Paul Williams started out as an actor in the 60s, struggled to get work, and ended up almost by accident as a songwriter. Lucky us! He became one of the warmest, most successful songwriters America has ever seen, with songs full of generosity, humility and humanity. Right at the start, he wrote ‘Fill Your Heart’ with Biff Rose, covered by David Bowie on “Hunky Dory”, and ‘Someday Man’ for the Monkees. But it was in the 70s that he hit his stride, writing a ton of songs for the Carpenters, including ‘We've Only Just Begun’ and ‘I Won't Last a Day Without You’.
“We’ve Only Just Begun” is the first ever compilation of Paul Williams work as a songwriter, and it casts its net wide to find wonderful recordings of his songs by Scott Walker (‘We Could Be Flying’), Glen Campbell (‘Another Fine Mess’) and Elvis Presley (‘Where Do I Go From Here’). The familiar Carpenters hits are presented in wonderful, less heard renditions by Diana Ross (‘I Won't Last A Day Without You’), Freda Payne (‘Rainy Days And Mondays’) and Petula Clark (‘Let Me Be The One’). Despite being a songwriter he still worked in movies and ended up writing the theme for One On One by Seals & Crofts and ‘What Would They Say’ (recorded by Helen Reddy) from John Travolta's breakthrough movie The Boy In The Bubble. He found perfection with ‘The Rainbow Connection’ sung by Kermit the frog in the first Muppet Movie.
Compiled by Bob Stanley, “We’ve Only Just Begun” is a timely salute to a man hailed as a genius by, among others, Daft Punk. Now in his 80s, Williams is working on a musical of Pan’s Labyrinth with Guillermo Del Toro, hoping for a 2026 opening in London’s West End. He has been chairman of ASCAP for fifteen years now – an institution set up by Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern and other forebears more than a century ago – and is long-recognised as one of America’s greatest living songwriters. He isn’t expecting a call from the Rock’n’roll Hall of Fame any time soon, and it doesn’t bother him a jot. "Being clever isn't really important," he told Disc in 1972. "I'd rather be honest or moving."
