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.
Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again
Andy Williams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And soon my tears they will be falling like rain
It always seems to be a Monday
Left over memories of Sunday always spent with you
Before the clouds appeared and took away my sunshine
Misty morning eyes I'm trying to disguise the way I feel
But I just can't hide its people seem to know the loneliness
Here comes that rainy day feeling again
Here comes that rainy day feeling again
And I'll be dreaming of you baby in vain
Your face is always on my mind girl
I'm hoping soon your gonna find girl your
Way back to me cause if you say you'll stay the rainy
Days will go away.
The lyrics of Andy Williams's song "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again" depict the singer's sense of melancholy and loneliness, triggered by the rainy weather. The song's opening lines, "Here comes that rainy day feeling again, and soon my tears they will be falling like rain," succinctly capture the singer's emotional state. The lyrics go on to suggest that Mondays are particularly hard for the singer, as it reignites memories of the previous Sunday, which they had spent with the love interest who is now gone. The line "Before the clouds appeared and took away my sunshine" is a poignant reference to this feeling of loss.
As the song progresses, the singer struggles to hide their loneliness, despite their effort to do so. The line "Misty morning eyes I'm trying to disguise the way I feel, but I just can't hide it" perfectly encapsulates this internal struggle. The singer's love for their former partner is also evident in the lyrics. They dream of their lost love, and their face is always on the singer's mind. However, they are also grappling with feelings of pride and a desire to move on, as seen in the line "Must show I'm thinking of my pride but breaking up inside girl."
Overall, the lyrics to "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again" are a moving depiction of love, loss, and the human struggle to move on from heartbreak. The melancholic tone is captured perfectly in the song, making it a classic that is still enjoyed by audiences today.
Line by Line Meaning
Here comes that rainy day feeling again
The singer is experiencing sadness and seems to be caught in a cycle of feeling this way
And soon my tears they will be falling like rain
The singer knows they will cry soon and their tears will be abundant
It always seems to be a Monday
The singer associates their sadness with the first day of the work week
Left over memories of Sunday always spent with you
The artist is reminded of spending time with someone they miss on Sundays
Before the clouds appeared and took away my sunshine
Something negative happened that caused the artist to lose their happiness
Misty morning eyes I'm trying to disguise the way I feel
The singer is attempting to hide their sadness from others
But I just can't hide its people seem to know the loneliness
Despite trying to conceal their feelings, others can sense the singer's loneliness
Must show I'm thinking of my pride but breaking up inside girl
The artist is struggling to maintain a sense of pride while feeling emotionally broken
Here comes that rainy day feeling again
The artist has returned to their cycle of sadness
And I'll be dreaming of you baby in vain
The artist will continue to dream of someone they miss, but those dreams will not come true
Your face is always on my mind girl
The singer cannot stop thinking about the person they miss
I'm hoping soon your gonna find girl your
The artist is hoping the person they miss will return to them soon
Way back to me cause if you say you'll stay the rainy
The singer believes that if the person they miss returns, their sadness will dissipate
Days will go away.
The singer's sadness will disappear if the person they miss returns
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ROGER FREDERICK COOK, ROGER JOHN REGINALD GREENAWAY, TONY MACAULAY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind