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.
We're off to See the Wizard Over the Rainbow
John Williams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Follow the yellow brick road,
Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road.
Follow the rainbow over the stream,
Follow the fellow who follows a dream,
Follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow the yellow brick road.
We're off to see the Wizard,
We hear he is a whiz of a Wiz if ever a Wiz there was.
If ever, oh ever a Wiz there was,
The Wizard of Oz is one becoz, becoz, becoz, becoz, becoz, becoz,
Becoz of the wonderful things he does.
We're off to see the Wizard,
The wonderful Wizard of Oz.
We're off to see the Wizard,
The wonderful Wizard of Oz.
We hear he is a whiz of a Wiz if ever a Wiz there was.
If ever, oh ever a Wiz there was,
The Wizard of Oz is one becoz, becoz, becoz, becoz, becoz, becoz,
Becoz of the wonderful things he does.
We're off to see the Wizard,
The wonderful Wizard of Oz.
The lyrics to John Williams's song "We're Off to See the Wizard" from the movie "The Wizard of Oz" are a spirited and enthusiastic call to action. The verses highlight the journey the characters embark on as they follow the yellow brick road. It serves as a guiding path, leading them to their ultimate destination: the Wizard. The repetition of "follow the yellow brick road" emphasizes the determination and single-mindedness of the characters to reach their goal.
The second verse introduces the concept of following a dream, as the characters follow the fellow who is pursuing his own aspirations. This line suggests that dreams and aspirations can be compelling and worthy of pursuit, even if they may seem unconventional. By following these dreams, they are eventually led to the Wizard, who is portrayed as a magical and powerful figure capable of performing wonderful things. The repetition of "becoz of the wonderful things he does" reinforces the belief in the Wizard's extraordinary abilities.
Overall, the lyrics convey a sense of excitement, adventure, and hope. The characters are on a quest to meet the Wizard, hoping that he will fulfill their desires. It reflects their determination to overcome obstacles and believing in the possibility of an extraordinary outcome.
Line by Line Meaning
Follow the yellow brick road
Stick to the path that will lead you to your destination
Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road
Continue to persevere and stay focused on your journey
Follow the rainbow over the stream
Chase after the dreams and aspirations that fill your heart with joy
Follow the fellow who follows a dream
Learn from and follow the footsteps of those who are dedicated to pursuing their dreams
Follow, follow, follow, follow
Persistently and unwaveringly pursue your goals
Follow the yellow brick road
Stay on the path that leads you towards your desired destination
We're off to see the Wizard
We are setting off on a quest to meet the Wizard
The wonderful Wizard of Oz
He is an extraordinary and magical figure
We hear he is a whiz of a Wiz if ever a Wiz there was
We have heard he is an expert and unmatched Wizard
If ever, oh ever a Wiz there was
If there was ever a Wizard who possessed such incredible powers
The Wizard of Oz is one becoz, becoz, becoz, becoz, becoz, becoz
The Wizard of Oz is one because of his remarkable abilities
Becoz of the wonderful things he does
Due to the incredible feats and miracles he performs
We're off to see the Wizard
We are embarking on this journey to meet the Wizard
The wonderful Wizard of Oz
The extraordinary and magical figure known as the Wizard of Oz
We're off to see the Wizard
We are heading towards the Wizard's location
The wonderful Wizard of Oz
The extraordinary and mesmerizing Wizard of Oz
We hear he is a whiz of a Wiz if ever a Wiz there was
We have heard of his expertise and matchless abilities as a Wizard
If ever, oh ever a Wiz there was
If there was ever a Wizard who possessed such incredible powers
The Wizard of Oz is one becoz, becoz, becoz, becoz, becoz, becoz
The Wizard of Oz is one because of his remarkable abilities
Becoz of the wonderful things he does
Because of the extraordinary feats and miracles he performs
We're off to see the Wizard
We are embarking on a journey to meet the Wizard
The wonderful Wizard of Oz
The extraordinary and enchanting Wizard of Oz
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: E.Y. HARBURG, HAROLD ARLEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind