In The Arms Of Love – ANDY WILLIAMS****

The Very Thought Of You/If I Love Again/Theme From The Sand Pebbles/Remember/Here’s That Rainy Day/In The Arms Of Love/The Face I Love/Sand & Sea/So Nice/Pretty Butterfly/A Man & A Woman/All Through The Night

Andy Williams' In The Arms Of Love LP features tracks from the Great American Songbook and movie soundtracks, some performed in a bossa nova style. (US:21)

"In The Arms Of Love is an exceptional release. The first half features romantic ballads (including the Henry Mancini penned title track) set against lush, string-filled backdrops. But the real gems are the last six tracks, which get delightful bossa nova and samba treatments that complement Andy's ultra-cool vocals perfectly. Williams' light touch is well suited to this material."

"One thing that I like about this album is that we can hear for ourselves just how versatile Andy was as a performer - crooning out classic ballads and yet quite able to turn out some bossa nova tunes that rank with the best of them. With all these well done songs and ballads this also makes a fine starter for newcomers to the artistry of the incomparable Andy Williams."

"Everything is well done and the orchestrations are classic Williams. Especially good is the samba inspired So Nice, Pretty Butterfly and A Man & A Woman."

"In The Arms Of Love features tracks chosen from the Great American Songbook and film soundtracks. The arrangements are elaborate studio creations. The result is a rich, full sound, employing strings that act as a beautiful complement to Williams's emotive singing. Standout tracks include his renditions of So Nice, A Man & A Woman and the title song. These recordings are a testament to Williams's sterling reputation as an interpreter of popular songs."

"In The Arms Of Love is a must for the title track alone, one of my favourites by Andy and this was probably his last decent album of material in the 60s. There's great bossa nova stuff here like So Nice, Pretty Butterfly and the classic A Man & A Woman. The ballads are as good as Andy can make them."

"The sensuously gorgeous reading of And We Were Lovers; Andy's arrangement of this Leslie Bricusse theme frames his voice perfectly - a classic Andy Williams song."