You Lay So Easy On My Mind

Approfondimenti

In 1974, Andy Williams' The Way We Were became the singer's first newly recorded LP since 1962 not to sell well enough to reach the Billboard charts, a serious decline for a veteran recording artist who had scored a gold album as recently as 1973. Williams traveled to Nashville for a singles session with renowned country producer Billy Sherrill and cut a version of the recent Tammy Wynette country chart-topper "Another Lonely Song." Released as a single, it reached the Top 40 of the easy listening charts, and Williams returned to Nashville to finish off an album of similar material, You Lay So Easy on My Mind. He recorded more recent country material such as the grammatically challenged title song, a 1973 hit for its co-author Bobby G. Rice, and Charlie Rich's "I Love My Friend," which was on its way to number one the week of the session. Also included were the recent crossover pop hits "I Honestly Love You" and "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song," as well as country songs of an older vintage; Williams turned in a particularly affecting version of the 1967 David Houston and Tammy Wynette hit "My Elusive Dreams." Sherrill's production was typical Nashville Sound, with lush strings, a wordless female chorus, tinkling piano, and pedal steel guitar, and Williams sounded fine with such support. The album actually put him back on the pop charts briefly, though the way Columbia records handled it indicated the singer was no longer a priority. The LP was tossed out late in the year, just after a new Williams holiday collection (Christmas Present), hardly ideal circumstances. "Cry Softly" from the album was not released as a single until after the album had run its course; nevertheless, it made the easy listening Top 20.

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