Wikipedia

The Wonderful World of Andy Williams

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.[6] 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.[7]

The Wonderful World of Andy Williams
Studio album by
Andy Williams
Released1964
RecordedJanuary 13, 1963
November 1, 7, 27, 1963
December 3, 1963[1]
Genre
Length33:31
LabelColumbia
ProducerRobert Mersey[3]
Andy Williams chronology
The Andy Williams Christmas Album
(1963) 		The Wonderful World of Andy Williams
(1964) 		The Academy Award-Winning "Call Me Irresponsible" and Other Hit Songs from the Movies
(1964)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Record Mirror[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]

The album made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LPs chart in the issue dated January 25 of that year and remained there for 24 weeks, peaking at number nine.[8] it also debuted on the Cashbox albums chart in the issue dated January 25, of that year, and remained on the chart for 37 weeks, peaking at number 8[9] It received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on August 17, 1964.[10]

The single from the album, "A Fool Never Learns," made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 11, 1964, eventually reaching number 13 during its 10-week stay.[7] It performed even better on the Easy Listening chart, peaking at number four.[11]

The album was released on compact disc for the first time as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records on January 22, 2002, the other album being Williams's Columbia album from February 1962, Danny Boy and Other Songs I Love to Sing.[12] Collectables included this CD in a box set entitled Classic Album Collection, Vol. 2, which contains 15 of his studio albums and two compilations and was released on November 29, 2002.[13]

Reception

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William Ruhlmann of AllMusic said that the album "consisted of familiar ballads, dating back to the 1940s for Johnny Mercer's "Dream" (another choral performance not unlike the Pied Pipers' hit version) and coming up to the present for Williams versions of hits like Tony Bennett's "This Is All I Ask" and Jack Jones' "Wives and Lovers." "Softly, As I Leave You" was a good piece of material"[2]

Cashbox notes "Williams family, the songster gives top-notch readings of such lyrical goodies as "Canadian Sunset," "Wives And Lovers" and "Pennies From Heaven",[14] calling the album "First-rate listening enjoyment"[14]

Record Mirror gave the album a postive review "saying it "features a collection of very differently styled favourite"[4]

Track listing

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Side one

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  1. "Canadian Sunset" performed with The Williams Brothers (Norman Gimbel, Eddie Heywood) – 2:32
  2. "Sing a Rainbow" performed with The Williams Family Children (Arthur Hamilton) – 2:40
  3. "Dream" performed with The Williams Brothers (Johnny Mercer) – 2:40
  4. "This Is All I Ask" (Gordon Jenkins) – 3:19
  5. "Wives and Lovers" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 2:20
  6. "First Born" performed with The Entire Williams Family (John Lehman, Jerry Reed) – 2:41

Side two

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  1. "A Fool Never Learns" (Sonny Curtis) – 2:01
  2. "Noelle" (Paul Kenny, Edward Pola, George Wyle) – 2:48
  3. "Pennies from Heaven" performed with The Williams Brothers (Johnny Burke, Arthur Johnston) – 3:32
  4. "September Song" (Maxwell Anderson, Kurt Weill) – 3:00
  5. "Let It Be Me" performed with Claudine Longet (Gilbert Bécaud, Mann Curtis, Pierre Delanoë) – 2:51
  6. "Softly, As I Leave You" (Giorgio Calabrese, Tony De Vita, Hal Shaper) – 3:13

Recording dates

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From the liner notes for the 2002 Collectables CD:[1]

Personnel

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From the liner notes for the original album:[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b (2002) Album notes for Danny Boy and Other Songs I Love to Sing/The Wonderful World of Andy Williams by Andy Williams, [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music.
  2. ^ a b c "The Wonderful World of Andy Williams". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  3. ^ a b (1966) The Wonderful World of Andy Williams by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CS 8971.
  4. ^ a b "NEW L.P's - SMOOTH & SWINGING by R.M. DISC JURY" (PDF). Record Mirror. No. 165. 9 May 1964. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  5. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 1498. ISBN 9781846098567. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  6. ^ "On TV! In Store! The Wonderful World of Andy Williams". Billboard. 1963-12-28. p. 5.
  7. ^ a b Whitburn 2009, p. 1059.
  8. ^ Whitburn 1985, p. 405.
  9. ^ Hoffmann, Frank W (1988). The Cash box album charts, 1955-1974. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. p. 406. ISBN 0-8108-2005-6.
  10. ^ "Gold & Platinum". riaa.com. Retrieved 27 March 2017. Type Andy Williams in the Search box and press Enter.
  11. ^ Whitburn 1993, p. 256.
  12. ^ "Danny Boy and Other Songs I Love to Sing/The Wonderful World of Andy Williams". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  13. ^ "Classic Album Collection, Vol. 2". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  14. ^ a b "Cashbox Pop Pick Album Reviews: The Wonderful World of Andy Williams". Cash Box. Vol. 25, no. 18. January 25, 1964. p. 22.

Bibliography

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  • Whitburn, Joel (1985), Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums, 1955-1985, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-054-7
  • Whitburn, Joel (1993), Joel Whitburn's Top Adult Contemporary, 1961-1993, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-099-7
  • Whitburn, Joel (2009), Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955-2008, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-180-2
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