MOON RIVER ~ ANDY WILLIAMS

*****************************
Grammy Song Of the Year 1962
*****************************

"Moon River" is a song composed by Johnny Mercer (lyrics) and Henry Mancini (music) in 1961, for whom it won that year's Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was originally sung in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's by Audrey Hepburn, although it has been covered by many other artists. The song also won the 1962 Grammy Award for Record of the Year.It became the theme song for Andy Williams, who first recorded it in 1961 and performed it at the Academy Awards ceremonies in 1962. He sang the first eight bars at the beginning of his television show and also named his production company and venue in Branson, Missouri after it. Williams' version was disliked by Cadence Records president Archie Bleyer, who believed it had little or no appeal to teenagers. Andy Williams' version never charted, except as an LP track, which he recorded for Columbia in a hit album of 1962. The song's most famous line, "...my huckleberry friend...", was not a reference to Mark Twain's Huck Finn. Rather, Mercer had originally titled the song "Blue River" (changing it only after recalling another song with the same title), and the initial lyrics contained many references to that color. Although Mercer dropped most of the blue references in his revised lyrics, he kept the huckleberry in simply because he liked how it sounded.

***************
Grammy Song of the Year 1962 Nominees

• "Big Bad John" by Jimmy Dean
• "A Little Bitty Tear" by Burl Ives
• "Lollipops and Roses" by Jack Jones
• "Make Someone Happy" by Various Artists
  ***************