Moon River – Andy Williams (1962)

Description

Additional information about this, Andy Williams vinyl art.

Andy Williams – The Artist

Andy Williams (1927 –  2012) is an American Singer and TV host. He hosted the Andy Williams Show from 1962 to 1971, and numerous TV specials. He recorded 43 albums and sold more than 100 million records worldwide during his career. He is probably best known for his songs, Moon River and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You which has become a popular song played at weddings and at anniversaries.

Moon River – The Song

‘Moon River’ is a song composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was originally performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The song also won the 1962 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. In 1999, Mancini’s recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
The song has been recorded by many other artists. It became the theme song for Andy Williams, who first recorded it in 1962 (and performed it at the Academy Awards ceremony that year). He sang the first eight bars of the song at the beginning of each episode of his eponymous television show and named his production company and venue in Branson, Missouri, after it; his autobiography is called “Moon River” and Me. Williams’ version was never released as a single, but it charted as an LP track that he recorded for Columbia on a hit album of 1962, Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes.[The song’s success was responsible for relaunching Mercer’s career as a songwriter, which had stalled in the mid-1950s because rock and roll had replaced jazz standards as the popular music of the time. The song’s popularity is such that it has been used as a test sample in a study on people’s memories of popular songs. Comments about the lyrics have noted that they are particularly reminiscent of Mercer’s youth in the Southern United States and his longing to expand his horizons. Robert Wright wrote in The Atlantic Monthly, “This is a love sung to wanderlust. Or a romantic song in which the romantic partner is the idea of romance.” An inlet near Savannah, Georgia, Johnny Mercer’s hometown, was named Moon River in honour of him and this song.

Audrey Hepburn – The Shape

This record has been cut into the shape of Audrey Hepburn from the film Breakfast at Tiffanys. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a 1961 American romantic comedy film directed by Blake Edwards from a screenplay by George Axelrod and based on the 1958 novella by Truman Capote. It stars Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin Balsam, and Mickey Rooney. In the film, Holly Golightly (Hepburn), a naïve, eccentric socialite, meets Paul Varjak (Peppard), a struggling writer who moves into her apartment building.

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