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.
To Life
John Williams Lyrics
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And most important
To life, to life, l'chaim
L'chaim, l'chaim, to life
Here's to the father I've tried to be!
Here's to my bride to be!
Drink, l'chaim, to life
L'chaim, l'chaim, to life
Life has a way of confusing us
Blessing and bruising us
Drink, l'chaim, to life!
God would like us to be joyful
Even when our hearts lie panting on the floor
But how much more can we be joyful
When there's really something to be joyful for?
To life, to life, l'chaim
To Tzeitel, my daughter
My wife
It gives you something to think about
Something to drink about
Drink, l'chaim, to life!
Mordcha!
Yes, what is it Lazar Wolfe?
Ah Mordcha, drinks for everybody!
What's the big occasion Lazar?
I am taking myself a bride!
Who's the lucky one?
Tevye's eldest, Tzietel! (Mazel tov!)
To Lazar Wolfe! To Tevye!
To Tzeitel, your daughter!
My wife!
May all your futures be pleasant ones
Not like our present ones!
Drink, l'chaim, to life!
To life, l'chaim!
L'chaim, l'chaim, to life!
It takes a wedding to make us say
"Let's live another day"
Drink, l'chaim, to life!
We'll raise a glass and sip a drop of schnapps
In honor of the great good luck that favors you
We know that when good fortune favors two such men
It stands to reason we deserve it, too!
To us and our good fortune
Be happy! Be healthy! Long life! (ah!)
And if our good fortune never comes
Here's to whatever comes
Drink, l'chaim, to life!
Oh!
Za va, shas da rovia, Heaven bless you both! Nasdrovia!
To your health, and may we live together in peace
Za va, shas da rovia, heaven bless you both, nasdrovia!
To your health, and may we live together in peace (hey!)
May you both be favored with the future of your choice
May you live to see a thousand reasons to rejoice
Za va, shas da rovia, heaven bless you both, nasdrovia!
To your health, and may we live together in peace! (Hey!)
John Williamson's song "It's A Way of Life" portrays the life of "real country people" living on farms in the New South on Queensland time, who work hard to raise sheep and children, but who also enjoy the simple pleasures of life with their families. The stockman's life is a challenging one, with fluctuations in the marketplace and fickle weather making farming a precarious occupation. However, despite all these difficulties, these farmers possess a deep love for their land, and the proud traditions of their heritage. As the ominous menace of the modern world encroaches upon their idyllic life, there is a palpable sense of anxiety and worry about the future of the bushland and its inhabitants.
The song highlights the destructive impact of large-scale agricultural and infrastructure projects on the fragile ecosystem of the land. The construction of a channel to divert water resources devastates the bushland and the wildlife that call it home. Greedy men with water rights neutralise the land, pushing farmers out of business while thrusting the entire ecosystem out of balance. The song critiques the short-term thinking of the politicians and businessmen who carelessly exploit the fragile environment, leading to the destruction of the country's natural resources.
Line by Line Meaning
Real country people in their prime,
People living in rural areas in their best years, who have spent most of their lives in the countryside.
Livin' in New South on Queensland time
Living in New South Wales and Queensland time zones.
He's a stockman, likes raisin' sheep,
He works as a livestock farmer and prefers sheep farming.
Likes raisin' children, don't get much sleep
He enjoys raising children but barely gets enough sleep due to his busy lifestyle.
On the shady big verandah, with his hardworking wife,
He sits on the large covered porch with his industrious wife.
Three young sidekicks,
Three young people who share similar interests and accompany him on many occasions.
It's a way of life.
This is their chosen way of living that they are deeply committed to.
Some years they make it, some years they don't
Their income is not stable and may fluctuate significantly from year to year.
Sometimes the creek flows, sometimes it won't
Creek water level, which is important for farming, is unpredictable and can vary greatly.
Sometimes he's mean, he's got a gun
In some situations, he may have to be tough and ruthless to protect his sheep and property, and may even need to use his firearm.
When the ewes are lambing he's got pigs on the run
During the lambing season, he is also busy chasing away wild pigs that can harm his animals.
Out in the lignum, on the water course
In the marshland with abundant dense bush, surrounding streams.
You could lose a pig dog, you could lose a horse.
It is a dangerous area because you might lose valuable hunting dogs or horses while rounding up pigs.
Think you oughta know the channel's coming through
The singer assumes you are already aware of the plan to construct a waterway.
Wipin' out the bushland and the kangaroo
This project entails eliminating wildlife habitats and causing harm to kangaroos.
Greedy men with water rights to neutralise the land
Some individuals claim to own water entitlements and use them to deteriorate the environment.
When's it gonna stop I just don't understand.
The artist is lamenting the government's inability to stop these environmental disasters.
With cotton in their ears and dollars in their eyes
Some people are unconcerned about nature and only interested in making profits.
Their banker grins and our country dies.
Despite the utmost concern of environmentalists, people engaged in such activities destroy the landscape for financial gain, with the support of their bankers.
They love the bush, they grow the wool
Country people usually enjoy and have a special attachment to their natural environment, and they also produce high-quality wool.
They respect the land and it's beautiful
They treat and value the lands' aesthetics, and appreciate its natural beauty.
Blue Bonnets, Leatherheads and Red-Back Wrens
These are different types of wonderfully colourful birds.
Bower Birds, Ring Necks and Water Hens
These are different types of birds that inhabit rural environments.
Red Wings and Red Tailed Black Cockatoos Think of all the rainbows we could lose
These are other wonderful bird species, whose presence makes the rural areas even more beautiful and people fear for its loss.
Lyrics © ACUM Ltd.
Written by: Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, Dan Almagor
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind