Howard Andrew Williams (born December 3, 1927 in Wall Lake, Iowa, died Sept… Read Full Bio ↴Howard Andrew Williams (born December 3, 1927 in Wall Lake, Iowa, died September 26, 2012), known as Andy Williams, was an American pop singer.

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.

Round And Round
Andy Williams Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

It begins to tell,
Round midnight, midnight.
I do pretty well, till after sundown,
Suppertime I'm feelin' sad;
But it really gets bad,
Round midnight.
Memories always start round midnight
Haven't got the heart to stand those memories,

When my heart is still with you,
And ol' midnight knows it, too.
When a quarrel we had needs mending,
Does it mean that our love is ending.
Darlin' I need you, lately I find
You're out of my heart,
And I'm out of my mind.
Let our hearts take wings
Round midnight, midnight
Let the angels sing,
For your returning.
Till our love is safe and sound.
And old midnight comes around.
Feelin' sad,

Really gets bad
Round, round, round, mid, night

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to "Round and Round" by Andy Williams paint a picture of a person who is going through a tough time after a breakup. The song begins by setting the stage for the rest of the lyrics - it's around midnight, and memories of the lost love start flooding in. The person is initially able to hold up well, but as the night progresses, it gets worse, with suppertime being an especially difficult time. The memories of the lost love are so potent that it becomes unbearable for the person to deal with them. The lyrics suggest that the person is not ready to let go of the heartbreak just yet and is not over the love that was lost.

The lyrics also touch on the idea of whether a small quarrel means that love has ended between two people. The person is longing for their lost love and is confused about whether the quarrel was significant enough to end the relationship. They are letting their heart take control of them, and at this moment, they need their love more than ever.

Overall, the lyrics suggest a sense of melancholy and sadness that often accompany breakups. The pain that comes with losing someone can be so overwhelming that it becomes unbearable. "Round and Round" tells a story of someone who is going through this pain and is desperate for their love to return, hoping to find solace when "old midnight comes around."

Line by Line Meaning

It begins to tell,
The story starts to unfold

Round midnight, midnight.
Around midnight, in the middle of the night

I do pretty well, till after sundown,
I manage fine until the evening comes

Suppertime I'm feelin' sad;
At dinner time, I start to feel sad

But it really gets bad,
But it gets much worse

Round midnight.
Around midnight

Memories always start round midnight
Memories always come back around midnight

Haven't got the heart to stand those memories,
I can't handle those memories

When my heart is still with you,
When my heart still belongs to you

And ol' midnight knows it, too.
And even midnight knows it

When a quarrel we had needs mending,
When we need to patch things up after an argument