Andy Williams RIP

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19729630

I happened to see the final show of his final UK tour, in 2007. Although the vocal cracks were just starting to appear, he summoned all of his powers for a bold and magnificent rendition of MacArthur Park, which left me stunned. (I'd never thought much of the song until then.)

My dad used to play his Greatest Hits on 8-track cartridge on the school run, week in and week out. So those songs - Home Lovin' Man, Happy Heart, Can't Take My Eyes Off You - are etched deep into my musical memory.

"I didn't think he was going to sing "Moon River" and then BAM! second encore!".

Brilliant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1p_H704lQY

For me, inextricably linked with growing up in the '60s and his Christmas specials.

RIP smooth dude

http://i56.tinypic.com/6h2wc2.jpg

From my review:

The show ended with a historic announcement: not only was Nottingham the final date of the tour, but it was also Andy’s final tour. There had been something of the farewell lurking throughout the show – particularly during a slowed down Breaking Up Is Hard To Do – and now we knew why. With a minimum of fuss, Williams strolled casually off stage and, as Days Of Wine And Roses so poignantly put it, “towards a closing door, a door marked "nevermore" that wasn't there before.

Two other associations: the Osmonds (he was like Diana Ross to their Jackson 5) and his funny guest spot on Larry Sanders.

"Packed...every night."

TV staple of my childhood as well; haven't listened much since, tho "Can't Get Used" might be his peak.

Am really sad about his passing. The "Can't help falling in love" album is an integral part of my childhood, and I am convinced some horror befell me while the album was playing because when I replayed the album in the mid 80s I was in floods of tears, it was like experiencing a past life or something. From there I collected his albums during the late 80s - they were charity shop regulars - and got to know his music more. As an interpretative singer, he was amazing, and he could pick whoever he wanted for arrangements or whatever. The above mentioned album is a highlight - the side two medley just about beats side one of "Bookends" in the cradle to grave stakes - and the "Solitaire" LP from 73 is great too, a typical Richard Perry production, some great songs (Nilsson, various solo Fabs and more) with a crack 70s session team (Hopkins, Voorman etc). It was downhill from there artistically but I was glad for his revivals and very glad I got to see him perform in Cardiff ten years ago - I was probably the youngest person there. His music was a huge part of my life, and it was purely for the music I loved him, was too young for the TV shows. I'm going to play "It's over" now and shed a tear or two, Sorry.

"I experienced the things that most people did when taking psychedelic drugs – the intensely heightened senses, the beauty of colours and sounds, the contrasting phases of feeling. One moment, I would feel like I was a lord of the cosmos, the next I would be focused on a microscopic detail – a coloured thread fluttering in the breeze, or specks of dust hanging in the air. LSD gave me powerful feelings of euphoria – some sex-related – but also a sense of fear and despair. During one session I was even born again – not in the evangelical sense, but in believing I was experiencing the very painful physical sensations of birth."

Trademark political schizo -- campaigned for RFK & McGovern, then...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/6241196/Andy-Williams-accuses-Barack-Obama-of-following-Marxist-theory.html

"His music was a huge part of my life.."
Always wanted to see him perform but never got a chance too despite trying. I remember the Christmas specials and the cozy feelings I'd get from them. Sad.

One of my dad's favorites, so between his LPs on the hi-fi and the TV specials he's pretty much in my DNA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSQmGeyGBnQ

Not really unexpected, but sad to see him go. Agree with what Rob M says about his seventies albums above; he had three number one albums in the UK and here's what I had to [Removed Illegal Link] [url=http://nobilliards.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/andy-williams-home-lovin-man.html}them[/url].

Damn this stupid system:

http://nobilliards.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/andy-williams-home-lovin-man.html
http://nobilliards.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/andy-williams-andy-williams-greatest.html
http://nobilliards.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/andy-williams-love-andy.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HEdb68x314

watched the show as a kid mostly for the Cookie Bear btw

Never did understand why the bear never got in the door.

It wasn't like AWilliams didn't have any, or that he was some sort of miser: most of his guests each week got to go in for milk & cookies...

Still, though... (I always liked his tie, the bear that is)

Kate Smith and Andy, bear bigots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVmt_-2uueM

awww... I loved that bear you know..

the actor inside did all the network beasties back then (Mugato & Horta on Star Trek)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=svXAztivzak#!
I don't remember seeing the Christmas specials once I was a teen but they were apparently still being made in the 80's. Infrequently? Love Joey Lawrence and Lisa Bonet in this too.

holy shit this is great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKmfSS0gVGc

Williams was a noted collector of Navajo blankets. His collection had hung in his home, his offices, and the Moon River Theater, and was exhibited at the Saint Louis Art Museum in 1997–1998. Williams collection was valued at over $1 million by Sotheby's, who were due to sell the collection in May 2013. The sale on May 21, 2013 yielded $978,506 (£642,064). Weeks before dying of bladder cancer at his home in Branson, Missouri, Williams stated in a 2012 interview with Us Weekly, "I loathe the disgusting Navajo people, their primitive culture, their backwards ways. I resent their insistence on sovereignty, and I perceive their nation as a tax burden to legitimate Americans. But despite this, I cannot deny that I am inexplicably drawn to the soft, colorful blankets woven by the Navajo squaw. Every night, I fall asleep in erotic reverie by draping my nude body with dozens of their intoxicatingly beautiful blankets from my own personal collection that I love more than my own children. Any man or woman who tries to take away my precious Navajo blankets will surely perish at my hand."