![]() | It has been suggested that portions of this article be split out into another articletitled The Williams Brothers (duo) . (Discuss) (August 2022) |
The Williams Brothers | |
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![]() The Williams Brothers (Second generation): Andrew and David Williams | |
Background information | |
Origin | United States |
Genres | Pop |
Years active | 1938–1990s |
Members | (Second generation) Andrew Williams David Williams |
Past members | Andy Williams Dick Williams Bob Williams Don Williams |
The Williams Brothers featuring Andy Williams were a singing quartet formed in the mid 1930s. They initially entertained on radio stations and later appeared in four musical films in the 1940s. After recording with Bing Crosby led to a nightclub act backing Kay Thompson, they broke up in the early 1950s and went their separate ways. The second generation of Williams Brothers, twins Andrew and David (Andy's nephews) began as teen idols and a musical duo in the 1970s performing extensively on radio, television and in movies and nightclubs. [1]
The four Williams Brothers—Bob, Don, Dick and Andy Williams—formed a singing quartet in the mid-1930s in Wall Lake, Iowa. Their father, Jay Williams, managed and promoted the group. They entertained on radio stations, first at WHO in Des Moines, Iowa, and later at WLS in Chicago and WLW in Cincinnati, before they moved to Los Angeles in 1943, where they were under contract with the MGM film studio. The Williams Brothers appeared in Janie (1944), Kansas City Kitty (1944), Ladies' Man (1947), and Something in the Wind (1947). [2]
They also appeared with Bing Crosby on the hit record "Swinging on a Star" (1944). This led to a nightclub act with entertainer Kay Thompson from 1947 to 1951. The act was staged by MGM choreographer, Robert Alton. They toured night-clubs and cabarets in the United States and internationally with great success and appeared on radio and television establishing a loyal cult following with their jazz-based harmonies and flamboyant performance style. The act broke up in 1951 and the brothers went separate ways, appearing annually on The Andy Williams Christmas Special from 1962 through the 1990s. [3]
Albums:
Robert F. Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa, USA on January 1, 1918. He was a singer and actor. He appeared in the films Janie (1944) and Something in the Wind (1947). He reunited with his brothers yearly from 1962 to 1990 for Andy's Christmas specials. He died on September 23, 2003, in Terra Bella, California. [5]
Donald J. Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa, on October 9, 1922. After The Williams Brothers broke up, Don Williams moved back to Los Angeles. In LA, he worked on TV shows, where he sang on the Eddie Fisher and Nat King Cole television shows. He put together his own act the "Don Williams Singers" and sang for a number of TV commercials. He also performed in a singing quartet group, The Masquers, with Burl Ives in a 1951 music video under "Snader Telescriptions" titled "Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of the Lord". [6] He was on The Andy Williams Christmas Show. He was an opening act at the new Tropicana Las Vegas hotel where he performed for two years. In 1958, he was in the musical show "Tropicana Holiday". [7] He then became an agent and manager. He united with his brothers yearly from 1962 to 1990 for The Andy Williams Christmas. [8] [9] Don Williams County Park in Iowa is named after him.
Don Williams died in Branson, Missouri, on December 30, 2022, at the age of 100. [10]
Liza Minnelli has paid tribute to the Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers act in The South Bank Show (2008). In her 2008 tour, Minnelli devoted much of the performance to recreating the act, using Thompson's trademark music. The success of this tribute led to Minnelli's return to Broadway in December 2008. "Liza's at the Palace!" opened at New York's legendary Palace Theatre, an affectionate salute to her godmother, Kay Thompson. Supported by a quartet of dynamic singer/dancers standing in for the original Williams Brothers, Liza performed musical hits (with the original vocal arrangements) from the famous act, including such numbers as "I Love a Violin," “Clap Yo' Hands," “Jubilee Time", and "Hello Hello". The show won a Tony Award, and was subsequently released on a double CD- preserving the nightclub material in a state-of-the-art recording.
Twin brothers Andrew Williams and David Williams (born February 22, 1959, in Henderson, Nevada, USA), nephews of singer Andy Williams, recorded as the Williams Brothers in the 1990s, and made the Billboard Hot 100 with their song "Can't Cry Hard Enough" in 1992.
As teen idols, they also made the Hot 100 in 1974, billed as "Andy and David Williams", with the No. 92 entry "What's Your Name". This followed an appearance in The Partridge Family . [11] [12] [13] [14]
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is one of the very few performers awarded a non-competitive Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT). Minnelli is a Knight of the French Legion of Honour.
Fred Ebb was an American musical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera.
Vincente Minnelli was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), An American in Paris (1951), The Band Wagon (1953), and Gigi (1958). An American in Paris and Gigi both won the Academy Award for Best Picture, with Minnelli winning Best Director for Gigi. In addition to having directed some of the best-known musicals of his day, Minnelli made many comedies and melodramas. He was married to Judy Garland from 1945 until 1951; the couple were the parents of Liza Minnelli.
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, along with numerous TV specials. The Andy Williams Show won three Emmy Awards. He sold more than 45 million records worldwide, including more than 10 million certified units in the United States.
New York, New York is a 1977 American romantic musical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Earl Mac Rauch and Mardik Martin, based on a story by Rauch. It is a musical tribute, featuring songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb as well as jazz standards, to Scorsese's home town of New York City, and stars Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro as a pair of musicians and lovers. The story is "about a jazz saxophonist and a pop singer (Minnelli) who fall madly in love and marry;" however, the "saxophonist's outrageously volatile personality places a continual strain on their relationship, and after they have a baby, their marriage crumbles," even as their careers develop on separate paths. The film marked the final screen appearance of actor Jack Haley.
"Copacabana", also known as "Copacabana (At the Copa)", is a song recorded by Barry Manilow. Written by Manilow, Jack Feldman, and Bruce Sussman, it was released in 1978 as the third single from Manilow's fifth studio album, Even Now (1978).
Kay Thompson was an American author, singer, vocal arranger, vocal coach, composer, musician, dancer, actress, and choreographer. She became famous for creating the Eloise children's books and for her role in the movie Funny Face.
"Nevertheless I'm in Love with You" is a popular song written by Harry Ruby with lyrics by Bert Kalmar, first published in 1931. The song was a hit for Jack Denny in 1931, and was revisited in 1950 by The Mills Brothers, Paul Weston, Ray Anthony, Ralph Flanagan, Frankie Laine and Frank Sinatra, with perhaps the most compelling version being that of the McGuire Sisters.
"Happy Holiday" is a popular song composed by Irving Berlin in 1942 and published the following year.
Robert Alton was an American dancer and choreographer, a major figure in dance choreography of Broadway and Hollywood musicals from the 1930s through to the early 1950s. He is principally remembered today as the discoverer of Gene Kelly, for his collaborations with Fred Astaire, and for choreographic sequences he designed for Hollywood musicals such as The Harvey Girls (1946), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), Show Boat (1951), and White Christmas (1954).
"My Mammy" is an American popular song with music by Walter Donaldson and lyrics by Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis.
"Cabaret" is the title song of the 1966 musical of the same name, sung by the character Sally Bowles. It was composed by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb.
Liza's at the Palace.... was a concert presented by Liza Minnelli at the Palace Theatre on Broadway from December 3, 2008 through January 4, 2009. It was produced by John Scher and Metropolitan Talent Presents.
The Andy Williams Christmas Album is the first Christmas holiday album released by singer Andy Williams and his twelfth studio album overall. It was issued by Columbia Records in 1963, the first of eight Christmas albums released by Williams. Though it was also the album that introduced Williams's perennial holiday classic "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", Columbia instead released Williams's cover of "White Christmas" as the album's promotional single at the time.
American singer Liza Minnelli has released eleven studio albums—Liza! Liza! (1964), It Amazes Me (1965), There Is a Time (1966), Liza Minnelli (1968), Come Saturday Morning (1969), New Feelin' (1970), The Singer (1973), Tropical Nights (1977), Results (1989), Gently (1996), and Confessions (2010). Simultaneously, she contributed to five original cast recordings and eight soundtrack albums, respectively—Best Foot Forward (1963), Flora the Red Menace (1965), The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood (1965), Cabaret (1972), Liza with a "Z": A Concert for Television (1972), Lucky Lady (1975), A Matter of Time (1976), New York, New York (1977), The Act (1978), The Rink (1984), Stepping Out (1991), Music from The Life: A New Musical (1995) and Sex and the City 2 (2010). Ten live sets were issued as well, such as entitled "Live" at the London Palladium (1965) recorded with Judy Garland, Live at the Olympia in Paris (1972), Live at the Winter Garden (1974), Live at Carnegie Hall (1981), At Carnegie Hall (1987), Live from Radio City Music Hall (1992), Paris — Palais des Congrès: Intégrale du spectacle (1995) along with Charles Aznavour, Minnelli on Minnelli: Live at the Palace (1999), Liza's Back (2002) and Liza's at The Palace.... (2008). Her discography also features eighteen greatest hits compilations, thirty-three singles, five video albums, five music videos and thirteen other appearances.
Live at Carnegie Hall is the fourth live album by American singer Liza Minnelli. Released by the Altel Sound Systems record company in 1981, it was her first and only release under that label.
Richard Blaine Williams was an American singer. He and his brothers, Bob, Don, and Andy Williams, performed as a quartet, The Williams Brothers.
Allan Alfonzo Capps was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist. Beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, he produced and arranged albums for popular artists such as Cher, Andy Williams, Helen Reddy, José Feliciano, Vicki Lawrence, and Liza Minnelli, and delivered film music for more than twenty films. As a musician, he played on albums by The Everly Brothers, Gábor Szabó, and Frank Sinatra. Later in life, he made music for commercials of international brands.
A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may also be referred to as a nightclub act. A scheduled performance, such as a wedding gig, is a club date.
James Yester is an American musician. He is a member of the sunshine pop group the Association, who had numerous hits on the Billboard charts during the 1960s, including "Windy", "Cherish", "Never My Love" and "Along Comes Mary", among many others.