Author Archives: Paul Williams
NOEL NEUROSIS
Having written musicals and television specials celebrating Christmas you probably assume that I welcome the season with mistletoe and holly flavored “Ho Ho Ho’s!” After all, I’m the guy that wrote the songs for “Emmet Otter’s Jug band Christmas” and “The Muppet Christmas Carol. “A Muppet Christmas, Letters to Santa” was my idea. I co-wrote the story, teleplay and wrote the songs. In the early eighties I played Santa’s chief elf Ed in “The Night They Saved Christmas.” Not my… Read More
HEAR AND NOW
A few years ago I was invited to a great golfing event in St. Paul Minnesota. It was part of an annual gala presented by the Starkey Hearing Foundation. They’re a marvelous organization that provides hearing tests and aids for people all over the world. Their annual missions of mercy are major affairs with thousands of hearing impaired people showing up for the opportunity to receive help. Watching a child as he hears his mothers voice for the first… Read More
Mistakes, Moving Forward, Patience, The Right Stuff
LESSONS FROM A HALF FORGOTTEN SONG
I played Vegas last weekend. Two shows, nice sized houses and friendly crowds. There was a large gathering of family and friends in the audience, including my daughter Sarah. So much to be grateful for. The South Point has a terrific showroom and is known for drawing locals. The hotel is located off the strip and houses a full sized rodeo arena. Saturday when I arrived at the hotel I noticed I was one of three entertainment options, including… Read More
Ego, Gratitude, Living Fully, Mindfulness
STINKING THINKING
There’s an old joke about a fellow going to borrow a shovel from his neighbor. Walking over he remembers that during the summer he borrowed a screwdriver that he never returned. He begins imagining the conversation with his generous friend who he begins to see as a self-righteous ass. By the time his friend answers the door he’s fuming and screams, “Keep your fucking shovel.” I think we’re all guilty of that little role-playing exercise. We become the designated hero… Read More
I NEED TO CALL EDDIE BACK
“I need to call Eddie back.” I remember having that distinct thought the last time he left a message a few weeks ago. Ed Lauter was a close friend, but I was up to my ears in work. We’d been pals for almost forty years so I knew he’d understand if I didn’t get back to him for a day or two. Returning his call was soon forgotten and a day or two turned into ‘never’. Eddie passed away last… Read More
Living Fully, Moving Forward, Patience, Trust
WHELMED
I’ve been whelmed the last few days. Not ‘overwhelmed’. Just whelmed. So fully preoccupied with responsibilities and deadlines that gears creaked to a halt and everything creative or clever just quit. Stopped. Unproductive as a government shut down. In the dictionary ‘whelm’ is described as a transitive verb 1: to turn (as a dish or vessel) upside down usually to cover something; cover or engulf completely with usually disastrous effect. 2: to overcome in thought or feeling Disastrous effect. That’s… Read More
FAITH THE WONDER DRUG!
When I was drinking and using I spent a lot of time ‘scoring’. No, I don’t mean writing music for movies. I mean getting in touch with my dealer and getting the cocaine that had become a daily habit. That little chemistry experiment that lasted a quarter of a century. The high I’d experienced at the beginning of my using was long gone and I had reached the point in the eighties when the drug did little more than… Read More
WINGS
About three years into my songwriting career I was given a unique opportunity. I was a contract writer at A & M records when Herb Alpert (the A) commissioned the brilliant French Composer Michel Colombier to write a symphonic piece. When Michel decided to add lyrics I was chosen to write them. It was an exciting and unexpected stroke of luck for an unknown kid from the sticks. It meant traveling to Paris to meet with Michel, hear his… Read More
IT’S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS? NOT REALLY!
My Father was an alcoholic. Like me. The big difference being I knew I was a drunk and he denied it to the end. “I never missed a day of work in my life because of booze.” was his war cry of denial. And he didn’t. Not while he was alive. His drinking eventually killed him. Booze turned my father all sentimental and he’d get me up in the middle of the night to sing. His drinking partner was… Read More
THE QUICK MISS
I’m almost a golfer. I love the game, always feel like I’m about to break thru to the next level and usually don’t. There are a couple of reasons my scores don’t improve and they’re mostly related to the amount of time I practice. Because I don’t. Schedules, travel, whatever the excuse is I just don’t spend much time on the range. But, I play when I can, take lessons and while my friends are hitting the ball 50… Read More