We've spoken about a lot of songwriters here but one who's received little attention from the org is Mr. Paul Williams. Of course Mr. Williams wrote two of The Carpenters biggest hits, Rainy, Days and Mondays, and We've Only Just Begun. He received an Oscar ( along with Barbara Streisand) for "A Star Is Born" song Evergreen.

[youtube]dIog1vxXN4U/youtube]

This is gonna be interesting cause I would say the majority of orgers have never heard of him and the older ones probably werent into anything the guy was writing.

I vaguely remember him more showing up in movies or tv shows as himself, with glasses the size of his head, than I do for any of his music. Oh and hes like really really short.

Yeah Mr. Williams became known as this strange little guy how did some acting and oh, wrote a song or two.

Still he wrote some pretty good stuff... some memorable songs as it were. I personally think, Evergreen hasn't held up and The Theme From Mahogany was robbed of an Oscar, but that's neither here are there at this point.

Hell yea. He wrote the music to "bugsy malone". I loved that movie as a kid and still play the soundtrack today. He did "phantom of th paradise" which has great songs and who does not love the "rainbow connection". Check out the documentary they did on him. I think it's called "i'm not dead yet" or something like that. He is the man.

That's cause you all brand new and stuff...
http://prince.org/msg/8/169582

Seriously though, you're correct.
He's got a low Q Score around these parts.

A more obscure tune with a familiar title covered by B.J. Thomas & Rita Coolidge...

...That's What Friends Are For




Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

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I'm a fan

I've been trying to see this documentary for more than a year now!

...Paul Williams - 'Still Alive'

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[Edited 5/9/13 16:24pm]

theAudience said:

That's cause you all brand new and stuff...
http://prince.org/msg/8/169582

Seriously though, you're correct.
He's got a low Q Score around these parts.

A more obscure tune with a familiar title covered by B.J. Thomas & Rita Coolidge...

...That's What Friends Are For




Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

I had serious crush on B.J. Thomas back in the day.

paligap said:

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I'm a fan

I've been trying to see this documentary for more than a year now!

...Paul Williams - 'Still Alive'

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...

...

[Edited 5/9/13 16:24pm]

Just Google it and its over at Amazon and iTunes, I'm going to rent now. Its a dollar cheaper at Amazon, for what its worth.

http://www.amazon.com/Pau...B009RI3A3K

TD3 said:

paligap said:

...

I'm a fan

I've been trying to see this documentary for more than a year now!

...Paul Williams - 'Still Alive'

...

...

...

[Edited 5/9/13 16:24pm]

Just Google it and its over at Amazon and iTunes, I'm going to rent now. Its a dollar cheaper at Amazon, for what its worth.

http://www.amazon.com/Pau...B009RI3A3K

...

Thanks, TD3!

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Another favorite...

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I always thought he was very cute when he was young... He would have felt right at home with the hobbits. He wrote some much loved songs that have endured over time.

I know who he is and what he's written, and he is a legend.

Thank you for recognizing him! When I saw "Paul Williams" in the thread title, I thought, "THAT Paul Williams? No way!".




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[Edited 5/10/13 17:14pm]

I heard on a broadcast that he's appearing on the latest Daft Punk album. First time I saw him was at a Muppets show and a few laters saw the "The Phantom Of The Paradise" movie.

paligap said:

...

I'm a fan

I've been trying to see this documentary for more than a year now!

...Paul Williams - 'Still Alive'

...

...

...

[Edited 5/9/13 16:24pm]

Review: Interesting documentary.

I don't know why Mr. Kessler’s assumed Mr. Williams was dead. Any-who. Mr. Kessler's discovered a man at peace with himself, who's been sober for 2 decades, and made the choice to live his life with integrity henceforth. Mr. Kessler in some instances tried to bait Williams in giving him a sob story about his diminished fame or why he started taking drugs, he did neither. In my opinion Mr. Williams just grew up and understand what was really important and what's bullshit.

The really cool thing I like about this documentary was Williams still loved to perform. By all accounts his singing has never been all that good but he his passion and music reflects the human condition that others can relate to. Mr. Stephen Kessler can be annoying fanboy but all in all if you are a Paul Williams fan this film worth watching. If I'm ever in Vegas and he's there, I'll try to see him.

TD3 said:

paligap said:

...

I'm a fan

I've been trying to see this documentary for more than a year now!

...Paul Williams - 'Still Alive'

...

...

...

[Edited 5/9/13 16:24pm]

Review: Interesting documentary.

I don't know why Mr. Kessler’s assumed Mr. Williams was dead. Any-who. Mr. Kessler's discovered a man at peace with himself, who's been sober for 2 decades, and made the choice to live his life with integrity henceforth. Mr. Kessler in some instances tried to bait Williams in giving him a sob story about his diminished fame or why he started taking drugs, he did neither. In my opinion Mr. Williams just grew up and understand what was really important and what's bullshit.

The really cool thing I like about this documentary was Williams still loved to perform. By all accounts his singing has never been all that good but he his passion and music reflects the human condition that others can relate to. Mr. Stephen Kessler can be annoying fanboy but all in all if you are a Paul Williams fan this film worth watching. If I'm ever in Vegas and he's there, I'll try to see him.

I know who Paul Williams is and I saw the doc on Showtime a few months ago. I though it was cool how Paul took responsibilty for his behavior and that Mr. Kessler was being a bit of ass trying to get Paul to go into some sob story about fame and the pressure that drove him to drugs. In reality his dad was a drunk and he was using before he was famous.