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Paul Williams - Someday Man
Collector's Choice Music
For those of you who are only aware of Paul Williams
through the diminutive one's smarmy appearances on talk shows of
the '70's (he was a fixture on the couches of Merv Griffin and
Mike Douglas during the heyday of the daytime talk show) and his
acting work in such "quality" vehicles as The Muppet Movie, The
Love Boat and Fantasy Island will be surprised that the little
guy was actually a talented and oft-covered songwriter.
He managed to write a bunch of hits by the mid-'70's
(the song "Evergreen" sung by Barbara Streisand and "Rainbow
Connection" from the Muppet Movie being the most recognizable,
though "Rainy Days and Mondays" was quite popular as well) but
towards the end of his career seemed more famous for just being
famous than anything else he ever accomplished. It was kind of
sad in a way, as though his music was never my cup of tea as a
kid, he did manage to carve out a solid niche for himself as a
sort of throwback to the Brill Building style of songwriting
while simultaneously setting the precedent for the kind of
hitmeisters people like Desmond Child and Diane Warren would
later become. By the time the '80's rolled around, the advent of
new wave and other changes in pop mkusic rendered Williams
obsolete. He did pretty much own the '70's, though.
After a tenure in the soft-pop/folk band Holy Mackeral
(the band recorded a lone album in 1970) along with his brother,
Williams eventually struck out on his own and recorded this
album of lite pop songs. Though not a big seller, flashes of
brilliance and clues to his later successes are much in evidence
on this disc. An interesting note is Williams was not allowed by
his label to write melodies for the songs on this album, only
lyrics. The melodies were composed by the album's producer Roger
Nichols, who kept Williams reined in. That Williams would later
see a huge amount of fame moreso for his melodies than his
lyrics (which are often trite) makes this album even more of a
curiosity as he would rarely ever work with a co-writer again.
Williams as a vocalist leaves a lot to be desired
(Williams voice is often thin and shows a poor range) but the
songs are slight and catchy enough to allow them to be pleasing
on the surface, though not really memorable for the most part.
As a first solo effort, it's really not that bad but it never
really found an audience when it was first released and there
were no hits pulled from the album. Besides, as good as Williams
later became as a songwriter, an album by Williams is not where
you're going to get the best renditions of his songs. He was
best as a writer for others but, as a decent songwriter, was
given a record deal as a sort of vanity device to keep him
happy. Labels often underwrote such projects as it was common in
those days for labels to keep a portion of songwriting
publishing. Songwriters used these deals to get a budget for
their songs to be professionally recorded and these albums ended
up serving as well produced demos for other artists to get
songs, for the most part. If a songwriter scored a hit, it was
seen as a bonus but not expected.
Fans of folk rock and lite AM pop will love this album.
While not as strong as his later efforts, there are plenty of
decent songs here that give a clear signal as to what a
formidable songwriter Williams would later become. As a Sunday
morning album, it is good enough, though not great. His better
work was yet to come but this is a very interesting disc and a
rare look at Williams' genesis as a songwriter. - Scott Homewood
www.collectorschoice.com
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