Farewell

On September 25th, we lost another beautiful voice when crooner Andy Williams passed away at the age of 84 of bladder cancer. In a career spanning over 50 years, the Iowa-born singer recorded 18 Gold albums and had 27 Top-40 singles, and from 1962 through 1971, hosted a popular TV variety show, The Andy Williams Show. Even while the music of the British Invasion took over American radios in the '60s, Williams continued to have hit records, especially in England where his singles outsold records by The Rollings Stones, The Kinks, and The Who. Two of his most popular songs have become American standards: his signature song "Moon River" (which was actually never released as a single) and the Christmas classic "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (featured here).

Since I'm saving the infamous "Moon River" for a Movie Themes Series (coming soon), here are two other tunes Williams performed on his variety show. From 1965, here's Williams singing the mellow tune "Try to Remember" from the 1960 musical The Fantasticks (a hilarious show I've performed in myself!).

Originally an instrumental hit for Bob Crewe in 1967, here's Williams' version of "Music to Watch Girls By," which reached #34 in the US later that same year, eventually reaching the Top-10 as a re-released single after its use in a Fiat commercial in the UK.

Another sad loss to the music industry and entertainment business, Mr. Williams will be greatly missed.