13 hours Ago By Thomas Weber
It simply wouldn’t be Christmas without the music of Andy Williams. The Iowa-born crooner’s Christmas recordings and television specials defined for generations the essence of the holiday season. It is, as Wiliams so often sang, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.
” So it was a treat for local fans when Williams brought his touring holiday show to Rochester for performances in 1986 and 1989 at Mayo Civic Center. ADVERTISEMENT “I’ve always liked Christmas music,” Williams said in a Post-Bulletin interview before his show here on Nov. 28, 1989.
And why not? Williams possessed a gift for conveying the joy and nostalgia of the season, and had a knack for making many Christmas songs sound like they were written expressly for him. In particular, “O Holy Night” and “Silver Bells” were holiday treats when sung by Williams. Although, he admitted, not all of the Christmas classics were as effortless as he made them appear on stage.
“There’s a lot of hard singing,” Williams told the Post-Bulletin. “But that’s what gives it the energy.” The energetic Williams was in his late-50s when his Christmas shows arrived in Rochester.
By that time, he had been performing for nearly a half-century. With his brothers, Williams began singing on radio station WHO in Des Moines in the 1930s. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1943, and the brothers became a familiar act on radio and in movies.
Andy got lucky in 1954 when he began appearing on Steve Allen’s “Tonight” show. It was supposed to be a two-week run, but Williams stretched it to two years. “No one said anything and I just reported each week and kept singing and they kept paying me,” Williams told the Post-Bulletin.
“It was a big break, the chance of a lifetime. He used us in comedy sketches and other things.” That experience would serve Williams well when he began hosting his own TV variety show, which ran from 1962 to 1971.
His annual Christmas programs continued for several more years. At the same time, Williams was scoring hits on the record charts with “Moon River,” “Days of Wine and Roses” and “Can’t Get Used to Losing You.” ADVERTISEMENT By the ‘80s, though, variety shows were out of favor on network television.
“They don’t seem to get the ratings other shows do,” Williams said. “I’d like to do a couple of specials a year.” Finding no takers, Williams converted his Christmas specials to a stage extravaganza and took it on the road.
And that’s how he ended up performing in front of a sellout crowd of 5,042 people in 1989 at Mayo Civic Center. Dressed all in white, except for a red scarf and a green fir tree design on his sweater, Williams that evening was Christmas personified. Naturally, he opened with “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.
” For most of the show, Williams stuck close to what he did best: familiar Christmas tunes, backed by a large orchestra. He brought children on stage from the audience to sing along with “Little Drummer Boy” and “Do You Hear What I Hear.” Then the Christ United Methodist Church choir joined him for “The Village of St.
Bernadette,” before the entire audience was invited to sing along to “White Christmas,” “Silent Night” and “O Holy Night.” Christmas had officially arrived in Rochester, courtesy of Andy Williams. Thomas Weber is a former Post Bulletin reporter who enjoys writing about local history.
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