Sixty-eight years ago this week, the original cast album to the Broadway smash My Fair Lady, starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison, vaulted from No. 30 to No. 8 in its second week on the Billboard 200. The album logged 173 weeks in the top 10, which set a record which still stands for the longest run in the top 10 since the Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956.
The astoundingly good score, composed by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, includes such standards as “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face,” “The Rain in Spain” and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly.”
Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times’ influential theater critic at the time, touted My Fair Lady as “one of the best musicals of the century” – a line that, naturally, was plastered atop the show’s theatrical poster. In most cases, extravagant praise like that would reek of hyperbole. In this case, saying “one of” showed considerable restraint. Name one musical more chock-full of famous and beloved songs.
Incredibly, Andrews played a leading role on three of the eight albums with the most weeks in the top 10. The 1965 soundtrack to The Sound of Music is in fourth place on the all-time list with 109 weeks. The 1961 Broadway cast album to Camelot is tied for seventh place with 87 weeks.
Here’s the top 10 as it currently stands. Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album, which returns to the top 10 on the Billboard 200 this week, is currently in second place.
Weeks in Top 10, Artist, Title, Year First Reached Top 10 173, Original Cast, My Fair Lady, 1956 142, Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album, 2021 109, Soundtrack, The Sound of Music, 1965 106, Soundtrack, West Side Story, 1962 105, Original Cast, The Sound of Music, 1960 90, Soundtrack, South Pacific, 1958 87, Original Cast, Camelot, 1961 87, Soundtrack, Oklahoma!, 1956 85, Peter, Paul and Mary, Peter Paul and Mary, 1962 84, Adele, 21, 2011 84, Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A., 1984
Andrews has had a very unique history on the Billboard charts. She starred in two Broadway musicals with cast albums that topped the Billboard 200, as well as two films with soundtracks that topped that chart, but her only album under her own name to make the chart is Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall, the soundtrack to a 1962 TV special in which she starred with another future legend, Carol Burnett. It peaked at No. 85.
Andrews has also had only one entry on the Billboard Hot 100, “Super-cali-fragil-istic-expi-ali-docious,” a novelty song from Mary Poppins on which she teamed with Dick Van Dyke and The Pearlies. The tongue-twister single reached No. 66 in 1965.
Andrews had a glorious singing voice, but for some reason it didn’t translate to the pop music world. Still, her work in soundtracks and cast albums can’t be denied.
In 2011, Andrews received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy. She was part of a wildly diverse class that also included country queen Dolly Parton, punk band The Ramones, pop-folk trio The Kingston Trio, gospel singer George Beverly Shea, classical ensemble Juilliard String Quartet and jazz drummer Roy Haynes.
Andrews attended the Special Merit Awards ceremony in Los Angeles to receive her lifetime achievement award on Feb. 12, 2011. Making it even sweeter, the following night, she won a competitive Grammy – her second – best spoken word album for children for Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs and Lullabies. She won the award alongside her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton.
Andrews’ generations-spanning appeal was seen in 2015, when Lady Gaga sang four songs from The Sound of Music score on the Oscars, to mark the film’s 50th anniversary. At the end of her performance, Andrews came out from the wings and embraced her. Gaga introduced with these warm words, “Ladies and gentlemen, the incomparable Julie Andrews.”
It was also seen when the American Film Institute unveiled its roster of 25 Greatest Movie Musicals in 2006. Andrews starred in two of the top 10 musicals – The Sound of Music at No. 4 and Mary Poppins at No. 6. Gene Kelly also starred in two of their top 10 musicals (Singin’ in the Rain and An American in Paris). Judy Garland topped them both, starring in three of the top 10 (The Wizard of Oz, A Star Is Born and Meet Me in St. Louis.) That’s pretty good company.
Andrews is three-quarters of the way to EGOT status. She has won two Emmys, two Grammys (plus that lifetime achievement award) and an Oscar, but has yet to win a Tony, despite three nominations. (Considering that Andrews has appeared on Broadway in only four shows, to have been Tony-nominated three times is a quite a feat.) She appeared to finally be headed for a Tony win in 1996 for her lead role in the Broadway adaptation of Victor/Victoria, but when she was the only person from the show to receive a nomination, she famously declined the nod, telling a matinee audience two days after the nominations were announced: “I have searched my conscience and my heart and find that I cannot accept this nomination, and prefer instead to stand with the egregiously overlooked.”
That rather arch phrasing was mocked, but Andrews’ principled stand was admired. Andrews remained on the ballot, but having signaled disinterest in the award, it was no surprise when she lost to Donna Murphy for The King and I.
Despite that kerfuffle, Andrews remains strongly identified with Broadway. She won a Primetime Emmy in 2005 for hosting Broadway: The American Musical on PBS, which was voted outstanding non-fiction series. She has received two Grammy nominations for best traditional pop vocal performance, both for Broadway collections – Julie Andrews Broadway/Here I’ll Stay (1997) and Julie Andrews – Broadway – the Music of Richard Rodgers (1995).
Andrews has received 11 Primetime Emmy nods, spanning a remarkable 65 years. She received her first in 1958 for actress – best single performance – lead or support for Cinderella; her most recent just last year for outstanding character voice-over performance for Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.
Andrews has received a slew of career achievement awards, including the Kennedy Center Honors (2001), a Life Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild Awards (2006) and the American Film Institute’s life achievement award (2022).
Here’s more background on the four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 on which Andrews played a lead role. They are shown in chronological order:
‘My Fair Lady’ original cast album
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection
Highlights: “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face,” “The Rain in Spain,” “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly”
Notes: This album hit No. 1 on July 14, 1956, dislodging Elvis Presley’s Elvis Presley from the top spot. My Fair Lady, which returned to No. 1 in 1957, 1958 and 1959, is the only album to appear to top the Billboard 200 in four calendar years. It logged 15 weeks at No. 1, a total equaled or surpassed by only one cast album in the history of the Billboard 200. (The Sound of Music, headlined by Mary Martin, had 16 weeks on top in 1960.)
My Fair Lady pre-dates the Grammy Awards, which launched in 1958, but the album was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1977 and the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2007. My Fair Lady won seven Tony Awards, including best musical. Andrews received a Tony nomination for her performance. Her co-star, Rex Harrison, won a Tony for his.
‘Camelot’ original cast album
Highlights: “If Ever I Would Leave You,” “Camelot,” “The Lusty Month of May,” “Then You May Take Me to the Fair,” “What the Simple Folk Do”
Notes: This album hit No. 1 on June 5, 1961, dislodging Presley’s G.I. Blues soundtrack. The album remained on top for six consecutive weeks. The album received a 1960 Grammy nod for best show album (original cast) and was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006. Camelot won four Tony Awards. Andrews received a Tony nod for her performance. Her co-star, Richard Burton, won a Tony for his. (Starting to see a pattern here!)
The album earned a footnote in American political history following President Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963. Presidential historian Theodore White interviewed Jacqueline Kennedy on the night of Nov. 29, 1963, one week after the assassination. His article, “For President Kennedy: An Epilogue,” published in the Dec. 6, 1963 issue of LIFE, included the first use of the term “Camelot” in print to characterize the Kennedy era. The former first lady said, “At night, before we’d go to sleep, Jack liked to play some records; and the song he loved most came at the very end of this record. The lines he loved to hear were: ‘Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment/that was known as Camelot.” Mrs. Kennedy added: “There’ll be great Presidents again – and the Johnsons are wonderful, they’ve been wonderful to me – but there’ll never be another Camelot again.”
‘Mary Poppins’ soundtrack
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection
Highlights: “Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag),” “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” “Super-cali-fragil-istic-expi-ali-docious,” “Jolly Holiday”
Notes: This album hit No. 1 on March 13, 1965, dislodging The Beatles’ Beatles ’65. It was bumped down to No. 2 for three weeks by the Goldfinger soundtrack, but it returned to No. 1 on April 10. The album logged a total of 14 weeks on top – one of the five longest runs by a soundtrack in the 1960s. The film received 13 Oscar nominations, the most for any musical to that point. In all the years since, only two other musicals have equaled or bettered the feat – Chicago (13 nods in 2003) and La La Land (14 nods in 2017).
Mary Poppins won five Oscars on April 5, 1965. When Andrews won best actress for her first film role, she graciously said, “I know you Americans are famous for your hospitality but this is really ridiculous.” In all of Oscar history, just three other actresses have won best actress for their first film role – Shirley Booth (Come Back, Little Sheba), Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl) and Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God).
The Sherman Brothers won two Oscars for their work on Mary Poppins – best original score and best original song for “Chim Chim Cher-ee.” Andrews starred in the film with Dick Van Dyke, who shot the movie in between Seasons 2 and 3 of his classic sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show. The soundtrack brought both stars a Grammy Award – best recording for children. The album was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.
A stage adaptation ran on Broadway from 2006-13. Mary Poppins Returns, a film sequel starring Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda, was released in 2018.
‘The Sound of Music’ soundtrack
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved. Courtesy: Everett Collection.
Highlights: “The Sound of Music,” “I Have Confidence,” “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Something Good,” “Edelweiss”
Notes: This album hit No. 1 on Nov. 13, 1965, dislodging The Beatles’ Help! soundtrack. (So, Andrews’ projects dislodged Presley twice and The Beatles twice. That is what you call keeping up with the big boys.) The Sound of Music received a Grammy nod for album of the year, but lost to Frank Sinatra’s September of My Years. It was voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 and the National Recording Registry in 2017.
The film won five Oscars, including best picture. Andrews was nominated for best actress, and was vying to become the first actress in nearly 30 years to win back-to-back awards in that category, but she lost to Julie Christie for Darling.
Three songs from the film made AFI’s100 Years…100 Songs, a 2004 TV special. The title song was No. 10, followed by “My Favorite Things” at No. 64 and “Do-Re-Mi” at No. 88. Only two other films, Singin’ in the Rain and West Side Story, each had three songs on the list.
Carrie Underwood starred in a top-rated (but critically panned) live TV version in 2013.
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