Released February 1958 Label Barnaby Records | Length 35:53 Release date February 1958 | |
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Recorded November 6, 1957November 7, 1957November 12, 1957 Genres Traditional pop music, Show tune Similar Andy Williams albums, Traditional pop music albums | ||
Andy Williams Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was orchestrated and conducted by Alvy West. It was released in February 1958 by Cadence Records and focuses upon songs composed by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Contents
When the album was reissued by Cadence in 1963, the Review Panel in the somewhat newly renamed Billboard magazine updated the rating it was given upon its initial release to reflect the fact that "Williams, a seller of stature," had become "increasingly hot, thanks to regular TV exposure and hits on his current label." Whereas the 1958 review yielded only a four-star rating, the 1963 reissue garnered the magazine's coveted Spotlight Pick, which was given to albums with the greatest sales potential.
The album was released on compact disc for the first time by Collectables Records on September 12, 2000, as tracks 13 through 24 on a pairing of two albums on CD with tracks 1 through 12 consisting of Williams's 1958 collection of Cadence Records singles that was simply entitled Andy Williams. Collectables included this CD in a box set entitled Classic Album Collection, Vol. 1, which contains 17 of his studio albums and three compilations and was released on June 26, 2001.
Reception
On Allmusic William Ruhlmann wrote that Williams "wasn't really a rocker, even if he sometimes pretended to be one for commercial purposes at the behest of Cadence Records head Archie Bleyer" and that he "was allowed to show his true colors by recording a collection of Rodgers & Hammerstein songs from the musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, and The King and I. The result was the birth of the Andy Williams his fans knew from then on." Ruhlmann felt that "Williams revealed his warm tenor with its touches of Mel Tormé's velvety tones on material he clearly felt comfortable with" and that his "buoyancy and sincerity as a singer were never better displayed than they were here."
Track listing
All songs written by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II
Side one
- "Some Enchanted Evening" – 4:19
- "If I Loved You" – 2:25
- "Getting to Know You" – 2:04
- "This Nearly Was Mine" – 2:55
- "Bali Ha'i" – 3:00
- "I Have Dreamed" – 3:06
Side two
- "People Will Say We're in Love" – 3:03
- "Younger Than Springtime" – 3:33
- "I Whistle a Happy Tune" – 1:50
- "We Kiss in a Shadow" – 3:33
- "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top" – 3:28
- "Hello Young Lovers" – 2:44
Personnel
Songs
1Some Enchanted Evening4:20
2If I Loved You2:27
3Getting to Know You2:06