Close Enough for Love (Andy Williams album)

Close Enough for Love
Studio album by Andy Williams
Released	1986
Recorded	September 22-24, 1986, AIR Recording Studios, London[1]
Genre	Vocal pop, Traditional pop[2]
Length	44:10
Label	Atco Records
Producer	Jeremy Lubbock
Andy Williams chronology
Greatest Love Classics (1984) Close Enough for Love (1986) I Still Believe in Santa Claus (1990)

Close Enough for Love is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in 1986 by Atco Records. Williams writes in the liner notes, "This is essentially a ‘live’ album. Our objective was to get real performances from both the orchestra and myself, as opposed to the sometimes sterile perfection of countless overdubs and tracking sessions. To my amazement, we used the first takes on most of the songs. The excitement of first hearing Jeremy's arrangements affected me so, that I found a quality in my singing that wasn't there in later takes."^[1]

The phrase "Romantic Music from the Movies" on the back of the CD booklet conveys the theme of the album, with half of the songs dating from the decade previous to its release and the other half going back to the era of traditional pop. Williams even updates the title songs from two of his albums, "Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses", with what, for 1986, were very modern adult contemporary arrangements.

Track listing

1. "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand) - 4:36
2. "Moon River" (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer) - 4:10
3. "Change Partners" (Irving Berlin) - 4:06
4. "Lucky to Be Me" (Betty Comden, Adolph Green) - 4:04
5. "My Funny Valentine" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) - 3:56
6. "Days of Wine and Roses" ( Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer) - 4:14
7. "Through the Eyes of Love" (Marvin Hamlisch, Carole Bayer Sager) - 4:46
8. "Close Enough for Love" (Johnny Mandel, Paul Williams) - 3:46
9. "The Music of Goodbye" (John Barry, Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman) - 4:32
10. "'Round Midnight" (Bernie Hanighen, Thelonious Monk, Cootie Williams) - 5:44

Song information

"My Funny Valentine" was first performed in the 1937 Broadway musical Babes in Arms.^[3] "Change Partners" was first sung by Fred Astaire for the 1938 film Carefree, and his recording spent two weeks at number one after entering the charts on August 27 of that year.^[4][5] "Lucky to Be Me" comes from the 1944 Broadway musical On the Town.^[6] 1961's "Moon River"^[7] and 1962's "Days of Wine and Roses"^[8] were both Academy Award winners in the Best Original Song category whose titles Williams used in naming the corresponding albums for which they were recorded.

"Through the Eyes of Love" was used as the subtitle for Melissa Manchester's recording of the "Theme from Ice Castles" in 1979, when it reached number 13 on the Easy Listening chart^[9] and number 76 on the Hot 100 in Billboard magazine.^[10] "Close Enough for Love" was sung by Pattie Brooks in the 1979 film Agatha before becoming the title track of Peggy Lee's album released that year.^[11] The recording of "How Do You Keep the Music Playing" by Patti Austin and James Ingram originated in the 1982 film Best Friends and reached number five Adult Contemporary,^[12] number six R&B,^[13] and number 45 on the Hot 100.^[14] "The Music of Goodbye" is a duet between Al Jarreau and Melissa Manchester that was subtitled "Love Theme from Out of Africa"^[15] and peaked at number 16 Adult Contemporary^[16] and number 75 on the UK singles chart in 1986,^[17] the same year in which Bobby McFerrin sang the title song of the film Round Midnight.^[18]

Personnel

Performers

• Trevor Bastow - keyboards
• Nigel Black - French horn
• Jeffrey Bryant - French horn
• John Chambers - percussion
• Harry Fisher - drums
• Tristan Fry - percussion
• Paul Hart - keyboards
• Chris Karan - drums, percussion
• Duncan Lamont - tenor sax solos
• Jeremy Lubbock - keyboards ("How Do You Keep the Music Playing?", "Moon River", "My Funny Valentine", "'Round Midnight")
• Andy MacIntosh - alto sax solos
• Mike Moran - keyboards
• John Pigneguy - French horn
• Frank Ricotti - percussion
• Ray Russell - electric guitar
• Paul Westwood - bass
• Sean Whittle - keyboards
• Andy Williams - vocals

Production

• Jeremy Lubbock - producer, arranger (with acknowledgments), conductor (except as noted)
• John Lubbock - conductor ("How Do You Keep the Music Playing?", "Moon River", "'Round Midnight")
• David Foster - arranger acknowledgment ("How Do You Keep the Music Playing?")
• Larry Williams - arranger acknowledgment ("The Music of Goodbye")
• Johnny Mandel - arranger acknowledgment ("Close Enough for Love")
• John Arrias - engineer, mixer
• Aaron Denson - assistant engineer
• John Powell - assistant engineer
• Steve Jackson - assistant engineer
• Matt Howe - mixing assistant
• Barry Diament - CD mastering
• Bernie Grundman - LP mastering
• George Hamer - contractor
• Jack Rothstein - concertmaster
• Kenneth Sillito - concertmaster
• Richard Studt - concertmaster
• Aaron Rapoport - cover photo
• Bob Defrin - art direction

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} (1986) Album notes for Close Enough for Love by Andy Williams, [CD booklet]. New York: Atco Records.
2. ^ "Close Enough for Love - Andy Williams". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r26668. Retrieved 26 April 2011. 
3. ^ "Babes in Arms". ibdb.com. The Broadway League. http://www.ibdb.com/production-songs.php?ShowNo=1769&ProdNo=12218. Retrieved 30 April 2011. 
4. ^ "Carefree (1938) - Soundtracks". imdb.com. Amazon.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029971/soundtrack. Retrieved 29 April 2011. 
5. ^ Whitburn 1986, p. 37.
6. ^ "On the Town". ibdb.com. The Broadway League. http://www.ibdb.com/production-songs.php?ShowNo=6753&ProdNo=1614. Retrieved 29 April 2011. 
7. ^ Wiley 1996, p. 1078.
8. ^ Wiley 1996, p. 1081.
9. ^ Whitburn 2007, p. 170.
10. ^ Whitburn 2009, p. 610.
11. ^ "Agatha (1979) - Soundtracks". imdb.com. Amazon.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078736/soundtrack. Retrieved 1 May 2011. 
12. ^ Whitburn 2007, p. 132.
13. ^ Whitburn 2004, p. 274.
14. ^ Whitburn 2009, p. 468.
15. ^ "Albums by Melissa Manchester and Al Jarreau". rate your music.com. http://rateyourmusic.com/artist/melissa_manchester_and_al_jarreau. Retrieved 1 May 2011. 
16. ^ Whitburn 2007, p. 170.
17. ^ "Melissa Manchester - The Music of Goodbye". Chart Stats. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=13281. Retrieved 1 May 2011. 
18. ^ "'Round Midnight (1986) - Soundtracks". imdb.com. Amazon.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090557/soundtrack. Retrieved 1 May 2011. 

References

• Whitburn, Joel (1986), Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories, 1890-1954, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898200830 
• Whitburn, Joel (2004), Joel Whitburn Presents Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles, 1942-2004, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898201608 
• Whitburn, Joel (2007), Joel Whitburn Presents Billboard Top Adult Songs, 1961-2006, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898201691 
• Whitburn, Joel (2009), Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955-2008, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898201802 
• Wiley, Mason; Bona, Damien (1996), Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards, Ballantine Books, ISBN 0345400534