Customer Reviews

Paul Williams

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I came across this listing today and I'm going to track this collection down, fast. This is inspired work from a man who has a very deep spirit.

Paul Williams came up through the Brill Building songwriting for hire experience (and no offense to the artists who recorded his work), finally got his songs out on record, recorded the way he wrote and heard them (circa the early to late 1970's). The audience that hasn't heard them 'by him', needs to. Unfortunately, in most cases, others recorded his work in a schmaltz mode. These songs were never that. They're heartfelt, they're magic and they're an example of what a real melody, combined with an amazing lyric, arrangement and a great studio line up, can do.

This collection has the quintissential work (and will probably make you want to go out and scoop up any other cd of his collection that you can lay your hand on). I defy anyone to listen to a song like Loneliness, for example, and not come away from it realizing they were just told a lovely story in 3 to 4 minutes. A story in a song. That's songwriting at its finest.

Some have remarked on William's voice and the limited range of it. Remember when listening- it's the voice of the person who wrote it. The voice of the poet. As lovely and fine a voice as Karen Carpenter had- his Lonely Days and Mondays is the way the song needed to feel and to be recorded.

Also- go searching for his 'Phantom of the Paradise' for an amazing example of how diverse this man was. There's some real up tempo greats on this collection from the film- and William's finest (I think): ' The Phantom's Theme (The Beauty & The Beast) ' and the poignant 'Old Souls '.

Amazing work. I personally hope he's out there creating some more, although, he's created more than enough. 'That's Enough For Me '!

This CD has all my favorite Paul Williams songs. Each oldie brought back memories, and I really enjoyed having all the music on one CD. I looked a long time for this CD and am delighted to finally have it.

This was not a purchase, it was a gift to myself. It gives with every song...every time!

I first heard Paul Williams in the 70's. I considered his voice and song writing talent to be unique. Since then I've tried to get an album of his but no one in England seemed to have heard of him! Via amazon I've now succeeded in getting just what I wanted and it really has been worth the wait!

His bread and butter was writing great pop tunes for other artists. Even if you have never heard of him you are probably familiar with some of his best known tunes like "An Old Fashioned Love Song", "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "Evergreen" from the motion picture "A Star Is Born". Yes, Paul Williams had a hand in writing some of the most memorable pop hits of the 1970's. But what you may not know is that Paul Williams was a pretty fair artist in his own rite.
Simply entitled "Paul Williams", this 1998 release from Australia will give the listener a pretty good idea of just how talented an artist Paul Williams really is. Although as an artist he only managed the proverbial "cup of coffee" on the Billboard Hot 100 with the extraordinary "Waking Up Alone" (#60, 1972), Paul Williams would release several LP's during the 70's and 80's. Though these albums never sold particularly well Paul Williams nonetheless loved to sing the songs he wrote. And he sang them extremely well indeed. This Paul Williams CD features a whole bunch of songs you should be familiar with. In addition to the ones I mentioned above you will also find "We've Only Just Begun" and "I Won't Last A Day Without You" which were big hits for the Carpenters and a great song he wrote for Helen Reddy "You and Me Against The World". That one is among the most enjoyable on the disc. I would also recommend for your consideration two other tunes that were minor hits for other artists. See what you think of "That's What Friends Are For" which hit the charts briefly for B.J. Thomas back in 1972 and "Traveling Boy" which although never made the Hot 100 was my very favorite Art Garfunkel single ever. A pair of other tunes from Paul's albums worth noting are "Ordinary Fool" and "Time and Tide".
It is safe to say that Paul Williams wrote or co-wrote the vast majority of the songs in this collection. However, there is no way to tell in this extremely "barebones" package. You get the titles of the 19 songs and that's about it. Too bad. That does detract just a bit from an otherwise impressive collection. "Paul Williams" the disc is in the final analysis a reasonably priced and fairly comprehensive collection of the best that this talented singer/songwriter has to offer. As for Paul Williams himself you can catch up with what he is doing these days on the web at paulwilliamsconnection.org.

Paul Williams has written love songs that seem to be the most personal and deep from the heart and soul. He truly is gifted. This collection of his songs includes all of his songs that have been so beautifully covered by The Carpenters and Three Dog night, as well as many, very many others. It also includes the only song Barbra Streisand wrote with Paul Williams,"Evergreen". I wish this collection had included, "With One More Look At You", other than that, this is a fabulous collection. This can really set the mood. If you are failing at your own feeble attempts with your lady, put this in. Paul Williams seems to say what we all feel and mean to say.

To all who have commented and/or complained of poor reproduction of cover art, and/or shoddy sound, consider that Pickwick (the distributing label) is not known for high-end work. Also, if they are playing the same CD that I just got, 1988 was long before serious attention was paid to the engineering techniques & software that are available have in the 2000s. Granted, the lack of any liner notes is insulting, but on my stereo everything sounded as clear as most current day releases. Hip-O Select offers a more comprehensive edition (22 songs, quite a few of them from his films), but you still won't find With One More Look at You (which was only released once, on vinyl in 1977). Fully realized, rather extravagant liner notes as well. You get what you pay for.

I am in absolute agreement with the general concusses, however: Paul Williams has long been cruelly maligned & overlooked for his multitude of multi-faceted talents. Singer, songwriter, actor, playwright, licensed drug rehabilitation counselor among them. It always irked me then he was criticized in the 70s for his voice, when there are always far more (or less) questionable talents who top the charts with much less melody. Any criticism shouldn't be with what is available, but with what is still shelved or vaulted.

I'm 15 years old and have come to appreciate and love his music. I know most of the songs on this CD; they are timeless and incredible works of art--unfortunately the record company doesn't think so.

I can't get this CD anymore! It's out of print! :'(

I have always been a fan of Paul Williams and was delighted to find this
CD compilation of all his greatest hits and some tracks that I remembered
from my old LP's like "Loneliness"(one of his best ) and "You and me against the World". I highly recomend this CD especially if your a fan of Paul Williams. Every hit and more is on this CD.

I bought this CD just for Time and Tide. The entire CD is great, but oh the memories of Time and Tide!!

Ture romance.

Anne