Million Seller Songs
Encyclopedia
Million Seller Songs is a compilation album
by American pop singer Andy Williams
that was released in the fall of 1962 by Cadence Records
. This third album to compile the singer's material features some of the most successful songs Williams had recorded to date (albeit, in most cases, successful for another artist), and the collection made its first appearance on the Billboard Top LP's
chart in the issue dated January 12, 1963, and remained there for 43 weeks, peaking at number 54.
The album was issued on compact disc for the first time as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records
on September 12, 2000, the other album being Williams's Cadence
release from the summer of 1959, To You Sweetheart, Aloha
. Collectables included this CD 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.
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
by American pop singer Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
that was released in the fall of 1962 by Cadence Records
Cadence Records
Cadence Records was an American record company based in New York City. It was founded by Archie Bleyer, who had been the musical director and orchestra leader for Arthur Godfrey in 1952...
. This third album to compile the singer's material features some of the most successful songs Williams had recorded to date (albeit, in most cases, successful for another artist), and the collection made its first appearance on the Billboard Top LP's
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart in the issue dated January 12, 1963, and remained there for 43 weeks, peaking at number 54.
The album was issued on compact disc for the first time as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records
Collectables Records
Collectables is a reissue record label founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Greene was previously associated with New York City's Times Square Record Shop, Philadelphia's Record Museum retail chain, and the Lost Nite and Crimson record labels....
on September 12, 2000, the other album being Williams's Cadence
Cadence Records
Cadence Records was an American record company based in New York City. It was founded by Archie Bleyer, who had been the musical director and orchestra leader for Arthur Godfrey in 1952...
release from the summer of 1959, To You Sweetheart, Aloha
To You Sweetheart, Aloha
To You Sweetheart, Aloha is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released late in the summer of 1959 by Cadence Records. This, his fourth LP for the label, has a Hawaiian theme that coincides with the admission of the 50th of the United States...
. Collectables included this CD 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.
Track listing
- "Twilight TimeTwilight Time (song)"Twilight Time" is a popular song with lyrics by Buck Ram, and the music by The Three Suns .Original hits of "Twilight Time" included the Three Suns and Les Brown & His Band of Renown ....
" (Artie Dunn; Al NevinsAl NevinsAl Nevins, born Albert Tepper , was a renowned musician, producer, arranger, guitarist and violinist. He was also member of a pop trio called the Three Suns and is considered one of the major forces behind the evolution of the 1950s music into the early 1960s pop/rock music.-The Three Suns:Al...
; Morton Nevins; Buck RamBuck RamBuck Ram was an American songwriter, and popular music producer and arranger.-Biography:...
) - 2:38 - "Autumn LeavesAutumn Leaves (song)"Autumn Leaves" is a much-recorded popular song. Originally it was a 1945 French song "Les Feuilles mortes" with music by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by poet Jacques Prévert. Yves Montand introduced "Les feuilles mortes" in 1946 in the film Les Portes de la Nuit...
" (Joseph KosmaJoseph KosmaJoseph Kosma was a Hungarian-French composer, of Jewish background.-Biography:Kosma was born József Kozma in Budapest, where his parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Akos. A maternal relative was the photographer László Moholy-Nagy, and another relative was the conductor Georg...
, Johnny MercerJohnny MercerJohn Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
, Jacques PrévertJacques PrévertJacques Prévert was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain very popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. Some of the movies he wrote are extremely well regarded, with Les Enfants du Paradis considered one of the greatest films of all time.-Life and...
) - 2:44 - "Canadian SunsetCanadian Sunset"Canadian Sunset" is a popular song with music by jazz pianist Eddie Heywood and lyrics by Norman Gimbel. An instrumental version by Heywood and Hugo Winterhalter reached #2 on the Billboard chart in 1956. A version sung by Andy Williams was also popular that year, reaching #7 on the Billboard chart...
" (Norman GimbelNorman GimbelNorman Gimbel is an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway", "Canadian Sunset", "Summer Samba", "The Girl from Ipanema", "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You", along with an Oscar for...
, Eddie HeywoodEddie HeywoodEddie Heywood was a jazz pianist who was popular in the 1940s. His father, Eddie Heyward, Sr. was also a jazz musician from the 1920s. Heywood, Jr...
) - 2:37 - "The Three BellsThe Three Bells"The Three Bells", also known as "Jimmy Brown" or "Little Jimmy Brown", is a song made popular by The Browns in 1959. The single reached number one on the U.S. country and pop charts,. outperforming a competing version by Dick Flood. The version by The Browns also hit number ten on the Hot R&B...
" (Bert ReisfeldBert ReisfeldBert Reisfeld was a lyricist, noted for adapting lyrics to well-known songs either to or from English. The songs he wrote English lyrics for include:...
, Jean VillardJean Villard GillesJean Villard a.k.a. Gilles, was born on June 2, 1895 in Montreux , and died on March 26, 1982 in Vevey, next to his vineyard village of residence Saint-Saphorin that is reputed for its quality Swiss white wine.- Biography :...
) - 3:49 - "It's All in the Game" (Charles Gates Dawes, Carl SigmanCarl SigmanCarl Sigman was an American songwriter.-Biography:Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his Bar exams to practice in the state of New York...
) - 2:55 - "ButterflyButterfly (1957 song)"Butterfly" is a popular song written by Bernie Lowe and Kal Mann and published in 1957. The song is credited to Anthony September as songwriter in some sources...
" (Bernie LoweBernie LoweBernie Lowe was an American songwriter / record producer / arranger / pianist and bandleader.Born Bernard Lowenthal in Philadelphia, Lowe started Teen Records and in 1955 was working with Freddie Bell and the Bellboys. He asked Freddie Bell to rewrite the lyrics of "Hound Dog" to appeal to a...
, Kal MannKal MannKal Mann was an American lyricist. He is best known for penning the words to Elvis Presley's "Teddy Bear", plus "Butterfly", a hit for both Charlie Gracie and Andy Williams.-Biography:...
) - 2:21 - "Suddenly There's a ValleySuddenly There's a Valley"Suddenly There's a Valley" is a popular song written by Chuck Meyer and Biff Jones and published in 1955.The song was a major hit for Gogi Grant in 1955. Her recording was issued by Era Records as catalog number 1003 and reached Billboard magazine's Top 10...
" (Biff Jones, Charles Meyer) - 2:52 - "Love Letters in the SandLove Letters in the Sand"Love Letters in the Sand" is a popular song first published in 1931. The music was written by J. Fred Coots and the lyrics by Nick Kenny and Charles Kenny. The song was "inspired" by an 1881 composition, "The Spanish Cavalier"...
" (J. Fred CootsJ. Fred CootsJohn Frederick Coots was an American songwriter. He wrote over 700 songs.He is most famous for the song "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", a song that became one of the biggest best sellers in American music history....
, Charles KennyCharles KennyCharles Francis Kenny was an American composer, author, and violinist. His hit songs include "There's A Gold Mine In The Sky" and "Love Letters in the Sand", and "Laughing at Life" and "Because It's Your Birthday Today" which he wrote with his brother Nick Kenny. The birthday song was made popular...
, Nick KennyNick Kenny (poet)Nicholas Aloysius Kenny was a syndicated newspaper columnist, a song lyricist and a poet who wrote light verse in the Edgar Guest tradition.-Biography:...
) - 2:32 - "Mam'selleMam'selle"Mam'selle" is a bittersweet song about a rendez-vous with a "mam'selle" in a small café. The music was written by Edmund Goulding, the lyrics by Mack Gordon....
" (Mack GordonMack GordonMack Gordon was an American composer and lyricist of songs for the stage and film. He was nominated for the best original song Oscar nine times, including six consecutive years between 1940 and 1945, and won the award once, for "You'll Never Know"...
, Edmund GouldingEdmund GouldingEdmund Goulding was a British film writer and director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 British made Paramount silent Three Live Ghosts alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwick. Also in the early 20s he wrote several screenplays for star Mae Murray and...
) - 3:33 - "So RareSo Rare"So Rare" is a popular song published in 1937 by composer Jerry Herst and lyricist Jack Sharpe. It became a hit for Jimmy Dorsey in 1957.The version by Carl Ravell and his Orchestra, from a session on 4 June 1937, may be the earliest recording of the song, although it is unclear whether it was the...
" (Jerry HerstJerry HerstJerome P. Herst , known as Jerry Herst, was a songwriter who collaborated with Jack Sharpe on a number of compositions, notably "So Rare", a much-recorded song that was published in 1937....
, Jack SharpeJack Sharpe (songwriter)John Rufus Sharpe III , known as Jack Sharpe, was an American songwriter, music publishing executive and author. He is best known for "So Rare", published in 1937, which he wrote with composer Jerry Herst....
) - 2:01 - "He's Got the Whole World in His HandsHe's Got the Whole World in His Hands"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a traditional American spiritual. It was first published in the paperbound hymnal Spirituals Triumphant, Old and New, in 1927. In 1933, it was collected by Frank Warner from the singing of Sue Thomas in North Carolina...
" (traditional) - 3:07 - "PicnicTheme from Picnic"Theme from Picnic" is a popular song, originated in the 1955 movie Picnic. It is often referred to simply as "Picnic".The music was written by George Duning, and the lyrics were written by Steve Allen...
" (Allen, George DuningGeorge DuningGeorge Duning was an American musician and film composer. He was born in Richmond, Indiana and educated in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, where his mentor was Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco....
) - 2:33
Personnel
- Andy WilliamsAndy WilliamsHoward Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
- vocalist - Archie BleyerArchie BleyerArchie Bleyer was an American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive.-Early life:He was born in the Corona section of the New York City borough of Queens. He began playing the piano when he was only seven years old...
- arranger, conductor - Hugh Cherry - liner notes