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.
How Insensitive
Andy Williams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When she told me that she loved me
How unmoved and cold, I must have seemed
When she told me so sincerely
Why she must have asked?
Did I just turn and stare in icy silence?
What was I to say? What can you say
How insensitive, he must have seemed
When she told me that she loved him
How unmoved and cold, he must have seemed
When she told him so sincerely
Why she must have asked?
Did he just turn and stare in icy silence?
What was she to say? What can he say
When a love affair is over?
Now she's gone away
And I'm alone with a memory of her last look
Vague and drawn and sad, I see it still
All her heartbreak in that last look
How she must have asked
Could I just turn and stare in icy silence?
What was I to do? What can one do
When a love affair is over?
The lyrics to How Insensitive by Andy Williams display the aftermath of a love affair that has ended. The song highlights the cold and unmoved nature of the singer when their partner claims to love them. The singer describes the scenario and the emotional disconnect that transpires during the event. The singer reflects on the seemingly nonchalant reaction they had towards their partner's confession, and how that reaction may have affected their partner. The singer is forced to deal with the heartbreak and loneliness that follows after a failed relationship.
The song is about the aftermath of a love affair and serves as a reminder of how hurtful and damaging our actions can be in a relationship. The lyrics provide a powerful message about how we should treat our loved ones and the importance of good communication, as well as how it will help build stronger relationships. The feeling of regret and remorse is evident in the singer's tone, emphasizing the negative impact of insensitive actions during the end of a relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
How insensitive, I must have seemed
I realize now that I came across as very heartless and unsympathetic
When she told me that she loved me
I didn't respond in the way she wanted when she said she loved me
How unmoved and cold, I must have seemed
I must have appeared as emotionless and uncaring
When she told me so sincerely
Even though she spoke from the heart
Why she must have asked?
It's not surprising that she had to question my reaction
Did I just turn and stare in icy silence?
It appears that I simply froze up and didn't know how to respond
What was I to say? What can you say
I was completely lost for words and didn't know how to react
When a love affair is over?
It's tough to come up with the right response when a relationship comes to an end
Now she's gone away
Since she's left, I realized how much I had taken her for granted
And I'm alone with a memory of her last look
The only thing I have left of her is the memory of her final expression
Vague and drawn and sad, I see it still
It's still very clear in my mind how she looked - sad and distant
All her heartbreak in that last look
The expression she gave me showed me how much pain she was in
How she must have asked
I'm sure she was wondering why I couldn't show more emotion and care
Could I just turn and stare in icy silence?
Did I seriously come across as so cold and distant?
What was I to do? What can one do
I was totally lost and didn't know how to make things better
When a love affair is over?
The end of a relationship is never easy, and it can be hard to know how to proceed
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Antonio Carlos Jobim, Norman Gimbel, Vinicius De Moraes
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind