(1) A country singer an… Read Full Bio ↴There are at least two artists by this name:
(1) A country singer and songwriter from Texas.
(2) An alias of techno producer Thomas Wendel.
(1) Don Williams (Born May 27, 1939, in Floydada, Texas - Died September 8, 2017) spent much of his childhood in Corpus Christi, Texas. His father was a mechanic whose job took him to other regions, his mother played guitar and he grew up listening to country music. He and Lofton Kline formed a semi-professional folk group called the Strangers Two, and then, with the addition of Susan Taylor, they became the Pozo-Seco Singers, the phrase being a geological term to denote a dry well. Handled by Bob Dylan's manager Albert Grossman, they had major pop hits in the U.S. with "Time," "I Can Make It With You" and "Look What You've Done." Following Kline's departure, they employed several replacements, resulting in a lack of musical direction. After Williams had failed to turn the trio towards country music, they disbanded in 1971.
He then worked for his father-in-law but also wrote for Susan Taylor's solo album via Jack Clement's music publishing company. Clement asked Williams to record albums of his company's best songs, mainly with a view to attracting other performers. In 1973, Don Williams, Volume 1 was released on the fledgling JMI label and included such memorable songs as Bob McDill's apologia for growing old, "Amanda," and Williams' own "The Shelter of Your Eye." Williams' work was reissued by Dot Records, and Don Williams, Volume 2 included "Atta Way to Go" and "We Should Be Together." Williams then had a country No. 1 with Wayland Holyfield's "You're My Best Friend," which has become a standard and is the perennial sing-along anthem at his concerts. By now, the Williams' style had developed: gently paced love songs with straightforward arrangements, lyrics and sentiments. Williams was mining the same vein as Jim Reeves, but he eschewed Reeves' smartness by dressing like a ranch-hand. Besides having a huge contingent of female fans, Williams counted Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend among his admirers. Clapton recorded his country hit "Tulsa Time," written by Danny Flowers, a member of Williams' band.
Williams played a band member himself in the Burt Reynolds film W.W. & the Dixie Dance Kings and also appeared in Smokey and the Bandit 2. Williams' other successes include "Till the Rivers All Run Dry," "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend," "Lay Down Beside Me" and his only U.S. solo pop hit, "I Believe in You." Unlike most established country artists, he has not sought duet partners, although he and Emmylou Harris found success in 1981 with their version of Townes Van Zandt's "If I Needed You." Among the highlights of Williams' recording career is his interpretation of "Good Ol' Boys Like Me," McDill's homage to his southern roots. Moving to Capitol Records in the mid-'80s, Williams released such singles as "Heartbeat in the Darkness" and "Senorita," but the material was not as impressive. He took a sabbatical in 1988, but subsequent RCA Records recordings showed that nothing had changed.
In 1998, Williams released I Turn the Page on Giant Records, but the label soon closed its country music division. Following a live album in 2001, Williams retuned in 2004 with My Heart to You.
Maintaining his stress-free style, Williams continues to be a major concert attraction, especially in the U.K. and South Africa.
Williams initially started out as a songwriter for Jack Music Inc., since he lacked belief about going solo but then signed with JMI as a solo artist. His 1974 song "We Should Be Together" reached number five and he was signed on with ABC/Dot. His first single with ABC/Dot, "I Wouldn't Want to Live If You Didn't Love Me," became a number one hit, and was the first of a string of top ten hits he had between 1974 and 1991. In fact, only four of his 46 singles didn't make it to the Top Ten. Recently (as of 2012), he released the album And So It Goes.
From His Own Website.
They came to call Don Williams “the Gentle Giant” in the decades he was a dominating country hit maker because of his unique blend of commanding presence and that laid-back, easy style that has appealed to adult men and women alike—cutting across national and genre boundaries. If those personal and musical qualities stood out strongly across the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, they are all the more distinctive in 2012, when so many country and pop records seem to work as check off lists of somebody’s idea of how to be a man, or hard-sell attempts to indicate affection for a woman. Don Williams has never sounded like he felt the need to sell somebody something, or to prove anything.
On And So It Goes, available from Sugar Hill on June 19th, that winning, self-assured ease is again front and center, and the musical style that has made Don a ballad vocal model for performers ranging from Eric Clapton (with whom he’d traded songs—“Tulsa Time,” “Lay Down Sally”) to Keith Urban (who guests on this release). One listen to the characteristically right-on-target vocals on this first Don Williams recording in eight years and his admirers will be wondering what he’s done to maintain that strength over the hiatus.
“Well, there are things that I don’t do,” Don laughs. “I don’t do a whole lot of sitting around chit-chatting, laughing, and carrying on—especially when I’m on the road, where that just makes you tired, anyway. Even at home on the farm there are literally days on end that I may not say anything but for an hour or two a day.”
This man who so clearly loves the quiet home life can still fill an auditorium or stadium across the U.S., the U.K., Europe and Africa; his special role as an international ambassador for American country and pop music is ongoing and his musical appeal, he has long since been astonished to find, is about the same from the Central Time Zone to central Africa.
“The weird thing about that is—no; I don’t change my show to go play England or Nairobi. I can pretty much choose anything from my repertoire and it works wherever I am, and that still amazes me, because you’re talking about different cultures, sometimes different languages, and the whole nine yards.”
The hundreds of memorable songs in that repertoire—over fifty of them major hits—whether contemplative ballads, affecting love songs or change-up rhythm numbers, have always been a core Don Williams strength and focus. Don and long-time producer Garth Fundis, who returns in that role on this new album, each credit the other with having contributed to their own song-picking and sequencing skills—skills well put to shared use again when Nashville’s finest writers submitted hundreds of songs for consideration for Don’s return to recording. They both knew what they were looking for in selections that would appear on And So It Goes:
“They’re very well written, they’re interesting, and the melody and the lyric are saying the same thing,” Don says. “Even when we’re starting looking for the songs, just experimenting, Garth and I are just in agreement; we just want to make good music that touches our hearts and, hopefully, touches others’ in the process. For many years, though, Garth has fussed at me about one thing— that we need to be sure and do whatever song that I wrote, because I would just pass over it. I get more excited about a new song that I’ve just heard than I do my own material!” (There are, in fact, two Don Williams co-writes among the ten outstanding songs on this new release.)
Riding and crossing the line between country and pop, and all the more distinctive for doing it, Don brought a sound and sensibility to the country charts that proved a smash—a development that was initially a surprise even to him.
“When I was just a wee lad,” he recalls, “I really appreciated people like Johnny Horton, Johnny Cash and Jim Reeves; all of those guys back then meant a lot to me, but at the same time, I really loved Brook Benton, and the Platters and all of those people. But even when I was ‘in pop’ myself, with everything that I wrote, the only people who really seemed to appreciate it were country fans. That has to tell you a little bit about where your heart’s at, whether your head agrees with it or not!”
Born in Floydada, Florida in 1939 and growing up near Corpus Christi, Texas, Don was playing guitar by age twelve, taught by his mother, and performed in folk, country and rock bands as a teenager. He first gained musical attention as a member of the pop folk trio The Pozo Seco Singers, which had six pop chart hits in 1966-’67, then was signed as a songwriter by Nashville’s Cowboy Jack Clement in 1971—the sort of songwriter whose demos demanded attention. Between 1974 and 1991, Don had at least one major hit every year, including such country standards to be as “ Good Ole Boys Like Me,” “Till the Rivers All Run Dry,” “It Must Be Love,” “I’m Just a Country Boy,” “Amanda” and “I Believe in You.” He also had a hit duet with Emmylou Harris on Townes Van Zandt’s “If I Needed You.” Don was the CMA Male Vocalist of the Year in 1978; his “Tulsa Time” was the ACM Record of the Year for 1979.
In 2010, Don received country music’s highest honor, with his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Don Williams died on 8 september 2017 after a short illness. He was 78 years old.
(2) Founder and owner of Mojuba & A.R.T.less Records and one half of the Tokomak Records company. He is the creative force behind these imprints and Tokomak's main founding member. His musical influences ranges from Classic, Funk and Jazz via Drum & Bass and Trip Hop to his beloved Detroit Techno and US House, which can be still enjoyed throughout his DJ-Sets. After a few releases on the legendary Pure Plastic imprint, he delivers tracks of his own brand of funk on labels like Rewired, Styrax Leaves and 100% Pure.
Infinity
Don Williams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Does it ever end, you say you wanna know
Just how high can you count?
Before the numbers all run out
Who built the pyramids?
Do aliens exist?
Where does God come from?
But if you know how strong my love is
And your heart and mine can comprehend
Just how long I'm gonna feel like this
Then you'll know what infinity is
Then you'll know,
They say time goes on and on
Even after we're all gone
There's a black hole up in space
That even light can't escape
Who built the pyramids?
Do aliens exist?
Where does God come from?
One more phenomenon,
But if you know how strong my love is
And your heart and mine can comprehend
Just how long I'm gonna feel like this
Then you'll know what infinity is
Then you'll know,
They'll find some answers
To all those mysteries
But they won't understand
What's between you and me
Who built the pyramids?
Do aliens exist?
Where does God come from?
One more phenomenon,
If you know how strong my love is
And your heart and mine can comprehend
Just how long I'm gonna feel like this
Then you'll know what infinity is
Then you'll know,
Then you'll know what love is
The song "Infinity" by Don Williams begins by contemplating the vastness of the universe, wondering how far it extends and if it has an end. It then moves on to questions about the pyramids, the existence of aliens, and the origin of God. These are fascinating mysteries that ignite the curiosity and imagination of humanity. However, the chorus brings the focus back to the power of love and its ability to transcend time and space, creating an eternal bond between two people. The lyrics suggest that if one understands the strength of love and its duration, then they will truly understand the concept of infinity.
The song is not only a tribute to everlasting love but also a reflection on the limitations of human knowledge. It asserts that there will always be mysteries beyond our comprehension, but the love shared between two individuals will endure forever. The lyrics are thought-provoking and encourage listeners to ponder the mysteries of the universe while reminding them of the universal power of love.
Line by Line Meaning
Just how far does the universe go
Wondering about the seemingly unending vastness of the universe
Does it ever end, you say you wanna know
Questioning whether the universe has an ending or is infinite
Just how high can you count?
Curious about the highest possible number
Before the numbers all run out
Wondering if there is a limit to the number of numbers that can be counted
Who built the pyramids?
Questioning the origin and construction of ancient Egyptian pyramids
Do aliens exist?
Questioning the existence of extraterrestrial life
Where does God come from?
Pondering the origin of a higher power or deity
One more phenomenon,
One more unexplained or amazing event or object to ponder
But if you know how strong my love is
If you truly understand the depth of my love
And your heart and mine can comprehend
If we both truly understand and feel love for one another
Just how long I'm gonna feel like this
How long I will continue to love you in this intense manner
Then you'll know what infinity is
Then you will understand the concept of infinity
They say time goes on and on
The idea that time is inexhaustible
Even after we're all gone
Even after all human life is extinct
There's a black hole up in space
Referring to a type of astronomical object that can pull in everything around it, even light
That even light can't escape
Explaining the strong gravitational force of a black hole
They'll find some answers
The belief that some of these mysteries will eventually be solved
To all those mysteries
Referring to the many unanswered questions about the universe
But they won't understand
Even with new discoveries, there will always be some things that cannot be fully understood
What's between you and me
The unique and unexplainable connection between two people in love
If you know how strong my love is
Reiterating the importance of understanding the depth of love
And your heart and mine can comprehend
Underscoring the importance of mutual understanding and feeling
Just how long I'm gonna feel like this
Further emphasizing the intensity and longevity of the singer's love
Then you'll know what infinity is
The concept of infinity is truly understood when one eternally loves and is loved in return
Then you'll know what love is
The song concludes by stating that true comprehension of the concept of infinity is the same as understanding what love is
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: R. ANTHONY SMITH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Vera Griffin
All his music 🎼 comes from the heart,totally beautiful lyrics 🤍❤️🤍
Didi
Kudos Williams!🎉
Mary Musik
My best friend's name was/is Don.
So many of Don Williams songs remind me of him. It's a blessing and a curse. He died in 2015.
I still wake up thinking of him, and usually go to sleep crying because the grief associated with him leaving this world is still beyond overwhelming. No matter how much I try, I can't get past the pain of him leaving this world so abruptly, and tragically. It feels like time just stands still while I'm stuck here waiting/hoping to die. I know that I will never recover from loosing my closest friend, who was the love of my life. I feel paralyzed by the loss. I'm down and I can't get up. I don't even want to any longer. I hope he's deliriously happy, and playing with the Angel Band. I hope he had some clue as to how much I loved him, and how much he meant to me for far to many reasons to try to list. I carry his love with me wherever I go. It is all that keeps me breathing.
Never pass up the chance to tell those closest to you how much they mean to you, because literally sometimes tomorrow never comes. 💜❤️🥹
Honest Mark
Hello how are you doing..?
Luzinete Rodrigues
Beautiful job
Sandra Dawe
Beautiful song. Very well done
David Karlsmith
This is a nice song... hello Sandra
Carol Langendorf
Beautiful song.
David Karlsmith
@Carol Langendorf where are you from?
Jay B
Every yesterday is memory.
Every today is a present.
Every tomorrow isn't promised.
Can you start today because today is all we have...