Born Free (Andy Williams album)

For the Andy Williams song of the same name, see Born Free (song).
Born Free
Studio album by Andy Williams
Released April 10, 1967[1]
Recorded 1967
Genre AM pop
Traditional pop
Vocal pop
Film music
Soundtracks[2]
Length 33:39
Label Columbia
Producer Nick DeCaro[3]
Andy Williams chronology
In the Arms of Love
(1966)		 Born Free
(1967)		 Love, Andy
(1967)
Collectables reissue
Born Free portion of cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Billboard[4]

Born Free is an album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released on April 10, 1967, by Columbia Records.[1] It made its first appearance on Billboard's Top LP's chart in the issue dated May 13, 1967, and remained there for 79 weeks, peaking at number five.[5] The album received Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America on July 6, 1967,[6] and that same month it began 11 weeks on the UK album chart, where it reached number 22.[7]

The single from the album, "Music to Watch Girls By", was available two months before the album was released and first appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the issue of the magazine dated March 25, eventually reaching number 34 over the course of eight weeks.[8] The song performed even better on the Easy Listening chart after debuting in the issue dated April 1 and spending a week at number two during a 13-week stay.[9] It debuted on the UK charts shortly thereafter, on May 6, and stayed around for six weeks, peaking at number 33. The song was reissued there in 1999 and spent another six weeks on the chart, this time reaching number nine.[10]

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 fall of 1967, Love, Andy.[11] 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 December 1966, In the Arms of Love.[12] The original album covers are displayed side by side on the front of these CD reissues, and it is clear that the color of the Born Free cover has been enhanced considerably for the Collectables release, as Williams's suntanned face from the original LP cover shown on the Sony release now has a more psychedelic orange glow. 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.[13]

Reception

William Ruhlmann of Allmusic remarked that this album "marked a notable contemporization of the Williams formula. On his most recent albums, The Shadow of Your Smile and In the Arms of Love, he had leaned toward Brazilian sounds, recording more obscure material and several standards from the interwar period."[2] He also explained why the change may have happened: "In the Arms of Love, released only four months before Born Free, had sold disappointingly. Williams reacted by dropping the bossa nova and the oldies and looked more to the recent pop charts for covers like Bobby Hebb's 'Sunny.'"[2] Ruhlmann suggested that Williams was trying to reach as wide of an audience as possible. "At a time when non-rock pop singers were beginning to be marginalized, Williams successfully threaded the needle, reassuring his older listeners while proving adaptable to current trends."[2]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Born Free" (John Barry, Don Black) – 2:27
  2. "Somewhere My Love" (Maurice Jarre, Paul Francis Webster) – 2:38
  3. "Spanish Eyes" (Bert Kaempfert, Charlie Singleton, Eddie Snyder) – 3:04
  4. "Strangers in the Night" (Bert Kaempfert, Charlie Singleton, Eddie Snyder) – 2:32
  5. "Sherry!" (James Lipton, Laurence Rosenthal) – 2:27
  6. "Music to Watch Girls By" (Sid Ramin, Tony Velona) – 2:38

Side two

  1. "I Want to Be Free" (Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart) – 3:20
  2. "Alfie" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 2:55
  3. "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye " (John D. Loudermilk) – 2:37
  4. "Sunny" (Bobby Hebb) – 3:16
  5. "I Will Wait for You" (Jacques Demy, Norman Gimbel, Michel Legrand) – 2:42
  6. "You Are Where Everything Is" (Nick DeCaro) – 3:06

Personnel[3]

This was Williams's 13th studio album for Columbia Records and the first of those that was not produced by Robert Mersey.

Notes

  1. 1 2 (2009) Moon River: The Very Best of Andy Williams by Andy Williams [CD booklet]. New York: Sony Music Entertainment 88697 59112 2
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Born Free". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  3. 1 2 (1967) Born Free by Andy Williams [album jacket]. New York: Columbia Records CS 9480.
  4. ↑ "Album Reviews". Billboard. 1967-04-29. p. 84.
  5. ↑ Whitburn 2010, p. 844.
  6. ↑ RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for albums by Andy Williams
  7. ↑ "Andy Williams - Born Free". Chart Stats. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  8. ↑ Whitburn 1999, p. 702.
  9. ↑ Whitburn 1993, p. 256.
  10. ↑ "Andy Williams". Chart Stats. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  11. ↑ "Born Free/Love, Andy". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  12. ↑ "In the Arms of Love/Born Free". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  13. ↑ "Classic Album Collection, Vol. 1 - Andy Williams". allmusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 6 May 2011.

References

  • Whitburn, Joel (1993), Joel Whitburn's Top Adult Contemporary, 1961–1993, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-099-7 
  • Whitburn, Joel (1999), Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 1955–1999, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-140-3 
  • Whitburn, Joel (2010), Joel Whitburn Presents Top Pop Albums, Seventh Edition, Record Research Inc., ISBN 0-89820-183-7 
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