Andy Williams' Newest Hits

Columbia records' first Andy Williams compilation was a curious grab bag of material. Williams had scored some hits on Columbia 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 Williams' 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" and "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 easy listening), "On the Street Where You Live" (Top 40 pop, Top Five easy listening), and "...And Roses and Roses" (Top 40 pop, Top Five easy listening). Five of the singles tracks had never appeared on an LP before. There were several quality performances of well-written songs, including "On the Street Where You Live" (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 Williams' Columbia hits so far would be disappointed by the selection. ~ William Ruhlmann