At the time of this collection's original release in 1974,
Paul Williams
had firmly established himself as a premier songwriter in the industry, releasing six albums of his own and scoring major hits with
the Carpenters
and
Three Dog Night
. Considering that the Oklahoma native had originally come to Hollywood as an actor in the 1960s, his subsequent move to music was quite a fruitful one. This lean anthology is culled from
Williams
' early-'70s albums and contains his own versions of "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days and Mondays," the former of which became a signature song for
Karen
Richard Carpenter
in 1970 and remains a popular wedding favorite. Classic pop cuts like "Inspiration" and "Loneliness" show an inventive and crafty songwriter working in a similar milieu as contemporaries
Harry Nilsson
Randy Newman
. Many more hits and other anthologies would follow, but this collection, though brief, captures
in his creative prime. ~ Timothy Monger