William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

From: Just An Old Fashioned Love Song ; Year: 1971; Genre: Pop/Dixieland Jazz I keep finding so many songs I like that Paul Williams penned, recorded by many artists who have turned them into major hits. However, it is great to hear his own take on the pieces he wrote. (Just An) Old Fashioned Love Song was one that the noted 1970s giants Three Dog Night covered and took to #4 on the charts. It has been covered by others and used elsewhere, but not to that magnitude. I will say though, the more stripped down and intimate vocals as well as the Dixieland Jazz influenced chorus really make his original quite interesting and really catches your ears.   Hear (Just An) Old Fashioned Love Song on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: LeBlanc & Carr - Falling   My song pick 2 years ago today: Styx - Sing for the Day   My song pick 3 years ago today: Porcupine Tree - What Happens Now?   My song pick 4 years ago today: Egg - Contrasong   My ...

From The Secret of NIMH (Original Soundtrack Recording) ; Year: 1982; Genre: Contemporary Classical/Soundtrack I find it just weird how many time as of late that Paul Williams ' name has popped up whilst researching different music, film and other media, or so it would seem. It just so happened that on this movie's soundtrack he teamed up with legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith and wrote the lyrics for this piece; I always knew and liked the song, but never took the time to look up the particulars of it. Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH was an animated motion picture that I literally grew up watching and have always has a fondness for it. Although I kind of am taken aback at the amount of blood, violence and death depicted in a film that was targeted to family viewing; I find that a lot re-watching such films from the '70s and '80s. Back then I suppose it was believed that children were able to grasp such concepts of life; mayhap we as a society try to protect our f...

From: Just An Old Fashioned Love Song ; Year: 1971; Genre: Soft Rock/Pop Paul Williams seems to be one of those lucky songwriters who hit it really big when other artists recorded ones he wrote, but had quite a bit of success performing them himself as well. You've most likely heard many of his songs and seen him in films and television shows; this track's most famous version was done by The Carpenters a year prior, so this would be another example of the cover coming out before the original I suppose. After growing up hearing The Carpenter's version so much the sparse accompaniment of Paul Williams' take on his own song is a bit different, but really great to hear.   Hear We've Only Just Begun on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship - Mau Mau (Amerikon)   My song pick 2 years ago today: Pallas - Beat the Drum   My song pick 3 years ago today: Alestorm - Call of the Waves   My song pick 4 years ago today:...