He first performed in a children's choir at his local Presbyterian church. Williams and his three older brothers Bob, Dick, and Don, formed a quartet, the Williams Brothers, in the late 1930s. The brothers performed on radio in the Midwest, first at WHO in Des Moines, Iowa, and later at WLS in Chicago and WLW in Cincinnati. Williams graduated from Western Hills High School in Cincinnati. They appeared with Bing Crosby on the hit record "Swinging on a Star" (1944). This led to a nightclub act with entertainer Kay Thompson from 1947 to 1951.
Williams's solo career began in 1952 after his brothers left the act. He recorded six sides for RCA's label "X," but none of them were popular hits. After landing a spot as a regular on Steve Allen's Tonight Show in 1955, he was signed to a recording contract with Cadence Records, a small label in New York run by conductor Archie Bleyer. His third single, "Canadian Sunset" (1956) hit the Top Ten, and was soon followed his only Billboard #1 hit, "Butterfly" (a cover of a Charlie Gracie record on which Williams imitated Elvis Presley). More hits followed, including "The Hawaiian Wedding Song," "Are You Sincere," "The Village of St. Bernadette," and "Lonely Street," before Williams moved to Columbia Records in 1961, having moved from New York to Los Angeles. In terms of chart popularity, the Cadence era was Williams's peak although songs he introduced on Columbia became much bigger standards. Two top ten hits from the Cadence era, "Butterfly" and "I Like Your Kind of Love" were apparently believed to not suit Williams's later style; they were not included on a Columbia reissue of his Cadence greatest hits in the 1960s.
During the 1960s, Williams became one of the most popular vocalists in the country and signed what was to that time the biggest recording contract in history. He was primarily an album artist, and at one time he had earned more gold albums than any solo performer except Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. By 1973 he had earned as many as 17 gold album awards. Among his hit albums from this period were Moon River, Days of Wine and Roses (number one for 16 weeks in mid-1963), The Andy Williams Christmas Album, Dear Heart, The Shadow of Your Smile, Love, Andy, Get Together with Andy Williams, and Love Story. In these recordings Williams displays an incredible vocal technique along with an uncanny ability to make each song his very own, often rivaling or surpassing the version by the original artist. These attributes, along with his natural affinity for the music of the 1960s and early 1970s, combined to make him one of the premier easy listening singers of that era.
Williams forged an indirect collaborative relationship with Henry Mancini, although they never recorded together. Williams was asked to sing Mancini and Johnny Mercer's song "Moon River" at the 1962 Oscar Awards (where it won), and it quickly became Williams's theme song. This was repeated the next year with the pair's "Days of Wine and Roses" (which also won), Mancini's "Dear Heart" at the 1965 awards and "The Sweetheart Tree" (also written with Mercer) at the 1966 awards.
Williams also competed in the teenage-oriented singles market as well and had several charting hits including "Can't Get Used to Losing You," "Happy Heart," and "Where Do I Begin", the theme song from the 1970 blockbuster film, Love Story. Building on his experience with Allen and some short-term variety shows in the 1950s, he became the star of his own weekly television variety show in 1962. This series, The Andy Williams Show, won three Emmy Awards for outstanding variety program. Among his series regulars were the Osmond Brothers. He gave up the variety show in 1971 while it was still popular and retrenched to three specials per year. His Christmas specials, which appeared regularly until 1974 and intermittently from 1982 into the 1990s, were among the most popular of the genre. Williams has recorded eight Christmas albums over the years. He hosted the Grammy Awards for three consecutive years in the 1970s. He returned to television to do a syndicated half-hour series in 1976-77.
In the early 1990s, Williams gave up most of his touring schedule in order to open his own theatre in Branson, Missouri, the Andy Williams Moon River Theater. He continues to do 8 to 12 shows a week from September to December and occasionally makes tours of Europe earlier in the year.
His 1967 recording of "Music to Watch Girls By" was a surprise UK hit in 1999, when it reached number 9 after featuring in an advert (beating the original peak of number 33 in 1967). In 2002 he took part in a new duet of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" with British actress and singer Denise van Outen. Nearly everything Williams ever recorded has now been made available on CD through a series of compilations from 1997 to 2004.
Williams met Claudine Longet when he pulled over to aid her on a Las Vegas road. She was a dancer at the time at the Folies Bergere. They married on Christmas Day, 1961, and had three children, Noelle, Christian, and Robert. They separated in 1969 and finally divorced 6 years later. In 1976 Longet was charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend, skier Vladimir "Spider" Sabich and Williams supported her. He married a second time in May 1991 to the former Debbie Haas. They make their homes at Branson, Missouri and La Quinta, California. Williams' homes have been featured in Architectural Digest, and he is a noted collector of modern art. Williams is an avid golfer. He hosted a major golf tournament in San Diego for many years, which was known as the Andy Williams San Diego Open during that time.
Williams' birthplace is a tourist attraction open most of the year.
Bilbao Song
Andy Williams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I won't forget it soon (doo doo)
That old Bilbao moon (doo doo)
Just like a big balloon (doo doo)
That old Bilbao moon (doo doo)
Would rise above the dune (doo doo)
While Tony's Beach Saloon (doo doo)
Rocked with an old-time tune (doo doo)
We'd sing a song the whole night long and I can still recall
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest nights of them all
No paint was on the door (no paint was on the door)
The grass grew through the floor (the grass grew through the floor)
Of Tony's Two By Four (of Tony's Two By Four)
On the Bilbao shore (on the Bilbao shore)
But there were friends galore (howdy do, howdy do)
And there was beer to pour (chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug)
And moonlight on the shore (and the moon shines above)
That old Bilbao shore (on the shore, not the floor)
We'd sing all night with all our might and I can still recall
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (the greatest) nights of them all
That old Bilbao moon
I won't forget it soon
That old Bilbao moon
Just like a big balloon
That old Bilbao moon
Would rise above the dune
While Tony's Beach Saloon
Rocked with an old-time tune
We'd sing all night with all our might and I can still recall
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (the greatest) nights of them all
In "The Bilbao Song" by Andy Williams, the singer reminisces about a time spent on Bilbao shore with friends. The singer describes the moon as being like a big balloon, rising above the dune, and shining down on Tony's Beach Saloon. Despite the roughness of the establishment - with no paint on the door and grass growing through the floor - the singer remembers it fondly, with plenty of beer to pour and old-time tunes to sing all night long. The singer concludes that those nights spent on the Bilbao shore were the greatest of them all.
There is a sense of wistfulness in the lyrics of "The Bilbao Song." The singer is nostalgic for a time when friends were close and life was simpler. The image of the moon in particular serves as a powerful symbol of the past, something that the singer can never forget. The lines "Those were the greatest nights of them all" seem to lament the fact that such good times are now in the past.
Line by Line Meaning
That old Bilbao moon
Fond memories of the beautiful moon in Bilbao, Spain.
I won't forget it soon
The singer is struck by the beauty of the moon and it will forever be a memory he cherishes.
Just like a big balloon
The moon in Bilbao looked like a big balloon in the night sky.
Would rise above the dune
The moon would appear above a dune in Bilbao.
While Tony's Beach Saloon
The singer spent his nights at Tony's Beach Saloon.
Rocked with an old-time tune
The singer would dance to old music at Tony's Beach Saloon.
We'd sing a song the whole night long and I can still recall
The singer has fond memories of singing with friends all night long.
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those nights spent partying and singing with friends were unforgettable.
No paint was on the door
Tony's Two By Four was a simple bar with no fancy decorations.
The grass grew through the floor
The bar was so old that grass was growing through the floorboards.
Of Tony's Two By Four
The name of the bar where the singer spent his nights with friends in Bilbao.
On the Bilbao shore
The bar was located on the shore in Bilbao.
But there were friends galore (howdy do, howdy do)
Despite the bar's simple appearance, the singer had many friends there and would greet them with enthusiasm.
And there was beer to pour (chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug)
The singer enjoyed drinking beer with his friends at Tony's Two By Four.
And moonlight on the shore (and the moon shines above)
The moonlight enhanced the beauty of the shore and made the nights spent there with friends even more special.
We'd sing all night with all our might and I can still recall
The singer and his friends would sing all night and these nights spent at Tony's Two By Four were memorable.
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
The singer can't emphasize enough how unforgettable those nights spent with friends at Tony's Two By Four in Bilbao were.
Those were the greatest (the greatest) nights of them all
The nights spent partying and singing at Tony's Two By Four were the best the singer ever had.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: BERTOLT BRECHT, EUGEN BERTHOLD BRECHT, JOHNNY MERCER, KURT WEILL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@user-ve6ub9td2t
Reminds me of my youth❤
@lisag2560
This is one my earliest, best memories - my mom singing along to this song.
@Coowallsky
Ditto
@oldermusiclover
love this old tune
@philbeckman1965
Good tune! An old favorite. 2:15
@rslitman
I first heard this song on the radio in the fall of 1964 on WWDC in Washington, DC. It was played frequently enough that I thought it was a current song. It took me at least 40 years to find out the title and who had the hit with it, 3 years earlier. I thought maybe someone had a remake release of this 1961 hit in fall 1964, but I haven't been able to find one. Probably the disk jockey especially liked this song and played it a lot that year.
Misheard lyrics - I thought the singer was saying, "That old Bill Bowers moon," and I found the real title by Googling these lyrics. I guess I wasn't the only one who heard them that way!
I first learned the phrase "chug-a-lug" in both this song and "Chug-A-Lug" by Roger Miller, which really was a fall 1964 hit, but I didn't know what it meant until several years later. (I was 12 in fall 1964.)
Finally, I thought I remembered Ray Charles being part of the artist name for "That Old Bill Bowers Moon", but neither Ray Charles nor the Ray Charles Singers appears to have recorded "The Bilbao Song" in 1964 or any other year.
@garywagner1449
The background singers are great in this song!
@clydep9870
I remember this song from the late spring of 1961. I guess they're drinking and having fun on Spains northern shores.
@shaggybreeks
I lived in the city with the largest Basque community in the US when the song was popular. But I did not associate it with the Basque country, because I did not know the name was Bilbao, or that it was a Basque city at all.
@eddriver7815
I always thought it was That Old Bill Bowell Moon .... I catch myself singing this song it doesnt matter , I have a good voice , and my wife loves to hear my sing it
////. as I am now doing .... love this song .