Andy Williams, The shadow of your smile
Andy Williams
THE SHADOW OF
YOUR SMILE.
Andy Williams built this 1966 album around an Oscar-winning movie theme, then surrounded it with Broadway, Beatles and bossa nova material that makes the track list read like a snapshot of mid-1960s popular song.
Album artwork shown for commentary and historical reference. Image source: Spotify / Columbia Records.
SEVEN THINGS
WORTH KNOWING.
The title track arrived with serious credentials, but the rest of the album shows how quickly Williams absorbed songs from very different corners of contemporary pop culture.
The Shadow of Your Smile was released on April 1, 1966 and contains 12 songs running about 34 minutes.
The title song was written for the film The Sandpiper, with music by Johnny Mandel and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster.
"The Shadow of Your Smile" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 1966 Oscars.
The song also won the 1966 Grammy Award for Song of the Year for Mandel and Webster.
Andy Williams's album was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 1967 Grammy Awards.
The album includes Williams versions of two Lennon-McCartney songs, "Michelle" and "Yesterday."
The track list also reaches into bossa nova with "Meditation" and "How Insensitive," both associated with composer Antonio Carlos Jobim.
WHY THIS
ALBUM MATTERS.
The Shadow of Your Smile shows how an album singer could function as a curator. Williams did not stay inside one songwriting world. He pulled material from film, Broadway, the Beatles and Brazilian music into one polished Columbia release.
THE
NUMBERS.
TRACKS
The album contains twelve songs.
MINUTES
The digital edition runs roughly 34 minutes.
BEATLES SONGS
Williams recorded both "Michelle" and "Yesterday" for the album.
THE
PHYSICAL OBJECT.
The cover is pure mid-1960s album design: a large portrait, warm color palette, oversized serif title and a track list printed directly on the front. Before pressing play, the sleeve tells you exactly what kind of record is inside.
RESEARCH SOURCES
Facts are checked against artist, label, award, chart and detailed recording-credit sources before publication.
KEEP
DIGGING.
More recording stories, strange credits, cover art, chart numbers and details hiding inside the records.