ANDY WILLIAMS - THE SHADOW OF YOUR SMILE

THE SHADOW OF YOUR SMILE

ANDY WILLIAMS

SONGWRITER: PAUL FRANCIS WEBSTER

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: THE SHADOW OF YOUR SMILE

LABEL: COLUMBIA RECORDS

GENRE: POP

YEAR: 1966

 

        Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold-certified and 3 platinum-certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a television variety show, from 1962 to 1971 along with numerous TV specials. The Andy Williams Show won three Emmy awards. The Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri, is named after the song for which he is best known—Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini's "Moon River". He sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including more than 10 million certified units in the United States.

           Williams was active in the music industry for over 70 years until his death in 2012.

        The Shadow of Your Smile is the eighteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in April 1966 by Columbia Records and included covers of "Michelle" and "Yesterday", the same pair of Beatles ballads that labelmate Johnny Mathis recorded for his 1966 album of the same name. For Williams these selections initiated a trend away from the traditional pop formula that his album output at Columbia up until this point had adhered to.

          The Williams release made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated May 14 of that year and remained on the album chart for 54 weeks, peaking at number six. It entered the UK charts in July and spent four weeks there, reaching number 27. The album received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on September 27, 1966.

       The A-side from this album, "Bye Bye Blues", "bubbled under" Billboard's Hot 100, reaching number 127, and got to number 18 on the magazine's Easy Listening (or Adult Contemporary) chart.

          The album was released on compact disc for the first time as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records on March 23, 1999, the other album being Williams's Columbia release from the spring of 1965, Andy Williams' Dear Heart. It was also released as one of two albums on one CD by Sony Music Distribution on December 28, 1999, paired this time with Williams's Columbia album from the fall of 1962, Warm and Willing. The Collectables CD was included in a box set entitled Classic Album Collection, Vol. 1, which contains 17 of his studio albums and three compilations and was released on June 26, 2001.

One day we walked along the sand

One day in early spring

You held a piper in your hand

To mend its broken wing

Now I'll remember many a day

And many a lonely mile

The echo of a piper's song

The shadow of a smile

 

The shadow of your smile

When you are gone

Will color all my dreams

And light the dawn

Look into my eyes

My love and see

All the lovely things

You are to me

 

Our wistful little star

Was far too high

A teardrop kissed your lips

And so did I

Now when I remember spring

All the joy that love can bring

I will be remembering

The shadow of your smile.