We've Only Just Begun-The Paul Williams Songbook.
Label: Ace.
Format: CD.
Release Date: 26th July 2024.
The latest instalment in Ace's Songwriter Series is 'We've Only Just Begun-The Paul Williams Songbook,' which will be released on 26th July 2024. It features twenty-two tracks penned by a man who originally, was an accidental songwriter.
Paul Hamilton Williams Jr was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on September 19, 1940. His father was a structural engineer, and because of his work, the family were constantly moving when Williams was a child. Tragedy struck when he was thirteen, when his father was killed in a road traffic accident. After this, Williams was brought up by an aunt and uncle.
By the age of twenty-one, Williams had decided to pursue a career as an actor. He enjoyed a degree of success featuring in The Loved One alongside John Gielgud and Rod Steiger. Then in 1966, he starred in The Chase, which was produced by Sam Spiegel. It was during the filming that Williams had a glimpse of his future career.
Williams who was then twenty-four, sharing a dressing room with Marc Seaton, the son of director George Seaton. When Williams saw a guitar lying he picked it up, only for Seaton Jr to yell at him: "Don't touch the guitar, it's a Martin." Williams had no idea how prestigious and expensive Martin guitars were. So he went out and bought a guitar of his own, and decided to paint it in the hippie colours. Little did he know that this guitar would change his life.
Later, whilst sitting on the step of a trailer watching the filming of a scene where Robert Redford's character Bubber was hiding in a burning junkyard, Williams started singing: "Bubber come out wherever you are." Robert Duvall just happened to be walking by and heard him singing. He asked Williams: What is that?" He replied: "It'a a guitar, I just bought it." Duvall said: 'Not the guitar. What are you playing?" Duvall walked over and asked the director to shoot Williams singing. It was a lightbulb moment for him.
He realised that if he wrote a song it was going to end up getting used. Despite that, it wasn't until Williams was twenty-seven that he realised that he was a natural songwriter. Twenty-two of the songs he went onto write feature on 'We've Only Just Begun-The Paul Williams Songbook.'
This includes 'Someday Man' by The Monkees, which featured on their 1969 single. It was penned by Williams and Roger Nichols and reached sixty-three in the US Billboard 100, forty-seven in the UK was the group's final top ten hit in Australia. By then, Peter Tork had left the group, and they were now a trio. Despite that, they bring to life the lyrics which speak of generosity, humility as well as humanity. It's an oft-overlooked track from the group's extensive back-catalogue.
The Williams and Nichols songwriting partnership contributed 'I Won't Last A Day Without You' to Diana Ross' 1973 album 'Touch Me In The Morning. 'It's not only one of the highlights of the album, but a timeless track.
In 1970, Williams and Nichols were asked to write the music for a commercial. They weren't keen until they heard the fee. The pair went away and wrote 'We've Only Just Begun.' Despite the advert being a success for Croker National Bank, Freddie Allen's original version was a flop when released as a single. This version is a reminder of the dawn of a new decade, and a taste of an oft-covered song that would become a modern day classic when covered by The Carpenters.
The following year, 1971, Anne Murray recorded the Williams and Nichols' composition 'Talk It Over In The Morning.' It was released a single and was the title-track on her 1971 album. Despite the quality of the vocal which is heartfelt and emotive the single wasn't a commercial success. However, it was, by far, one of the highlights of the album.
Williams contributed the heartachingly beautiful ballad What Would They Say to Helen Reddy's 1971 album 'I Am A Woman.' The Australian singer was signed to Capitol, and breathes life, meaning and emotion into this beautifully orchestrated ballad. When it was released in December 1972, it topped the US Billboard 100. Fifty-two years later, and without doubt, it's one of the highlights of the compilation.
In 1971, the Williams and Nichols' composition 'Rainy Days And Mondays' was recorded by The Carpenters. It reached number two on the US Billboard 100 and was certified gold. The single is regarded as one of their finest recordings and the definitive version. However, two years later, in 1973, Freda Payne decided to cover the song for her 1973 album 'Reaching Out.' Her soulful vocal is accompanied by a slightly more uptempo arrangement that features a piano and lush strings as she reinvents a classic.
When Art Garfunkel was recorded his debut album 'Angel Clare,' he recorded 'Travelling Boy' which was written by Williams and Nichols. This gorgeous ballad features a vocal that's a mixture of emotion, sadness and hurt. Garfunkel breathes life and meaning into the lyrics, and at the same time, makes the song his own.
By 1971, Petula Clark was signed to Warner Bros. That year, she released her album Warm and Tender which was arranged, conduced and produced by Arif Mardin. One of the songs on the album was 'Let Me Be The One,' which was penned by Williams and Nichols. Clark's vocal veers between tender and powerful, but is always emotive and needy as she lives the lyrics, accompanied by a string-drenched arrangement.
Five years after releasing their classic single 'Summer Breeze,' Seals and Croft recorded 'My Fair Share (Love Theme From One On One)' in 1977. The song was penned by Williams and Charlie Fox, who coproduced the song with Louis Shelton. It was for a basketball film, which was a sport Williams was interested in. When the single was released this tender, thoughtful ballad reached twenty-eight on the US Billboard 100. It's one of the hidden gems on the compilation.
Another Fine Mess by Glen Campbell would've been the perfect way to close 'We've Only Just Begun-The Paul Williams Songbook.' One listen to Williams' lyrics and Campbell's reading them is proof of this. It's as if he's lived and survived the lyrics. The result is one of the best, and most moving ballads on the compilation by one of the giants of country music.
However, the compilation doesn't finish on what's one of the highlights of the album. Instead, it's a track by a puppet frog? Why oh why?
For anyone who is unfamiliar with Williams work, this is the perfect primer. There's even 'Roan Man' from his 1970 album "Someday Man." However, it's as a songwriter that Williams is better known.
He forged a successful songwriting partnership with Roger Nichols, and the pair wrote many hit singles, some of which are modern day classics. This includes for The Carpenters, Diana Ross and Art Garfunkel. There's also traces on the compilation that they wrote songs for The Monkees, Anne Murray and Petula Clark. These track are oft-overlooked hidden gems.
Oh his own, Williams wrote songs for I Am A Woman' for Helen Reddy and 'Another Fine Mess' for Glen Campbell. These two tracks are among the highlights of 'We've Only Just Begun-The Paul Williams Songbook' the accidental songwriter who enjoyed a long and successful career penning songs for the great and good of music.
We've Only Just Begun-The Paul Williams Songbook.
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