| In the Arms of Love | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Andy Williams |
| Cover: | Williams-Arms-2.jpg |
| Released: | December 19, 1966[1] |
| Recorded: | 1966 |
| Length: | 31:13 |
| Label: | Columbia |
| Producer: | Robert Mersey[2] |
| Prev Title: | The Shadow of Your Smile |
| Prev Year: | 1966 |
| Next Title: | Born Free |
| Next Year: | 1967 |
In the Arms of Love is the nineteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released on December 19, 1966, by Columbia Records[1] and was the last of twelve consecutive Williams studio LPs produced by Robert Mersey.[2]
The album made its first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated January 21, 1967, and remained on the album chart for 22 weeks, peaking at number 21.[3]
The title song from the album was released as a single in July 1966, one month before the release of the film What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?, the soundtrack of which is performed by the song's composer, Henry Mancini, and includes instrumental and vocal versions of the song.[4] The film opened on August 31, 1966, and Williams' version of "In the Arms of Love" first appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue of the magazine dated August 27, eventually reaching number 49 over the course of eight weeks.[5] The song performed even better on the Easy Listening chart after debuting in the issue dated July 30 and spending two weeks at number one during a 17-week stay.[6] It began its chart run in the UK shortly thereafter, on September 24, and stayed around for seven weeks, peaking at number 33.[7] The album was released on compact disc for the first time as one of two albums on one CD by Collectables Records on January 16, 2001, the other album being Williams's Columbia release from April 1963, Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests.[8] It was also released as one of two albums on one CD by Sony Music Distribution on May 14, 2001, paired this time with Williams's Columbia album from the spring of 1967, Born Free.[9] 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.[10]
Writing for AllMusic, critic William Ruhlmann theorized as to the why this album ended the string of "six consecutive Gold-selling Top Ten albums (not counting reissues and compilations" or Christmas LPs) that Williams was enjoying upon its release, offering that it "may just be a question of marketing. The album, with its austere black cover, was released late in the holiday season after Williams's summer single 'In the Arms of Love,' belatedly topped the Easy Listening chart in October. The song was written by Henry Mancini, who had meant dollar signs for Williams with such previous movie themes as 'Moon River,' 'Days of Wine and Roses,' and 'Dear Heart.' But this hit, which only made it halfway up the pop charts, came from an unsuccessful film, What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?, and mid-December was no time to start selling a new, non-seasonal release." As to the quality of the album itself, he wrote, "Much of it is even calmer than usual for him, and the focus on foreign material makes you wish he'd just gone ahead and recorded a samba album or one made up entirely of international songs, since those tunes mix oddly with the choices from the Great American Songbook and recent film themes. Williams had indicated his interest in overseas material on his last album, The Shadow of Your Smile, but this one went even further, though without the quality of songs to sustain the direction."
Billboard called it "one of his best albums."[11]
Three different versions of "Remember" charted between May 1925 and February 1926: Jean Goldkette & His Orchestra featuring Seymour Simons on vocal reached number six,[12] an instrumental recording by Isham Jones & His Orchestra spent a week at number one,[13] and Cliff Edwards got as high as number 10.[14] Ray Noble & His Orchestra spent five weeks at number one in 1934 with their recording of "The Very Thought of You" with Al Bowlly on vocal.[15] That same year Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra went to number 16 with "If I Love Again" and number eight doing "All Through the Night" with Bob Lawrence on vocal.[16] "Here's That Rainy Day" was first heard in the Broadway musical Carnival in Flanders in 1953,[17] and that same year The Mills Brothers reached number 21 with "Pretty Butterfly".[18] Organist Walter Wanderley had the most successful recording of "So Nice (Summer Samba)", peaking at number three Easy Listening[19] and number 26 pop[20] after debuting in August 1966. Later that year the title song from A Man and a Woman by Tamiko Jones and Herbie Mann made it to number nine Easy Listening[21] and number 88 on the Hot 100,[22] and Frank Sinatra recorded "Sand and Sea" for his album That's Life.[23] Another recording that practically coincides with the one on this album comes from Tony Martin, who reached number 22 Easy Listening with the "Theme from The Sand Pebbles (And We Were Lovers)" after it debuted in February 1967.[24]
From the liner notes for the original album:[2]