page_title: Andy Russell (singer)
section_title: Singing ambassador
hierarchical_section_title: Andy Russell (singer) / Awards and legacy / Singing ambassador
caption_attribution_description: English: Andy Russell LP Favoritos (Singing Ambassador sleeve) by Capitol Records, 1943
context_page_description: Andy Russell was an American popular vocalist, actor, and entertainer of Mexican descent, specializing in traditional pop and Latin music. He sold 8 million records in the 1940s singing in a romantic, baritone voice and in his trademark bilingual English and Spanish style. He had chart-busters, such as "Bésame Mucho", "Amor", and "What a Diff'rence a Day Made". He made personal appearances and performed on radio programs, most notably Your Hit Parade, in several movies, and on television. During this initial phase of his career, his popularity in the United States rivaled that of crooners Frank Sinatra and Perry Como.
  In 1954, he relocated to Mexico where he became a star of radio, television, motion pictures, records and nightclubs. He toured extensively throughout Latin America, Spain, Portugal and Cuba, and hosted the television variety program El Show de Andy Russell in Argentina from 1956–65.
  Upon returning to the United States, Russell continued to record. His 1967 single "It's Such a Pretty World Today" reached #1 on Billboard Magazine's Easy Listening Chart.
context_section_description: The best way to sum up Andy Russell's life is to come around full circle and look at how he envisioned his life at the dawn of his career ... as a "Singing Ambassador". These lines are from the inside sleeve of the record jacket of Favoritos, Russell's first album for Capitol Records back in 1943:
  "Singing Ambassador ... Andy Russell is more than a singer ... blessed with a voice, a personality, and a sense of showmanship, which, combined, attract the envy of less-gifted performers. He has spectacularly catapulted into the foremost ranks of entertainers since 1943 and accomplished Herculean results in furthering the friendship of the North American peoples with those of Central and South America to the south.
  "Andy is a handsome, young American, born and reared in Los Angeles, with a deep insight into the music of Latin America and with a flair for singing songs in both English and Spanish that has won him the plaudits of millions.
  "Andy's selections for this collection of 'favoritos' include Just Friends, Let's Fall in Love, I'll See You in My Dreams, Imagination, María Elena, La Borrachita, Cielito Lindo, and the plaintive Adios, Muchachos. All eight selections are beloved the world over. 'They're my favorites, too,' Russell confesses.
  "Capitol is privileged to present Andy Russell and this smart package of unforgettable music. His songs serve to establish him as a friendly ambassador without portfolio. Good neighbors of the south ... Good neighbors of the north ... are brought together by his virile, baritone voice. Saludos, amigos!"
caption: Andy Russell, Favoritos LP, (inside flap), Capitol Records, 1943
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