One of the more versatile crooners to emerge out of the traditional pop era,
Andy Williams had a remarkably sturdy career that found him turning his lilting, golden tenor voice to a number of styles, from jazz and Broadway standards to folk, sunshine pop, and disco. It is those later, gauzy soft-pop and disco vibes that make up the bulk of the superb 2024
Real Gone Music collection
When You Fall in Love: Lost Columbia Masters 1977-1982. A sequel to 2020's
Emperor of Easy: Lost Columbia Masters 1962-1972,
When You Fall in Love features previously unreleased and rare tracks
Williams recorded during his final years with the label. The late '60s to early '70s were undoubtedly the pinnacle of
Williams' career as his iconic recordings of songs like "Born Free," "Days of Wine and Roses," and "Love Story" helped propel their related albums into the Top Ten of the Billboard 200. The public seemed particularly taken with his easy listening cover tunes, a formula he stuck with into the '70s. Here, we get his Love Boat-ready version of "Sunshine Smiles," a song
Charlie Rich originally recorded as the theme of For the Love of Benji. There's also the adult-contemporary sparkle of "The Music's Too Sweet Not to Dance," his swoony take on the theme from the Love Story sequel Oliver's Story. However, he was also just as interested in recording original material that tapped into the pop zeitgeist of the period, and cuts like "Tonight We're Gonna Love Away the Pain," "Every Time I See Laureen," and "If We Get Together Again" strike an intriguing stylistic balance between the jazzy balladry of
Barry Manilow and the achingly romantic, guitar-accented pop of groups like
Bread and
the Raspberries. Equally potent are
Williams' soul-inflected number "Sweet Lady," his tender reading of
ABBA's "The Way Old Friends Do," and the 12" disco single version of his 1971 hit rendition of the theme to the film Love Story, "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story." The singer parted ways with
Columbia in the early '80s and didn't record much before settling in Branson, Missouri, in 1991, where he enjoyed great success with his theater.
When You Fall in Love: Lost Columbia Masters 1977-1982 is a testament to how artfully
Williams balanced his skills as an interpreter of pop standards and his desire to take bold creative risks. ~ Matt Collar
![Dirty Dancing [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0828766955422_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Dirty Dancing [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]")
