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.
Dreamsville
Andy Williams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm dreaming you
Just we two alone in love in Dreamsville
Time is new, we're here to love
A-and we do
We can see the rest of the world below us from our pink cloud
There's no boundary to this magic light
Far away
And here we love
Here we'll stay
The lyrics to the song "Dreamsville" by Andy Williams invite the listener to join the singer in a dreamlike place. The verses describe a magical, perfect world where the singer is alone with their loved one, free to explore and love each other. The use of the phrase "Dreamsville" adds to the ethereal nature of the lyrics, creating an otherworldly, metaphysical space where everything is peaceful and romantic.
The song begins with the singer sharing their experience of holding their loved one in Dreamsville while dreaming of just the two of them. The imagery used throughout the lyrics is very vivid, with references to a pink cloud, magic light, and an uncharted world. The chorus reaffirms the love between the two of them and the fact that they are both happy to be there, away from the rest of the world.
Overall, the lyrics to "Dreamsville" create a vivid picture of a place where two people can escape from the real world and just be in love, free from the troubles of everyday life. The dreamlike descriptions of this alternate universe draw the listener into the song, allowing them to imagine their own version of Dreamsville.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm in Dreamsville, holding you
I'm in a dreamlike state where I'm holding you tightly
I'm dreaming you
You appear in my dreams and I'm in love with the idea of you
Just we two alone in love in Dreamsville
Our love is so strong that it feels like we're the only two people in this magical place called Dreamsville
Time is new, we're here to love
In this dreamland, time feels different and we're here to experience love
A-and we do
And we're succeeding in experiencing love in Dreamsville
We can see the rest of the world below us from our pink cloud
Our love has lifted us so high that we can see the world from the comfort of our very own pink cloud
There's no boundary to this magic light
The love we're experiencing knows no limit and is magical in nature
As we go exploring hand-in-hand in dreamy Dreamsville
We're always exploring new things together while holding hands and in this dreamland, we call Dreamsville
Far away
Dreamsville is far away from our reality
And here we love
In this special place called Dreamsville, we experience love in its purest form
Here we'll stay
We have no intention of leaving Dreamsville anytime soon and we'll continue to experience this pure love for a while longer
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Henry N Mancini, Jay Livingston, Ray Evans
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jymster46
One of my favorites too. I bought the album in 1962 and played it until the grooves wore off. Thank goodness for the CD technology and the release of all his great music. Thank you so much for watching and for your great comments! Much Appreciated! Jim
ClassicDamsel
A beautiful song by a wonderful artist. Thank you so much for sharing!
Judy Gabaldon
In honor of Andy Williams, who passed today, I've been posting my favorites by him on my Facebook wall. The two I chose were "Are you Sincere" and "Don't Go to Strangers", but when I saw/heard this, I was reminded of how much I loved it. One of those rare occasions when a great instrumental (by Henry Mancini) translates to an equally great vocal. Lovely video too. Thank you so much!
Jymster46
@ClassicDamsel You are very welcome! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. He has recorded so many great songs. Thank you so much for listening! Jim
TobyJae
After watching your very beautiful & dreamy video weeks ago, I made it my mission to find a CD that included this song. Mission accomplished. I am loving Mr. Williams' early songbook so very much and this is an intense favorite. When I listen to this song I see your lovely images in my mind's eye. Thank you for the introduction to a most gorgeous piece that will be close to me, for the rest of me!
Joseph Vu
Williams was perfect ! Why didn't he do More Jazz songs ? I mean.... Williams's Phasing, and Vocal Tone is amazing !
Julie Jensen
I wish he'd gotten the chance to make popular at least half of the Sinatra songs.
PKellyMc Yahoo-dot-com
Wonderful rendition, right up there with Lola's.
Jymster46
@azw596 Yes, the memories, that go with the song, run deep and are very special, for sure. I'm so glad you enjoyed it and thanks so much for watching and commenting! Jim
ray hanks
Damn! are we blessed or what, so,so beautiful, i' 72 yrs . and music like this still moves me, WoW!