Warm and Willing
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Warm and Willing
| type = album
| artist = Andy Williams
| cover = Williams-Warm.jpg
| alt =
| released = 1962
| recorded = 1962
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = {{hlist|Traditional pop|standards|vocal pop|early pop/rock{{cite web |url= {{AllMusic|class=album|id=r26682|pure_url=yes}} |title= Andy Williams – Warm and Willing |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=11 July 2010}}}}
| length = 40:24
| label = Columbia
| producer = Robert Mersey(1966) Warm and Willing by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CS 8679.
| prev_title = Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes
| prev_year = 1962
| next_title = Million Seller Songs
| next_year = 1962
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Warm and Willing
| type = studio
| single1 = Stranger on the Shore
| single1date = May 1962
}}
}}
Warm and Willing is the tenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in 1962 by Columbia Records. AllMusic's William Ruhlmann explained that Williams and producer Robert Mersey "followed the Sinatra concept-album formula of creating a consistent mood, in this case a romantic one, and picking material mostly from the Great American Songbook of compositions written for Broadway musicals in the 1920s and 1930s by the likes of George and Ira Gershwin, then giving them slow, string-filled arrangements over which Williams could croon in his breathy, intimate tenor voice."
The album debuted on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated October 20, 1962, and remained on the chart for 44 weeks, peaking at number 16.{{Harvnb|Whitburn|1985|p= 405}}. It debuted on the Cash Box albums chart in the issue dated October 20, 1962, and remained on the chart for 57 weeks, peaking at number 19.{{sfnp|Hoffmann|1988|p=406}}
The single, "Stranger on the Shore," debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart four months prior, reaching number 38 during a seven-week stay.{{Harvnb|Whitburn|1999 |p= 702}}. On the magazine's Easy Listening chart, it peaked at number 9.{{Harvnb|Whitburn|1993|p=256}}. number 10 on the Cashbox singles chart during its six-weeks stay.{{sfnp|Downey|1994|p=376}} and number 30 in The U.K during its ten-weeks stay.{{Cite web |date=1964-03-04 |title=ANDY WILLIAMS |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/4530/andy-williams/ |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=Official Charts |language=en}}
The album was released on compact disc by Sony Music Distribution on December 28, 1999, as tracks 1 through 12 on a pairing of two albums on one CD with tracks 13 through 24 consisting of Williams's 1966 Columbia album, The Shadow of Your Smile.{{cite web |url= {{AllMusic|class=album|id=r450093|pure_url=yes}}
|title= Warm and Willing/The Shadow of Your Smile |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=21 July 2010}} It was released as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records on February 5, 2002, along with Williams's 1966 Columbia compilation album Andy Williams' Newest Hits.{{cite web |url= {{AllMusic|class=album|id=r572147|pure_url=yes}}
|title=Warm and Willing/Newest Hits |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=21 July 2010}} In a 2002 box set entitled Classic Album Collection, Vol. 2, the album was included as part of a collection of 15 of his studio albums and two compilations.{{cite web|url= {{AllMusic|class=album|id=classic-album-collection-vol-2-r612403|pure_url=yes}} |title=Classic Album Collection, Vol. 2 |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=16 October 2010}}
Reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
| rev2Score = {{rating|3|5}}{{sfnp|Larkin|2007|p=1498}}
| rev3 = New Record Mirror
| rev4 = Disc
| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{Cite magazine |last1=Hunter |first1=Nigel |date=February 23, 1963 |title=Peggy Lee, Craig Douglas, Frank Itfield, Brook Benton, Susan Maughan, BOBBY'S GIRL MAKES A GREAT LP DEBUT: What abut some standards, Frank? |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Disc/1963/DISC-1963-02-23.pdf |access-date=May 30, 2025 |magazine=Disc |page=10 |issue=257}}
}}
Ruhlmann thought the album "indicated that a singer who had flirted with many styles over the previous half-dozen years had settled down to something very familiar. His treatment of these standards was not definitive, by any means, but it was certainly effective, and Williams benefited from his association with such material."
Billboard was effusive in its praise: "This is one of the best albums Williams has done on his new label."{{cite magazine |date=September 29, 1962 |title=Pop Spotlight: Warm and Willing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j0UEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PT25&vq=andy%20williams&pg=PT25#v=onepage&q&f=false |magazine=Billboard |page=22 |volume=74 |issue=39 |editor=}} They also wrote, "Helped muchly by the tender orchestral backing of the Bob Mersey crew, Williams turns in strong readings of each song."
Cashbox notes "Williams distinctive styling coupled with superb range and pitch is firmly evidenced on 'Embraceable You', 'The Way You Look Tonight' and his while back ... 'Stranger on The Shore'.'{{Cite magazine |date=September 15, 1962 |title=Cashbox Album Popular Pick Reviews: Warm and Willing |url=https://archive.org/details/cashbox24unse/page/30/mode/2up |magazine=Cash Box |pages=30 |volume=24 |issue=0}}
Variety wrote that Williams' "vocal stylings are quite pleasing and are especially stuited to this song bag of romantic ballads".{{Cite magazine |date=October 3, 1962 |title=Variety Album Reviews:Oliver', 'Fringe;' Frachi's Songs, Williams "Willing' Top New LPs: Warm and Willing |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1962-10-03_228_6/page/56/mode/2up |magazine=Variety |pages=56 |volume=228 |issue=6}}
Jimmy Watson of New Record Mirror described the album as "an outstanding disc".{{Cite magazine |last=Watson |first=Jimmy |date=16 February 1963 |title=Andy Williams: Warm And Willing |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/60s/63/Record-Mirror-1963-02-16-S-OCR.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401224701/https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/60s/63/Record-Mirror-1963-02-16-S-OCR.pdf |archive-date=1 April 2022 |access-date=5 August 2022 |magazine=New Record Mirror |page=10 |issue=101}}
Nigel Hunter of Disc notes "Andy Williams score a high total indeed with these smoothly songs, most of them standards."
Track listing
=Side one=
- "Embraceable You" from Girl Crazy (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 3:40
- "How Long Has This Been Going On?" from Rosalie (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 3:34
- "The Touch of Your Lips" (Ray Noble) – 3:09
- "I See Your Face Before Me" from Between the Devil (Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz) – 3:34
- "The Way You Look Tonight" from Swing Time (Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern) – 3:36
- "If Ever I Would Leave You" from Camelot (Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe) – 3:38 (This track was replaced by "Then I'll Be Tired of You" on the U.K. release.)
=Side two=
- "My One and Only Love" (Robert Mellin, Guy Wood) – 3:49
- "Stranger on the Shore" (Acker Bilk) – 2:50
- "Warm All Over" from The Most Happy Fella (Frank Loesser) – 3:16
- "More Than You Know" from the 1929 musical Great Day (Edward Eliscu, Billy Rose, Vincent Youmans) – 3:26
- "Love Is Here to Stay" from The Goldwyn Follies (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 2:43
- "Warm and Willing" from the 1959 film A Private's Affair (Ray Evans, Jay Livingston, Jimmy McHugh) – 2:52
Charts
class="wikitable"
!Chart (1962) !Peak position |
US Top LPs (Billboard)
| align="center" |16 |
US Cashbox{{sfnp|Hoffmann|1988|p=406}}
| align="center" |19 |
= Singles =
Personnel
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
- {{citation
| last = Whitburn
| first = Joel
| title = Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums, 1955-1985 | year = 1985
| publisher = Record Research Inc.
| isbn = 0-89820-054-7
}}
- {{citation
| last = Whitburn
| first = Joel
| title = Joel Whitburn's Top Adult Contemporary, 1961-1993 | year = 1993
| publisher = Record Research Inc.
| isbn = 0-89820-099-7
}}
- {{citation
| last = Whitburn
| first = Joel
| title = Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955-1999 | year = 1999
| publisher = Record Research Inc.
| isbn = 0-89820-140-3
}}
- {{citation
| last = Hoffmann
| first = Frank W
| title = The Cash box album charts, 1955-1974
| year = 1988
| publisher = Scarecrow Press
| isbn = 0-810-82005-6
| url = https://archive.org/details/cashboxalbumchar0000hoff/page/406/mode/2up
}}
- {{citation
| last = Larkin
| first = Colin
| title = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
| year = 2007
| publisher = Omnibus Press
| isbn = 9-7818-4609-8567
| url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofpo0000unse_v3u2/page/1498/mode/2up
}}
- {{citation
| last = Downey
| first = Pat
| title = Cash box pop singles charts, 1950-1993
| year = 1994
| publisher = Libraries Unlimited
| isbn = 1-56308-316-7
| url = https://archive.org/details/cashboxpopsingle00down/page/376/mode/2up
}}
{{refend}}
{{Andy Williams}}
{{Authority control}}