Burt on NBC-TV (Andy Williams Special) April 28, 1968

[sixties]

A favorite Burt Bacharach segment for me has always been his appearance on the NBC special - 4/28/68 - called Andy Williams Kaleidoscope Company. Guests on that show included Simon & Garfunkel, Ray Charles, Mama Cass, and Burt Bacharach. If memory serves me, the great BB segment was Burt in a recording session of his "Promises Promises" song (instrumental). The orchestra started and stopped several times as maestro Burt instructed them on the difficult (changing) time signatures of the song. Then they played the whole song.

Does anyone remember this segment? And of great interest, does anyone (1960s reel-to-reel fans, for example) have an audio recording of it?

[nymusicalsguy]

This special has JUST been re-released by Time-Life DVD as THE BEST OF THE ANDY WILLIAMS SHOW; I haven't watched it from start-to-finish (and I hope that the segment you mention is indeed included) but when you "chapter skip" to Burt, the segment is a medley with Andy singing and Burt conducting his wonderful arrangements of "Alfie", "Walk On By", "Always Something There To Remind Me", "The Look of Love", "I Say A Little Prayer" and "What The World Needs Now Is Love" (if memory serves)! Let's hope the rest is complete, too; when I get a chance to watch, I'll report back!

[grooverider]

The DVD is called, "The Best of The Andy Williams Show" and the segment with Burt Bacharach has Andy introducing Burt (a kind of "different" exchange, an unusual kind of humor, I guess). Then it's a medley of : Alfie, Walk on By, Always Something There, The Look of Love, I Say A Little Prayer and What the World Needs Now Is Love, with Burt conducting the orchestra and Andy singing.
For us Andy Williams fans, it is very fascinating to hear Andy sing "Alfie" and "The Look of Love" to Burt Bacharach arrangements and not the Nick De Caro arrangements that Andy recorded for his albums. Not that either were better (or worse, as the case may be), just different.
What a thrill to see Burt Bacharach conducting so intently!
(With The Raelets, too, the backing vocalists for Ray Charles as the icing on this cake.)
PS - for all you Mama Cass Elliot fans, the "weaving" of "Words of Love" with "Words" and "You've Got Your Troubles" by Andy and Cass is something to see (and listen to!), Cass Elliot's voice was a force of nature.
A very interesting DVD (what a different time it was!).
Segments with Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, the Smothers Brothers and Roy Rogers & Dale Evans are also included.

[sixties]

Thanks grooverider and nymusicalsguy for the info about this Time/Life DVD -- it brings back memories. I did some detective work, and realize that "Promises, Promises" could not have been part of that April 28, 1968 show: the musical "Promises, Promises" did not open on Broadway until December 1, 1968 (IBDB Internet Broadway Database). SO, my query is still out there on the forum: When and on what network and show did Burt conduct an orchestra ("rehearsal" style) with his "Promises, Promises?" Was it one of his own specials around 1970? I can still hear him sounding aloud conductor-style the da-da-da-da, da-DA-DA, DA-da-DA-DA, da-DA-DA, etc. over the wonderful "send-out" ending of the song.

[nymusicalsguy]

Well said, grooverider! I got a thrill watching the DVD and hearing Andy in his prime singing to those Bacharach arrangements (especially the brief "Alfie"!) -- if only the Maestro & Mr. Williams had collaborated in the studio!

[igtmfo]

Thnx posters for a great excuse for a Christmas gift - ahem, maybe I'll watch it too

As the years go by I realize that Andy W. is Sinatra-esque. A pretty profound listening experience, and there aren't many if any others in this rarified category ... Andy's vocals, tunes, production, to me, kind of hit harder than even the best of Tony Bennett, and that's no BS neither.

This feeling that Andy is great happens about anytime any good or obscure AW tune comes on my oldies station and I feel like Andy hasn't gotten his due ... unfortunately (am I correct to say?) the best of Andy, including his TV show, hit smack dab/just before 1965 or so, and it kind of paled against the Beatles etc., and the humor was kind of like-the-era-on-TV -kind of cheesy, the Osmonds would be on as cute/talented kids etc.

Maybe Burt escaped by not having a somewhat-cheesy weekly TV show where he had to lower (?) himself with skits etc. ....

[nymusicalsguy]

In his books/liner notes/essays on popular music, historian Will Friedwald has often made mention of the "Andy Williams Syndrome", which Friedwald describes in one place as "Although an excellent singer, Andy Williams gradually came to represent an utter lack of originality". He continues, "If adult pop was losing its ground, it was partly because too many producers and performers were going around chasing the same pot of gold: all covering each other's hits, all doing the same big...songs." And while Friedwald may be referring to Andy's gradual shift from recording the likes of Kurt Weill's "The Bilbao Song" on an early Cadence record and his entire albums devoted to Rodgers & Hammerstein and Lerner & Loewe, I can't help but truly enjoy Andy's impeccably arranged cover versions of pop/rock hits from the 1960s and into the early part of the 1970s. Sure, some may verge on kitsch (thankfully the Bacharach and Webb compositions recorded by Andy largely avoid that) but the polished arrangements, assured vocals & slick production gave Andy a number of successful, still-enjoyable records as a result: his readings of hits like "Never Can Say Goodbye", "Cherish", "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again", "Spooky" and "Hurting Each Other" are all still tracks enjoyed by me frequently.

Glad to see so many folks on this board giving props to the Sweatered One, Andy Williams, where it is due!

[grooverider]

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments, it's what makes this site such a joy! Yes, NYmusicalguy, if only Andy and Burt had collaborated on an entire album. Andy's version of Bacharach-David's "If I Could Go Back", from "Lost Horizon", is one heck of a song(arranged & conducted by the most wonderful Artie Butler) and Andy Williams brings much of the emotion to the surface. Although the score (and movie) was dealt with harshly at the time of it's release, I have thoroughly enjoyed them both!
And I do think Andy's version of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" is the best of all the versions I have heard.