OF CARPENTERS, CO UNTRY AND KERMIT “t he Best songs ,” says songwrIter Paul wIllIaMs ,“ are usually the placingsongswitha&Martists.“Itwasafortunatetime,” Buthedidn’tevenlistentoitallthewaythrough S onesI’mnotevensureIshouldputmynameon.Imeantheonesthat heremembers.“almosteverythingwewrotewasgetting beforesaying,‘nope,notinterested,’soitwoundup justseemtoflowoutofmyunconscious.” recorded,thoughitalwaysseemedtobealbumcutsand beingahitfor Three Dog Night .andoneofthefirstsongs williams,headingintothefourthdecadeofasongwritingcareer B-sides.ItfeltlikeIwouldnevergetahitontheradio. Ieverwrotewas‘ Fill Your Heart ,’theB-sidefortinytim’s M thathasgeneratedsuchpopstandardsas“we’veonlyjustBegun,” thenrogernicholsandIwrote‘outintheCountry,’ahit ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips .’yearslater,DavidBowie “anold-fashionedlovesong,”“rainyDaysandMondays,”“Iwon’t forthreeDognight.andjustasthatwasclimbingupthe recordedit.and‘ The Rainbow Connection ,’akermitthe A lastaDaywithoutyou,”and“evergreen”sayshe’sgrownmoreadept charts,richardCarpenterheardasongwe’dwrittenfor frogsongfromtheMuppetMovie,isgoingtobethetitle I atlisteningtohissubconscious.“It’salmostasifIturnthewriting atVbankcommercial,‘we’veonlyjustBegun.’he songforwillienelson’snextalbum!there’snowayinthe assignmentsovertothatpartofmybrain.thesongwriting askedifwehadafull-lengthversion.evenifwedidn’t,we worldIcouldhaveplannedstufflikethat. L processhasbecomelessgrandioseforme. wouldhaveliedthroughourteethandsaidtherewas. Iguessagoodsongislikeanun-dentedpingpong nowI’mlearningtoplayatit.It’snoteyesur - thetwosongshitatthesametime,andthatgotusalot ball—itmaygetlostinthegrassforawhile,butthenitjust L gery—it’smusic,acelebrationoflife,agift.” ofvisibility.” sortofpopsup,andyouuseit.” I “gift”isawordfrequentlyonthe literally,inwilliams’case.Paulbecameapopular williamsnowspendsmuchofhistimeinnashville, three-timeg raMMy ® winner’slips. characteractor,appearinginsuchfilmsas The Muppet wherehistalentshavebeenembracedbyanewgener - “Myentiresongwritingcareerisagift,” Movie, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, the Smokey and ationofcountryartists.he’stakentowritingonayamaha W hestates.“Itonlycameabout the Bandit series,andtherock-kitschclassic Phantom of Psr9000highendMIDIportablekeyboard.“Myfirst becauseofmylackofsuccessin the Paradise ,forwhichhealsowrotethemusic.(other exposuretothisinstrumentwasthroughjohnVeznerin anotherfield.Iwasa27-year-old, williamsscoresinclude Bugsy Malone andtheBarbra nashville.heandIhavebeenwritingsongsthatweraf - L out-of-workactorwhenIbegan streisandremakeof A Star is Born .) fleoffatcharityauctions.wewereworkingonasortof writingformyownamusement. elvisPresley,Dianaross,ellafitzgerald,ray anthemforthesalvationarmywhenIsteppedawayfor U Ihadnotraining.Ijustbor - Charles,johnDenver,johnnyMathis,sarahVaughan, acoupleofminutes.whenIcameback,johnhadcom - rowedaguitarandplunked BingCrosby,garthBrooks,gladysknight,andfrank pletedthisamazingrecord,allonthe9000.” A outafewchords.IthoughtI sinatrahaveallrecordedPaulwilliamssongs.“Iwould williamsswitchesonthekeyboardandscrolls inventedthem—Ididn’teven oftenwriteforspecificartists,”recallsPaul,“butthe throughpresetrhythms.“someoftheauto-accompani - P knowtheyhadnames.later, songsdidn’talwaysendupwhereIintended.forexam - mentfeatureshereareincrediblyvaluabletosomeonelike whenIgotsignedasacon - ple,Ioriginallywrote‘oldfashionedlovesong’forthe me,”hesays.“Itloosensmeup,andtheideasstartflow - tractwriterata&Mandgotmy Carpenters.Itpouredoutofmeinabout20minutes,and ing.there’ssomethingdamnnearhypnoticaboutit.”he firstpiano,Iliterallywrotenum - Iracedovertoplayitforrichard. dialsupabossanovabeatandaddsamutedrhythmgui - bersonthekeys,becauseIdid - tarsound.“IknowIcanwriteasmashtothisbeat,Iswear n’tknowwhattheywerecalled.” togod.It’sjustamazing.”hestartssingingsoftly.“Bada trainedornot,williamsand dadadada…andyourmindstartsslippin’away….” hisvariouscollaboratorsweresoon “hmm,”hemuses,“wejustauctionedoffanother charitysongtoawomanwhowantsustowriteabout savingtheelephants.Idon’tknowanythingabout “A good song is like an un-dented ping pong ball— elephantsyet,butIhaveafeelingthatifyou’regoing towriteaboutelephants,you’regoingtoneed it may get lost in the grass for a while, agoodbossanovabeat….” but then it just sort of pops up…” 28 yama ha all access summer 2k1 29.