Good News Tucson - A Family Values Publication

Spend This Christmas With A National Treasure
by Travis Kelly

In the 80's President Ronald Reagan declared Andy Williams voice a National Treasure. An American singing legend made in the same mold as Martin, Sinatra, and Crosby. Andy Williams is the architect of 18 gold albums and three platinum albums. He has performed with the greats, including Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Charles. Andy hosted the Grammys for three consecutive years in the 1970's. Andy has had an impressive solo career that began in 1952, which eventually led to movies and television. His first number one hit came with the 1957 hit titled "Butterfly."

"I started in the church choir with my brothers and my mother and father in this little town where they had several churches and just 740 people. Our church, the Presbyterian church, didn't have a choir so my father formed one," said Andy. Then came TV. The Emmy-winning television series the Andy Williams Show ran for ten years on NBC.

"Doing the TV series on NBC was a great period because my kids were growing up and I was at home with them. That was a wonderful highlight of my life." During that time the Andy Williams Christmas Show ran for eight years.

The third of December will mark Andy's 80th birthday and he will bring his Christmas Show to the Desert on December 21st 2007.

Andy has recorded eight Christmas albums and many are familiar with the Andy Williams Christmas Shows from their youth. The Christmas shows ran regularly until 1974 and then even ran intermittently from 1982 well into the 1990's. Andy gave up touring in the 1990's when he opened the Moon River Theater in Branson, Missouri. But this year, folks will get a special treat of seeing Andy on the road.

The Christmas Show in Tempe is a must-see. If you call yourself a fan of Christmas music just remember that guys like Dean and Frank are gone, but Andy's voice still rings with the sound of Christmas. Andy may quite possibly be the biggest entertainer during the Christmas Season that this country has ever seen. Christmas is a time of memories amongst other things. Let Andy Williams bring back some fond ones or start brand new ones.

See Andy Williams in concert at the ASU Gammage (Tempe) on Friday, Dec. 10th at 7:30 p.m.
For ticket information, visit www.ticketmaster.com.

Travis Kelly is a freelance writer and the Men’s Ministry Director at Pathway of Hope Foursquare Church in Oro Valley.