On Wednesday, September 26, 2012 5:33:45 PM UTC-4, Mark Jeffries wrote: > > On TV variety, only Perry Como matched Mr. Williams' casualness--he hosted > several programs in his long-lasting career as a pop singer, the early 60s > one on NBC notable for introducing the Osmonds to television and an early > 70s stint on NBC for having producers Allan Blye and Chris Bearde surround > him with a cast of zanies like Prof. Irwin Corey, Charlie Callas and a > talking bear continually asking for cookies, of which the joke was that the > bear was the only thing that would make Mr. Williams lose his trademark > cool: > > > http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/la-mew-andy-williams-dies-20120926,0,7479266.story > One of my earliest TV memories is watching The Andy Williams Show circa 1970 (I would have been about 5 years old) just to see the Cookie Bear. A few years ago I heard Andy's name come up twice on NPR's "Fresh Air" - despite the fact that host Terry Gross was *definitely* not a fan. One time she was interviewing Bernie Mac who said, in all seriousness, that he loved Andy's music and thought Andy was a better singer than Sinatra. Terry said "No offense, but you're crazy." But Bernie stuck to his guns. The other time was when she was interiewing TV music maven Mike Post. Mike was really playing up his own importance, claiming he had helped bring rock and roll to mainstream TV with rock-edged themes like "The Rockford Files." Terry then challenged him - if you're such a rock and roll guy, then why were you the bandleader on the 1969-71 version of The Andy Williams Show? But Mike defended his role on the show. As he explained it, Andy had taken his show off the air around 1967, and in 1969 NBC decided to bring him back, putting him in an earlier timeslot and trying to appeal to a younger audience by bringing in younger-skewing guests like Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, and Simon and Garfunkel. The producers would make inappropriate suggestions like "Let's have Andy sing 'Proud Mary' - won't that be great?" Mike would then respond "No, I think that would be a terrible idea. But if we put Andy in a sweater and have him sing 'Tracks of My Tears,' that would work much better." And Mike got his way. As for me, I can't say I was a huge fan of Andy's music. But his version of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - a song that was written for him - is one of my favorite Christmas records. Andy's voice is so sincere, and the band swings so hard, that it overcomes any sentimentality in the lyrics. And as the YouTube clips from his variety series show, he may have been a little stiff, but he didn't take himself too seriously, and he was pretty much game for anything. R.I.P. -Tim
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