"...this album is dedicated to the listeners."
~ Paul Williams (back cover of Just an Old Fashioned Love Song)
When I first read those words so long ago, I never forgot them. They became a permanent part of all the wisdom I have eagerly gathered from other people's words, be it through books or music.
Paul's music has always required listeners...it is that sensitive, and that profoundly moving. And having grown up in a family of "those who wait to talk," it really had special meaning for me.
Those "big fat Italian families" all gathered for a holiday meal? Don't even try to finish a sentence, because it will be chopped off mid-stream, leaving you feeling frustrated, insulted and, in my case, looking for a quick-exit excuse. Aside from the fact that it is extremely rude to do that to anyone.
Many Italian-Americans make a big joke about "all talking at the same time," but I always found it irritating as hell, and after my mother died, I just stopped accepting invitations to at least five hours of noise and insanity, preferring the quiet of my own home, the company of a sweet cat or two and music ~ always music.
I had the extremely good fortune of meeting Paul back when I worked for Neil Bogart, President of Buddah Records. Unbeknownst to me, Paul was standing just outside my office, in a business discussion with the manager (and some members) of the group SHA NA NA.
Already a devoted 'listener,' I happened to leave my office and absolutely froze on the spot. Could it be? Is that really Paul Williams standing there, mere feet away from me? The genius who had written so many of my all-time favorite songs...could I get any luckier?
I just stood there quietly and stared, transfixed, to the annoyance of the SHA NA NA people, because when Paul noticed me, he excused himself and came into my office to talk. YIKES! Dreams really do come true! He soon returned to the meeting, but stopped back in before he left to say how nice it was to meet me. "I'm doing fine on Cloud Nine...!"
I remember one time when Neil returned from some music business gala in LA, he jokingly said, "Only you!"
I asked him what the hell he was talking about, and he informed me that, in the middle of this big muckety-muck dinner, Paul approached him and asked, "Aren't you the guy who works with Paula?"
I was honored to meet a lot of my musical heroes during my time in the music biz, but meeting Paul Williams is right up there next to the Holy Grail, Frank Sinatra!
So, Paul, if you are reading this, thank you...for being so kind, for remaining my friend through the many years that have passed, and for creating what Albert Schweitzer included with this observation:
"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life. Music and cats."
I have both, and your music is a very special part of it.
Centanno, my friend, centanno...
