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`Sidewalks` is honored to interview a
legendary singer
In Wall Lake, Iowa, Andy Williams' career started with his
siblings and their singing group, The Williams
Brothers.
When they moved to Los Angeles, the
brothers gained a short-lived national following.
Soon after, Andy went on with his solo career, where
he found success on Steve Allen’s Tonight Show.
Andy had a string of hit singles, including
"Canadian Sunset," "Butterfly," "The Hawaiian
Wedding Song," "Are You Sincere," "The Village of
St. Bernadette," "Lonely Street," "I Like Your Kind
Of Love," and "Can't Get Used to Losing You." In
all, he had eighteen gold and three
platinum-certified albums. Known as "Mr. Christmas,"
Andy has recorded eight Christmas albums over the
years.
In 1962, Andy became the star of his own weekly
television variety show, called The Andy Williams
Show, until 1971. The series is noted for
establishing the Osmond Brothers and Marie Osmond,
as well as presenting Bobby Darin, Dick Van Dyke,
Jonathan Winters, Ray Stevens and The Lennon
Sisters. He returned to television to do a
syndicated half-hour series in 1976–77.
Andy is known for "Moon River," a song composed by
Johnny Mercer (lyrics) and Henry Mancini (music). It
was originally sung in the motion picture,
"Breakfast At Tiffany's" by Audrey Hepburn, but it
became the theme song for Andy, who first recorded
it in 1961 and performed it at the Oscar® ceremonies
in 1962. "Moon River" won that year's Academy Award®
for "Best Original Song" and a 1962 Grammy Award®
for "Record of the Year."
From the 13th Annual Grammy® Awards in 1971 through
the 19th show in 1977, Andy hosted
the most Grammy® telecasts, totaling seven
consecutive shows.
Since 1992, Andy is the first non-country star to
open a theater in Branson, Missouri, where he
performs several months each year.
In this 2009 interview with SIDEWALKS host
Cindy Rhodes, Andy talks about his memoir, "Moon River and Me."
Plus, he gives us some stories about opening his
theatre in Branson and how he was introduced to the
song, "Moon River."
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