Andy Williams - Andy Williams/…Sings Steve Allen

A case where the twofer really is one too many

Firstly it must be said that, even in these early 1956/57 recordings, Andy Williams was a splendid singer, with style, eloquent phrasing and character in his voice. The two albums collected here are very different animals, though. The first includes a mix of pop hits such as biggies Butterfly and Baby Doll, alongside the shimmering strings of ballads such as High Upon A Mountain. They’re all very good for the time, but hardly cohesive.

The second album is quite another story. Williams tackles a whole album’s worth of Steve Allen’s writing, and here we get cohesion in bucketloads, in the feel, arrangement, writing and delivery of the material. Drawing from theatrical motifs, jazz and blues, Williams handles the fine songs with experience and feeling. The case is made almost immediately for this standing alone as a single possibly even five-star album in its own right, rather than taking second place to a much patchier affair. This was a bold and imaginative concept album, which is deserving of much closer and more detailed focus, but is given only a single paragraph in the sleevenotes, in favour of some less necessary history. Get this, but programme tracks 13-24 before anything else.

Ace | CDCHD 1173

Reviewed by Kingsley Abbott
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