1) John Towner Willi… Read Full Bio ↴There are at least five artists with this name;
1) John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. With a career spanning over six decades, he has composed some of the most popular, recognizable, and critically acclaimed film scores in cinematic history, including those of the Star Wars series, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones series, the first two Home Alone films, Hook, the first two Jurassic Park films, Schindler's List, and the first three Harry Potter films. He has a very distinct sound that mixes romanticism, impressionism and atonal music with complex orchestration. The classical music critic Marcus Paus argues that Williams' "satisfying way of embodying complex dissonances and avant-garde techniques within a larger tonal framework" makes him "one of the great composers of any century".
Williams has been associated with director Steven Spielberg since 1974, composing music for all but three of his feature films. Other works by Williams include theme music for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, NBC Sunday Night Football, "The Mission" theme used by NBC News and Seven News in Australia, the television series Lost in Space and Land of the Giants, and the incidental music for the first season of Gilligan's Island. Williams has also composed numerous classical concertos and other works for orchestral ensembles and solo instruments. He served as the Boston Pops's principal conductor from 1980 to 1993, and is currently the orchestra's laureate conductor.
Williams has won 24 Grammy Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, five Academy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. With 51 Academy Award nominations, Williams is the second most-nominated individual, after Walt Disney. In 2005, the American Film Institute selected Williams's score to 1977's Star Wars as the greatest American film score of all time. The soundtrack to Star Wars was additionally preserved by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Williams was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl's Hall of Fame in 2000, and was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2016. Williams composed the score for eight of the top 20 highest-grossing films at the U.S. box office (adjusted for inflation).
John Towner Williams was born on February 8, 1932 in Floral Park, New York, to Esther (née Towner) and Johnny Williams, a jazz percussionist who played with the Raymond Scott Quintet. Williams has said of his lineage, "My father was a Maine man—we were very close. My mother was from Boston. My father's parents ran a department store in Bangor, Maine, and my mother's father was a cabinetmaker. [...] People with those roots are not inclined to be lazy."
Williams married Barbara Ruick, an American actress and singer, in 1956. Together they had three children: Jennifer (b. 1956), Mark Towner Williams (b. 1958), and Joseph (b. 1960), who is the lead singer of Toto. The two remained married until her death in 1974. In 1980, Williams married Samantha Winslow, a photographer.
2) John Christopher Williams is a classical guitar player.
Born in Melbourne, Australia, on 24 April 1941, to an English father (Len Williams) and an Australian-Chinese mother, Williams was taught initially by his father. At the age of twelve he went to Italy to study under "The Maestro," Andrés Segovia. Later, he attended the Royal College of Music in London, studying piano because the school did not have a guitar department at the time. Upon graduation, he was offered the opportunity to create such a department. He seized the opportunity and ran it for the first two years. Williams has maintained links with the College (and with the Northern College in Manchester) ever since.
Williams is best known as a classical guitarist, but has explored many different musical traditions. He has collaborated with Julian Bream and Paco Peña and was a member of the fusion group Sky. He is also a composer and arranger.
Williams has commissioned guitar concertos from composers such as Stephen Dodgson, André Previn, Patrick Gowers, Richard Harvey, and Steve Gray. He has also worked with composers from his native Australia, including Phillip Houghton, Peter Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards (composer), and Nigel Westlake, to produce guitar works that capture the spirit of his homeland.
He enjoyed a worldwide hit single with his recording of Cavatina by Stanley Myers, used as the theme tune to the Oscar-winning film The Deer Hunter (1979). The piece had originally been written for piano, for another film ten years earlier, The Walking Stick (1970) but re-written for guitar and expanded by Myers at Williams' invitation. In 1973, Cleo Laine wrote lyrics and recorded the song "He Was Beautiful" accompanied by John Williams. A year later, it was a top-five UK hit single for Iris Williams (no relation).
At the invitation of producer Martin Lewis he created a highly acclaimed classical-rock fusion duet with celebrated rock guitarist Pete Townshend of Townshend's anthemic "Won't Get Fooled Again" for the 1979 Amnesty International benefit show The Secret Policeman's Ball. The duet was featured on the resulting album and the film version of the show – bringing Williams to the broader attention of the rock audience.
The relationship with Lewis led to Williams' classical-rock fusion band Sky being invited to give the first-ever rock concert to be held at Westminster Abbey – a benefit concert for Amnesty that Lewis produced in February 1981.
He is visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
Williams and his artist wife Kathy Panama reside in London and Australia.
3) John Williams
John Williams is internationally regarded as one of the foremost players of Irish music today. With five All-Ireland titles to his credit, John is the only American-born competitor ever to win first place in the "senior concertina" category. His additional talents on flute, button accordion, bodhran, and piano distinguish him as a much sought after multi-instrumentalist in the acoustic scene around the world.
Born and raised on the Southwest Side of Chicago, John spent his summers during college on the Southwest coast of Ireland in his father’s village of Doolin, Co. Clare. Like Chicago, Doolin became a major musical crossroads for John and countless other local and international musicians to meet and exchange music. Gigging every night in the pubs of Doolin and Lisdoonvarna soon led to performances in Galway, Cork, Dublin, Belfast, Paris, Britanny, Zurich, and New York City (bio http://www.johnwilliamsmusic.com/bio.htm).
3) John Williams
A blues/jazz guitarist in Seattle, Washington, whose music is available at Magnatune.com (bio http://magnatune.com/artists/john_williams).
3) John Knowles Williams
An experimental/indie musician. Music is available at sweetnuthin.letsneverdie.net/Music/My_Recordings/ or www.myspace.com/JohnKWilliams.
Medley
John Williams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But money, women, and blues
You know my starter won't start this morning
You know my motor won't even turn
My starter won't start this morning
My motor won't even turn
I'm running with a fast class of women
Caused my little car to ruin
Hold up your head hold up your head, baby
Darling you've got your chin where
Mine is suppose to be
Hold up your head, baby
Hold up your head, baby
You've got your chin where mine
Is suppose to be
You've got your chin where mine
Is suppose to be
I just wanna lay my head up in your bosom
Lord, that would be such a good rest for me
I ain't gonna cry over you
No more baby oh no come on come on
You know it's one kind of
Favor I'd ask of you
You know it's one kind of favor
I'm gonna ask of you
One kind, one kind of favor
You know it's one kind of favor
I would ask of you
Keep my grave stone clean when I'm gone
Always remember my little darling
When I'm dead, i'm gone
Always remember my little darling
When I'm dead, i'm gone
I don't, I don't, I don't have to worry
I've gotta play
Have mercy on me troubled mind, I'm blue
But I won't be blue always
I know that sun is gonna shine in
My back door one of these days
I'm gonna lay my head on
Some lonesome railroad line
I'm gonna let one of them big
1800s pacify this worried mind
My string done slipped off the bridge
These lyrics are from the song “Medley” by John Williams. The song is a combination of several blues tracks, and these lyrics are a mix of different verses from different songs. The lyrics are about the struggles of life and the emotional toll it can take on a person. The singer is expressing his love for money, women, and blues, but he is also dealing with the challenges of life, such as a broken-down car, a troubled mind, and the fear of being forgotten after he dies.
The first verse talks about the singer’s love for money, women, and blues, which are all things he can’t live without. It then goes on to describe his car troubles and how running with a fast class of women caused his car to break down. The second verse is a plea for comfort and reassurance. The singer asks his lover to hold up her head and comfort him, as he has been struggling with a troubled mind. He then expresses his desire to rest his head on her bosom for comfort. The third verse is a request for after his death, asking his lover to keep his grave clean and always remember him.
The fourth verse is about having faith that things will eventually get better. The singer expresses his troubles with a blue mind and states that he won’t be blue forever. He has faith that the sun will shine and bring happiness one day. Lastly, the fifth verse is an expression of hope for a better future. The singer plans to lay down on a lonesome railroad line and let one of the big, powerful trains ease his worried mind.
Line by Line Meaning
You know I ain't crazy 'bout nothing
I'm not really fond of anything
But money, women, and blues
Except probably having lots of money, going out with women, and listening to blues music
You know my starter won't start this morning
My car's battery won't start the engine today
You know my motor won't even turn
And the engine doesn't even make a sound
I'm running with a fast class of women
I'm hanging out with women who live a fast-paced life
Caused my little car to ruin
And I think they caused my car to break down because of the way they live
Hold up your head hold up your head, baby
Please straighten your head up, dear
Darling you've got your chin where
You're tilting your head down
Mine is suppose to be
And that's where my head is supposed to be
Hold up your head, baby
Please straighten your head up, dear
You've got your chin where mine
You're still tilting your head down
Is suppose to be
And that's where my head is supposed to be
I just wanna lay my head up in your bosom
I just want to lay my head on your chest
Lord, that would be such a good rest for me
That would be very soothing and peaceful for me
I ain't gonna cry over you
I'm not going to get upset over you
No more baby oh no come on come on
I'm not going to cry anymore, so let's move on
You know it's one kind of
There's one specific type of
Favor I'd ask of you
Favor that I would like to request from you
One kind, one kind of favor
Just one specific type of favor
You know it's one kind of favor
You know exactly what I'm referring to
I would ask of you
That's something I would like you to do
Keep my grave stone clean when I'm gone
When I die, please make sure my tombstone is clean
Always remember my little darling
Please don't forget me, honey
When I'm dead, i'm gone
When I pass away, I won't be here anymore
I don't, I don't, I don't have to worry
I'm not worried, I'm not worried, I'm not worried at all
I've gotta play
I have to perform some music
Have mercy on me troubled mind, I'm blue
Please have mercy on me, I'm feeling sad and depressed
But I won't be blue always
But I won't feel like this forever
I know that sun is gonna shine in
I'm positive that a brighter day will come
My back door one of these days
Very soon, perhaps
I'm gonna lay my head on
I'm going to place my head on
Some lonesome railroad line
A lonely train track somewhere
I'm gonna let one of them big
Then, I will allow one of those big
1800s pacify this worried mind
19th-century trains to soothe my worried mind
My string done slipped off the bridge
My instrument's string has slipped off the bridge
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Marcos Assmar
John Williams is such a legend. The best movie composer of all time. Thumbs up for who edited all those fantastic movie themes to make this wonderfull medley. Words can't describe my feelings right now.
Jacob Pollard
Marcos Assmar ——
Barney Toastmaster
it is amazing how much of my childhood this guy makes up =)
George Hillier
I was trying to explain to my family how iconic John Williams was and this was the perfect video to display it! Thank you
Breegan
listened to this when i was like 10, here at 21, still jamming. This is one of my favorite medleys, and i’d kill to hear it live.
Rowie
I've always been a fan of John Williams' work--I often listen to the triumphant marches when working--but to find this wonderful medley is an utter delight. Wonderfully cut together :D
Waferty
We will listen to him in the future like we listen to mozart now
Idazmi7
We already do!
stephen
Astounding. No one will ever be as talented as this man
marinasax100
This is an amazing arrangement of these songs. They all fit together perfectly!