697588282
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Andy Williams". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (2009) Moon River: The Very Best of Andy Williams by Andy Williams [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment 88697 59112 2
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 (2002) Album notes for The Complete Columbia Chart Singles Collection by Andy Williams [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Special Products A2 52310.
  6. (2002) Album notes for The Andy Williams Show/You've Got a Friend by Andy Williams, [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music.
  7. (2002) Album notes for Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head/Get Together with Andy Williams by Andy Williams, [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music.
  8. 1 2 (2003) Album notes for B Sides and Rarities by Andy Williams, [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music SONY A 70324.
  9. (2002) Album notes for Warm and Willing/Newest Hits by Andy Williams [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music SONY A 53734.
  10. 1 2 (1972) Alone Again (Naturally) by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records KC 31625.
  11. 1 2 (1972) Love Theme from "The Godfather" by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records KC 31303.
  12. 1 2 3 4 (1971) Love Story by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records KC 30497.
  13. 1 2 3 4 (1969) Happy Heart by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CS 9844.
  14. 1 2 (1970) Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CS 9896.
  15. 1 2 (1967) Born Free by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CS 9480.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 (1967) Love, Andy by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CS 9566.
  17. 1 2 (1967) Honey by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CS 9662.
  18. 1 2 (1971) You've Got a Friend by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records KC 30797.
  19. 1 2 (1963) The Andy Williams Christmas Album by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CS 8887.
  20. (1965) Andy Williams' Dear Heart by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CS 9138.
  21. 1 2 (1963) Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CS 8815.
  22. (1962) Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CS 8609.
  23. (1973) Solitaire by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records KC 32383.
  24. (1968) "Battle Hymn of the Republic/ Ave Maria" by Andy Williams [7-inch single]. New York: Columbia Records 4-33163.

Bibliography