Just an Old Fashioned Love Song [Import]

Paul Williams | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 10, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Bmg Japan
• ASIN: B000006V2R
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #240,101 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Waking Up Alone

2. I Never Had It So Good

3. We've Only Just Begun

4. That's Enough for Me

5. A Perfect Love

6. An Old Fashioned Love Song

7. Let Me Be the One

8. Simple Man

9. When I Was All Alone

10. My Love and I

11. Gone Forever

Editorial Reviews

Digitally remastered version of acclaimed songwriter Paul Williams' 1971 debut solo album. Includes his versions of "We've Only Just Begun" & "Let Me Be The One" ( the Carpenters), & "Just An Old Fashioned Love Song" ( Three Dog Night). Includes deluxe booklet with lyrics. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paul Williams: An Excellent Artist, July 9, 2000

By 

Wilfredo C. Derequito (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Just an Old Fashioned Love Song (Audio CD)

There is only one word to describe Paul William's music: extraordinary. It's no wonder why many recording artists of the late 1960's and early 1970's - The Carpenters, Three Dog Night, Helen Reddy, Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, just to name a few - had chosen to record some of his songs.

Aside from his mastery of his musical medium, the piano, what sets Paul Williams's work apart is its uniqueness. Somewhat akin to Burt Bacharach's songs before him, many of Paul William's songs do not follow the usual three-chord patterns that are so common in popular songs. Listen to his songs for the first time and chances are you won't find it easy to predict which direction his songs will take you next.

Just when the listener begins to relax to the first few mellow bars of `You And Me Against The World', the music suddenly picks up in cadence and intensity without warning, beginning with "Remember when the circus came to town..." which is later repeated with "Life can be a circus, they underpay and overwork us..." It is this impulsive, neurotic unpredictability that makes some of Paul's songs so unique.

One would be at a loss to cite a better example to accurately describe the hopes and optimism experienced by many people just starting out life-shaping relationships, say a marriage. Paul William's "Sharing horizons that are new to us, watching the signs along the way..." in `We've Only Just Begun' is a good start. It is a song for people and couples looking forward to lasting and meaningful relationships.

`That's Enough For Me' is a masterpiece with its haunting lyrical and melodic quality, not to mention the superb guitar work. It is Paul revealing his soul in his most tender and vulnerable moment, finding solace in what love has to offer. One can't help but wish being in his shoes, content and serene, finding simple domestic pleasure and comfort just being with the loved one.

`Rainy Days and Mondays' perfectly describes the rut that modern man finds himself in while coping with the pressure of everyday life. `Waking Up Alone' is a tale of a wandering man who finally decides to come back to his hometown, only to discover how much he had missed and will be missing when he finds his old flame now happily married with a child of her own. And that is when cold reality strikes him: he is all alone. Graham Nash' `Simple Man' is a pleasant surprise, the only non-Paul Williams tune in this compilation. This tells us that even a sophisticated artist like Paul Williams can once in a while interpret another writer's piece - a very simple piece at that! - and make it sound his own.

`I Won't Last A Day Without You' tells us of Paul Wiiliam's willingness to "take all the madness the world has to give" as long as he has love. A pseudo critic friend of mine once told me that this kind of attitude - that is, the desire to exist only when in the company of one's object of affection - is itself a form of madness. Well, perhaps. But who says that love isn't blind?

This CD's liner has Paul Williams dedicating this body of work to the serious listener. Well, he proves once again that he is worth listening to.

Paul Williams has caught my ears and hopefully, yours too!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a wonderful album, and I'm so glad it's on CD., January 11, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (R.I.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just an Old Fashioned Love Song (Audio CD)

I've been a fan of Paul Williams for 25 years now and I never tire of his music. I have the largest collection, and have all of his albums on CD, with the exception of Holy Mackerel, Classics,and A Little on the Windy side. Maybe the record company will have the wisdom to put those albums on CD too. I love the Just an Old Fashioned Love Song CD. It is truly a treasure. A friend (Sarah) and I started a Paul Williams Fan Club and on Sept. 20th Paul made it official. We have met so many wonderful people who feel the same way as we do about Paul. Paul is the nicest guy and really appreciates his fans. We even have a fan club message from Paul posted on the fan club web site. I can't say enough about him and his music. If anyone would like to email me to find out more please feel free. I'd really like to hear from a fellow Paul Williams Fan.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just An Old Fashioned Love Song, April 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Just an Old Fashioned Love Song (Audio CD)

This was Paul Williams FIRST album, retitled and re-released. I fell in love with this album back in 1968 when it was first out and I wore the grooves off it. I have searched for this album for 32 years now and thank heaven someone brought it out again. This is a true gem! All these songs were written before anyone had really ever heard of him and they are the best ones I have ever heard. I only learned about it because I knew some musicians in Hollywood and among them, this was considered premium song writing. What a tremendous lyricist! The original dedication was "There are those who listen and those who wait to speak. This is dedicated to the listeners." I'm still very happily listening today, Paul.