ANDY WILLIAMS
Andy Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold-certified and three platinum-certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a television variety show, from 1962 to 1971, and numerous TV specials. The Andy Williams Show won three Emmy awards. The Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri is named after the song for which he is best known — Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini's "Moon River". He sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including more than 10 million certified units in the United States. (More from Wikipedia)
More recently, and representing 15 years of research, Mike Stax published another acclaimed book called Swim Through the Darkness: My Search for Craig Smith and the Mystery of Maitreya Kali, about a pop and folk musician named Craig Smith who worked with Andy Williams, Glen Campbell and the Monkees and later descended into mental illness and became a “psychedelic messiah” called Maitreya Kali, who released two albums in the early 1970’s.
(September 2017)
* * *
We have been bombarded with important anniversaries this year. In music, they all seem to go back to 1962: The first albums by Bob Dylan (Bob Dylan) and by the Beach Boys (Surfin’ Safari) were released in the US; the Beatles’ first single, “Love Me Do” b/w “P.S. I Love You” was released in the UK (Sir Paul McCartney also turned 70 this year); the Rolling Stones had their first concert; and Andy Williams first began singing his signature song, “Moon River”. All of this historical context might have gotten rock musicians in a writing mood: Books by Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Rod Stewart, and Neil Young all came out this year.
(Year 3 Review)
