Bookreporter.com - MOON RIVER AND ME: A Memoir by Andy Williams

MOON RIVER AND ME: A Memoir
Andy Williams
Viking
Memoir
ISBN: 9780670021178

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words “Moon River”? If you’re like me and millions of other baby boomers, you’ll think of Andy Williams. In his aptly named memoir, this well-known singer and entertainer for nearly seven decades takes us on a journey from his humble beginnings to his rise to stardom.

Andy was born into a poor family in the small town of Wall Lake, Iowa, two years after the beginning of the Great Depression. Although there was always food on the table, there was never any extra money to spend. But the family was able to keep busy with the one pastime they shared: singing. Andy’s father and his three older brothers --- Don, Bob and Dick --- originally started singing in the choir for their local church. In fact, they comprised the entire choir. After he joined the group at the age of seven, Andy’s father decided his sons might have a future in show business. Known simply as the Williams Brothers, he booked them at any and all available venues in town, although there weren’t very many.

Not content with such meager fare, the ambitious Mr. Williams moved his family to Des Moines, where he got the boys an audition for the popular radio station WHO, but their performance wasn’t good enough to earn them a spot. “Your boys have got talent, Mr. Williams, no doubt about that,” a producer said, “But they haven’t got enough experience. Get them singing anywhere you can, whether it’s for money or not, just to get some more experience. Then come back and see us again in six months’ time, and I think we’ll have something for you.”

Mr. Williams took the producer’s advice to heart. After a period of six months, he returned to the radio station and the boys were hired for a daily 15-minute show. They soon sang at any other events they could find and became minor celebrities in town. Still not satisfied, he kept moving his family around. They went to Chicago and Cincinnati, where the boys started to make a name for themselves in radio. Dreaming even bigger, Mr. Williams relocated his family to Los Angeles as he dreamed for his sons to appear in movies. Although they would go on to land minor roles, their film careers never flourished.

Their big break came when Andy met Kay Thompson, a vocal and choral director at MGM who suggested the Williams Brothers quit movies and join the nightclub business. They worked on a new act called “Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers,” and soon they became regulars on the nightclub circuit. They performed together until 1953, when the new age of television severely crippled the nightclub scene.

But the end of the Williams Brothers was just the start of Andy’s solo career, although he almost never made it on his own. For two years, he played little-known venues around the country, trying to make a name for himself. He got his big break with a regular spot on Steve Allen’s “The Tonight Show.” That --- and several hit singles --- established Williams as a national star.

Williams shares stories and memories about his highest points as well as some of his lowest (like when he was driven to eat dog food to survive). He confesses that even with his velvety smooth voice (a voice President Reagan declared a “national treasure”) and his boyish charm, he retains a touch of insecurity, as his father always told him he would have to work hard because there were people out there who were better than him. He throws in some anecdotes about rather embarrassing moments in his career and recounts the controversial series of events following his ex-wife’s shooting of her lover. He also reveals some secrets of the rich and famous with whom he has come into contact through the years.

Andy Williams’s writing is candid, insightful and often witty. His fans will not want to miss this book.

--- Reviewed by Christine M. Irvin

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