(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 βthe Gentle Giantβ 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 alikeβcutting across national and genre boundaries. If those personal and musical qualities stood out strongly across the 1970s, β80s and β90s, they are all the more distinctive in 2012, when so many country and pop records seem to work as check off lists of somebodyβs 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 heβd traded songsββTulsa Time,β βLay Down Sallyβ) 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 heβs done to maintain that strength over the hiatus.
βWell, there are things that I donβt do,β Don laughs. βI donβt do a whole lot of sitting around chit-chatting, laughing, and carrying onβespecially when Iβm 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.β
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.
βThe weird thing about that isβno; I donβt 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 youβre talking about different cultures, sometimes different languages, and the whole nine yards.β
The hundreds of memorable songs in that repertoireβover fifty of them major hitsβwhether 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 skillsβskills well put to shared use again when Nashvilleβs finest writers submitted hundreds of songs for consideration for Donβs return to recording. They both knew what they were looking for in selections that would appear on And So It Goes:
βTheyβre very well written, theyβre interesting, and the melody and the lyric are saying the same thing,β Don says. βEven when weβre 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 othersβ in the process. For many years, though, Garth has fussed at me about one thingβ 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 Iβve just heard than I do my own material!β (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 smashβa development that was initially a surprise even to him.
βWhen I was just a wee lad,β he recalls, βI 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 βin popβ 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 heartβs at, whether your head agrees with it or not!β
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-β67, then was signed as a songwriter by Nashvilleβs Cowboy Jack Clement in 1971βthe 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 β Good Ole Boys Like Me,β βTill the Rivers All Run Dry,β βIt Must Be Love,β βIβm Just a Country Boy,β βAmandaβ and βI Believe in You.β He also had a hit duet with Emmylou Harris on Townes Van Zandtβs βIf I Needed You.β Don was the CMA Male Vocalist of the Year in 1978; his βTulsa Timeβ was the ACM Record of the Year for 1979.
In 2010, Don received country musicβs 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.
We Should Be Together
Don Williams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When I don't want to
Dream about your smiling face
I keep trying not to love you
But I love you anyway
We should be together, together
We should be walking side by side
Keeping each other satisfied
I have thought to come to know you
I've come to need your company
What will I do if I can't have you
If I can't have you
What will I do
We should be together, together
We should be walking side by side
We should be together, together
Keeping each other satisfied
We should be together, together
We should be walking side by side
We should be together, together
Keeping each other satisfied
Don Williams's song We Should Be Together is a poignant depiction of unrequited love experienced by the singer. The song starts with the singer admitting that he thinks about the person he loves, even when he doesn't want to, and he dreams of her smiling face. He has tried not to love her but has failed as he loves her anyway. The chorus then expresses the singer's desire to be with the person he loves, and he believes that they should be together walking side by side, keeping each other satisfied.
The second verse shows the singer's desperation to have the person he loves in his life. He has come to know her and needs her company. The lyrics highlight the fear of losing the person he loves, and he questions what he will do if he can't have her. The song's final chorus reinforces his belief that they should be together, walking side by side, and keeping each other satisfied.
The song's heartfelt and emotionally charged lyrics showcase Don Williams's ability to convey complex emotions through his music. It is a song that captures the intensity of unrequited love, the longing to be with someone, and the fear of losing them. Williams's deep and resonant voice further adds to the song's melancholic and soulful vibe.
Line by Line Meaning
I think about you
My mind is constantly filled with thoughts of you
When I don't want to
Despite my best efforts to push thoughts of you away
Dream about your smiling face
I even dream of seeing your happy expression
I keep trying not to love you
I try to avoid the feelings I have for you
But I love you anyway
Despite my attempts, my love for you persists
We should be together, together
You and I belong together, with each other
We should be walking side by side
We should be a team, moving together through life
Keeping each other satisfied
We can fulfill each other's needs and desires through our companionship
I have thought to come to know you
I have taken the time to understand who you are
I've come to need your company
Your presence in my life has become integral
What will I do if I can't have you
The thought of not having you is unbearable
If I can't have you
Without you, I will be lost
Lyrics Β© Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ALLEN REYNOLDS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mwanamtama Kupa
I change my playlist every now and then but I'm never tired of this legend's music... rest easy Don
Elkana Sialuk
Rest easy Don Williams, your songs are nostalgic!!
Louise Leach
Love his music
sherline nekesasmiyu
I really love his songs
Eyong Arrey
I love this legendary lyrics by Don Williams and will always Cherish it...
Egy Jungle
i m in love with all his songs πππ so meaning full and good for hear while working, on the trip and sleeping β€β€β€ππ
Herry Desmond
I'm from Los Angeles California and you
Herry Desmond
Where are you from I would love to know more about you
Aurora.A
THAT VOICE!!!!!!!THE LYRICS, A TRUE POET IN THE ENTIRE PLANET. THANKS DON WILLIAM!!!!!!
Yla Hadid
@Sarina Winner go...