Columbia
records' first
Andy Williams
compilation was a curious grab bag of material.
Williams
had scored some hits on
since joining the label in 1961, notably
"Can't Get Used to Losing You,"
but that song was not on the album, nor were several other Top 40 entries and major
easy listening
hits. But then, some of
' singles hits were included. The 12-track album, the material for which was drawn from recordings made and released between early 1962 and the fall of 1965, contained three songs (
"May Each Day,"
"Noelle,"
and
"Red Roses for a Blue Lady"
) that had appeared previously as LP-only tracks. There were also two tracks (
"Emily"
"I'll Remember You"
) that had been used as the B-sides of singles. And there were seven tracks that had appeared as single A-sides and gotten into the charts, the most successful of which were
"A Fool Never Learns"
(Top 20
pop
, Top Five
),
"On the Street Where You Live"
(Top 40
), and
"...And Roses and Roses"
). Five of the singles tracks had never appeared on an LP before. There were several quality performances of well-written songs, including
(the most popular song from
My Fair Lady
);
Antonio Carlos Jobim
's
"Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Corcovado)"
; the relatively obscure
Burt Bacharach
tune
"Don't You Believe It"
; and
"Emily,"
Johnny Mercer
's setting of a lyric to
Johnny Mandel
's theme from the motion picture
The Americanization of Emily
. So, the album contained some worthwhile music. But anyone buying it expecting a comprehensive collection of
'
hits so far would be disappointed by the selection. ~ William Ruhlmann