Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes

Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes
Studio album by Andy Williams
Released	1962
Recorded	1962
Genre	Traditional pop, Standards, Vocal pop, Early pop/rock, Film music, Soundtracks [1]
Length	36:36
Label	Columbia
Producer	Robert Mersey
Andy Williams chronology
Danny Boy and Other Songs I Love to Sing (1962) Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes (1962) Warm and Willing (1962)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Billboard	[3]

Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in 1962 by Columbia Records. It made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated May 12 of that year and remained on the album chart for 176 weeks (the longest chart run of any of his albums), peaking at number 3.^[4]

The album received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on October 14, 1963, and thus became Williams's earliest recording to achieve this honor but not, however, the first to do so. His Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests album, which was released in April of 1963, received its Gold certification just one month prior to this one.^[5]

Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes was released on compact disc for the first time by Columbia in 1987.^[1] It was also released as one of two albums on one CD by Sony Music Distribution on May 15, 2001, the other album being Williams's Columbia album from February of 1962, Danny Boy and Other Songs I Love to Sing.^[6]

Album concept

In his autobiography Moon River and Me: A Memoir, Williams describes how Archie Bleyer, the head of his former record label, Cadence Records, had discouraged the singer from recording the song "Moon River" in 1961, assuming that young people wouldn't understand the line "my huckleberry friend". Williams writes, "He thought it was too abstract and didn't think it would be a hit single, so he turned it down." Williams moved on shortly thereafter to Columbia Records, where the powers-that-be loved the idea of an entire album of songs from movies, and he wound up recording the rejected song on January 4, 1962.^[7] A few months later he was again offered the chance to sing "Moon River", this time at the Academy Awards on April 9 because of its nomination for Best Original Song.^[8][9] The April 28 issue of Billboard magazine reported that the album had "racked up orders, according to Columbia Records, of close to 40,000 within two weeks' release. Platter was rushed out by the label to coincide with Williams' performance of the Mancini tune on the Academy Awards Show a fortnight ago."^[10]

Track listing

1. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" (Sammy Fain, Paul Francis Webster) – 2:55
2. "The Theme from A Summer Place" (Mack Discant, Max Steiner) – 2:38
3. "Maria" (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim) – 3:43
4. "Never on Sunday" (Manos Hadjidakis, Billy Towne) – 3:02
5. "As Time Goes By" (Herman Hupfeld) – 3:11
6. "The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine)" (Pat Boone, Ernest Gold) – 3:16
7. "Moon River" (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer) – 2:46
8. "Tonight" (Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim) – 2:37
9. "The Second Time Around" (Sammy Cahn, James Van Heusen) – 3:23
10. "Tender Is the Night" (Sammy Fain, Paul Francis Webster) – 3:05
11. "It Might as Well Be Spring" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers) –3:11
12. "Three Coins in the Fountain" (Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne) – 2:55

Song information

• "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song after its inclusion in the 1955 film of the same name.^[11] The version by The Four Aces spent six weeks at number one that same year and sold over one million copies.^[12]

• Percy Faith's original version of "The Theme from A Summer Place" received Gold single certification from the Recording Industry Association of America and spent nine weeks at number one in 1960.^[13]

• "Maria" was first performed by Larry Kert in the original 1957 Broadway production of West Side Story.^[14] Johnny Mathis was the first to chart the song, reaching number 78 in 1960.^[15]

• "Never on Sunday" (from the 1960 film of the same name) also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and was a number 19 instrumental hit for Don Costa in 1960 and a number 13 hit for The Chordettes in 1961.^[16][17]

• "As Time Goes By" was originally written for the 1931 Broadway musical Everybody's Welcome.^[18] Rudy Vallee first took the song to number 15 that year, but upon the song's inclusion in the 1942 film Casablanca, his version was reissued and spent four weeks at number one.^[19]

• "The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine)" originated as the "Theme of Exodus" on the soundtrack to the 1960 film which won the Academy Award for Best Original Score.^[20] Pat Boone reached number 64 in 1961 after adding the lyrics.^[21]

• The 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's featured Henry Mancini's recording of "Moon River", which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song as well as Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.^[22][23] Mancini's version would otherwise seem to have mirrored the success of the version recorded by Jerry Butler were it not for these accolades. Both artists debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue dated October 9, 1961, and both artists took the song to number 11.^[24][25]

• "Tonight" also originated in the 1957 Broadway production of West Side Story but did not reach the charts until 1961.^[26] Ferrante & Teicher's instrumental version reached number eight on the pop chart and spent four weeks at number two on the Easy Listening chart, while Eddie Fisher's vocal recording reached number 44 on the pop chart and number 12 Easy Listening.^[27][28]

• The performance of "The Second Time Around" by Henry Mancini and His Orchestra in the 1960 Bing Crosby film High Time earned the song a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song (losing to "Never on Sunday"), but it was Frank Sinatra's version that went to number 50 in 1961.^[29][30]

• "Tender Is the Night" received its Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song from the film of the same name over a year after the film's release in January of 1962 and lost the Oscar in April of 1963 to "Days of Wine and Roses", the song which Williams made the title track two albums later of his number one Gold album that also happened to make its first appearance on the charts in April of 1963.^{[31][32][33][34]}

• "It Might as Well Be Spring" (from the 1945 film State Fair) was the last winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Song that had more than four other songs to compete with; until 1946 any number of songs could be nominated, and 1945 saw 14 of them vying for Oscar's attention.^[35] The star of the film, Dick Haymes, made just one of the three recordings of the song that entered the charts before the end of that same year. He reached number five, Margaret Whiting's vocal performance with Paul Weston and His Orchestra went to number six, and Billy Williams's vocal performance with Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra made it to number four.^[36]

• The title song from 1954's Three Coins in the Fountain had three versions on the charts that year. Julius LaRosa went to number 21, Frank Sinatra made it to number four, and The Four Aces spent a week at number one and sold over one million copies.^[37][38] In March of 1955, the song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, beating out a song that Williams would go on to record in 1959, "Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)" by Irving Berlin.^[39][40][41]

Personnel

• Robert Mersey – arranger, conductor, producer^[42]
• Andy Williams - vocals

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} "Moon River & Other Great Movie Themes". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r24315. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
2. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r24315
3. ^ "Album Reviews". Billboard: p. 30. 1962-04-28. 
4. ^ Whitburn 1985, p. 405.
5. ^ RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for albums by Andy Williams
6. ^ "Danny Boy and Other Songs I Love to Sing/Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r746326. Retrieved 21 July 2010. 
7. ^ (2002) Album notes for The Complete Columbia Chart Singles Collection by Andy Williams, [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music.
8. ^ Wiley 1996, pp. 337, 1078.
9. ^ Williams 2009, p. 117.
10. ^ "Awards Stint Aids Williams LP Sales". Billboard. 1962-04-28. 
11. ^ Wiley 1996, p. 1061.
12. ^ Whitburn 1999, p. 233.
13. ^ Whitburn 1999, p. 215.
14. ^ "West Side Story". ibdb.com. The Broadway League. http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2639. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
15. ^ Whitburn 1999, p. 413.
16. ^ Wiley 1996, p. 1076.
17. ^ Whitburn 1999, p. 818.
18. ^ Whitburn 1986, p. 427.
19. ^ Whitburn 1986, p. 428.
20. ^ Wiley 1996, p. 1076.
21. ^ Whitburn 1999, p. 67.
22. ^ Wiley 1996, p. 1078.
23. ^ O'Neil 1999, p. 56.
24. ^ Whitburn 1999, p. 88.
25. ^ Whitburn 1999, p. 399.
26. ^ "West Side Story". ibdb.com. The Broadway League. http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=2639. Retrieved 2 July 2010. 
27. ^ Whitburn 1993, p. 84.
28. ^ Whitburn 1993, p. 87.
29. ^ Wiley 1996, p. 1076.
30. ^ O'Neil 1999, p. 591.
31. ^ "Tender Is the Night". imdb.com. Amazon.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056566/releaseinfo. Retrieved 3 July 2010. 
32. ^ Wiley 1996, p. 350.
33. ^ Wiley 1996, p. 1081.
34. ^ Whitburn 1985, p. 405.
35. ^ Wiley 1996, p. 1033.
36. ^ Whitburn 1986, p. 531.
37. ^ Whitburn 1986, p. 596.
38. ^ Whitburn 1986, p. 164.
39. ^ Wiley 1996, p. 250.
40. ^ Wiley 1996, p. 1058.
41. ^ "The Village of St. Bernadette". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r542493. Retrieved 6 July 2010. 
42. ^ "Andy Williams - Moon River And Other Great Movie Themes". Discogs.com. Zink Media, Inc.. http://www.discogs.com/Andy-Williams-Moon-River-And-Other-Great-Movie-Themes/release/2169486. Retrieved 21 July 2010. 

References

• O'Neil, Thomas (1999), The Grammys, Perigree Books, ISBN 0399524770 
• Whitburn, Joel (1999), Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955-1999, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898201403 
• Whitburn, Joel (1985), Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums, 1955-1985, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898200547 
• Whitburn, Joel (1993), Joel Whitburn's Top Adult Contemporary, 1961-1993, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898200997 
• Whitburn, Joel (1986), Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories, 1890-1954, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0898200830 
• Wiley, Mason; Bona, Damien (1996), Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards, Ballantine Books, ISBN 0345400534 
• Williams, Andy (2009), Moon River and Me: A Memoir, Viking Penguin, ISBN 9780670021178