Memories of Crooner Andy Williams at the Du Quoin Fair in 1963 & 1985

With a string of gold albums, a hit TV series and his signature ''Moon River,'' Andy Williams was the voice and the heartthrob of the 1960s.

He shared the music era with Johnny Mathis, the late great Nat King Cole, Henry Mancini and Frank Sinatra. The legendary Williams died of cancer Wednesday at the age of 84.

Yet, Du Quoin restauranteur John Alongi has always been curious as to why the crooner asked him to pull "Moon River" off the juke box as they shot games of pin pool and sipped cold Budweisers at the restaurant.

"He was pretty good at pin pool," says Alongi.

"I did what he asked me to do," says the senior Alongi, remembering the day like it was yesterday.

Maybe he didn't want the locals to feel obligated to cater to him during his seven-night stand at the Du Quoin State Fair back in 1963. Or, maybe like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" he was just tired of hearing it. Williams never said.

But, Alongi obliged and called Billie Gene Morris, who took care of the town's juke boxes and had the song removed--at least while Andy Williams was in town.

Williams performed at the fair for a week in 1963 and for one night in 1985. In 1963 tickets to the night show were $3 each, according to Fred Huff, whose chronicle of the fair gives us the history of Williams' appearances here.

He performed alongside the Osmond Brothers, whose careers he launched, comedian Jerry Van Dyke and magician Mark Wilson.

In 1985 he performed on a Saturday night and shared the spotlight with Phyllis Diller. Tickets were $14 a seat.

Two weeks earlier Illinois Gov. James Thompson avoided collapse of the fair by depositing $350,000 in the Du Quoin National Bank to pay the fair's bills in the last days of the Saad Jabr family ownership before the state fully took possession of the fair in 1986.

Williams and the other entertainers rehearsed the show in the upstairs auditorium of the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. in Du Quoin and he spent time at the late A.T. Atwoods Magnavox Home Entertain-ment exhibit beneath the grandstand.