Andy and David Williams


Yup, they are, indeed, the nephews of crooner Andy Williams -  born in 1960 and 14 years old when they appeared on "The Partridge Family". In the fourth season episode titled "Two For The Show", Andy & David played (what else?) identical twins, who fall in love with Susan Dey's Laurie Partridge.

In the 70s, they released a few albums, the first called, simply "Andy & David Williams". Apparently, Wes Farrell was trying to turn them into his next big act, as he and John Bahler produced their second album, called "One More Time", for Coral Rock Productions. According to the album listings, all of the Partridge musicians and singers were present. This would indicate that they were on the series in order to help Wes promote them rather than being brought on to "save the show". A third album may have been released, but so far it has escaped our research. They recorded on MCA Records, and by 1974 had switched to Uncle Andy's Barnaby label and released another album, and single called "What's Your Name?" -- a moderate hit that peaked at #92 in June of 1974. To the best of our knowledge, their Partridge song, "Say It Again", wasn't included on any of their albums.

UPDATE 4/17/02: Varese Sarabande is issuing the long-lost Williams Brothers releases on a compilation called "Andy & David Williams: The Williams Brothers". The collection features unreleased material AND the song that they performed on an episode of The Partridge Family, "Say It Again." Scheduled to be released on June 4 2002, the CD will include only recordings produced during their "One More Time" period (nothing from their current recordings). Varese Sarabande stated that an entire album's worth of unreleased material was available to them, so if you are a fan of Andy & David Williams as a teen act, this CD is for you!


 

Throughout the early 70s, the Williams Brothers made the obligatory appearances in the teen magazines, but didn't really make a big splash. They also appeared on Uncle Andy's television specials, singing Everly Brothers-type songs, as well as several Williams family albums.

They laid low for a while and studied music. In 1987, billed as The Williams Brothers, they released a CD titled "Two Stories" for Warner Bros. Records. That was followed in 1991 with "The Williams Brothers" and in 1993 with "Harmony Hotel". Reviews were actually pretty good, and they had a moderate hit with "Can't Cry Hard Enough" in 1991, from their self-titled CD. That was followed by "It's A Wonderful Life" in 1992.

Here is what www.allmusic.com has to say about the duo:

Andrew and David Williams are guitar-toting brothers who began backing up artists such as Brian Setzer, the Plimsouls, Joe Ely, and the Cruzados in the early '80s. They then played in T-Bone Burnett's band during a European tour, before settling down and cutting their first album in 1987. Though in their '20s, they don't pander to the youth audience with their mature music, having opened shows for the late Roy Orbison and Suzanne Vega.

What the critics have said:

The first fact to register concerning the two Williams brothers, Andy and David, is that they are nephews of the Andy Williams,the famous crooning pullover himself. The second  fact is that these boys make strong, original, contemporary rock in their own right. Some UK gig-goers might recall their live work with T-Bone Burnett; otherwise, the Californian duo summon some memories of the brothers Everly, in their close country-ish harmonies, as well as sounding somewhere in the territory of modern American authentics such as Peter Case, REM or Bruce Hornsby. It's a robust rootsiness they deal in, simultaneously tough and sweet, and given the present readiness of open-eared Brits to investigate suc neo-traditionalists then there may yet come a day when Uncle Andy's major claim to fame becomes his link with these two. In the meantime, they're fully deserving of your attention.  (Paul Du Noyer, © Emap Consumer Magazines Limited).

In 1994, David did an interview for The Advocate announcing he was gay. Read the article here.

In 1996, both brothers appeared in the film "Grace Of My Heart" as the "Click Brothers". They had a brief scene where they played an Everly Brothers-type duo and are featured on the film's soundtrack CD crooning "Love Doesn't Ever Fail Us." Another song, "Heartbreak Kid", appears in the film, but not on the CD.

Have more information on the Williams Brothers? Let us know!

Back to Partridge People and Places