MOON RIVER
by DANNY WILLIAMS

Moving to London at the age of 14 after winning a talent show, South African-born singer and actor Danny Williams impressed EMI enough for them to offer him a recording contract and soon he achieved his first UK Official Singles Chart entry in May 1961 with the Number 44 We Will Never Be As Young As This Again, and broke the Top 40 with his third hit Moon River. Composed by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, Moon River was first performed by actor Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film Breakfast At Tiffany’s, which earned Mancini and Mercer an Academy Award and two Grammys.

Danny Williams’ version of Moon River first entered the UK chart at the start of November, and rose gently to claim the UK Official Singles Chart Christmas Number 1 on its ninth week, staying there for two weeks and spending 19 weeks on the chart. Moon River did, however, become more widely known in its version by another Williams, as Andy Williams would sing it on each episode of his TV show, named his production company after it and his version ended up in the US library of Congress. But his version didn’t chart in the UK. So there.