Three singers for Tonight Starring Steve Allen was the limit, but Kay Thompson, former radio star and former head of the vocal department at MGM, called in a favor to get her protege Andy Williams a bonus slot in the lineup. Thompson also helped cement his first recording contract with Cadence Records on which he released his debut album Andy Williams Sings Steve Allen in 1956.
Whether it was because of their personal familiarity or a favor owed, Andy Williams chose twelve Steve Allen songs to make up his first album. Allen was a prolific songwriter, if not a very good one, writing songs with others and for his show as another source of income. Steve's wit pushed the output but the bunches of material get lost in formula and the overuse of rhyming dictionaries. They lack hooks and the human touch and, at least in this selection, are void of inspiration. (A good counterpoint to Steve Allen's songwriting would be Johnny Mercer.)
The best written song on the album is "Meet Me Where They Play the Blues" and is the song best suited to Andy's tone. It fits so nicely it apparently warrants a sound-alike on Side B ("An Old Piano Plays the Blues.") Andy Williams has a unique and quality singing voice but, much like Steve Lawrence at the time, he can't help but deliver his lines through the nose, throat or top of the palate. These vocal affectations limit the types of songs he sounds natural singing, and Steve Allen's catalogue doesn't give him much to work with (even with the casual jazz orchestrations by Alvy West.)
Here is the discography surrounding Andy Williams's debut album:
You Can't Buy Happiness (1953 single)
Here Comes That Dream Again (1954 single)
Christmas Is a Feeling in Your Heart (1955 single)
Andy Williams Sings Steve Allen
"The Wind, the Sand and the Star" by Andy Williams
"Moon Over Miami" by Andy Williams
Pass the Headphones!!
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