I Believe in von

©© 2000 MCA Nashville, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc., Universal City, CA 91608 - U.S.A. Distributed by Universal Music & Video Distribution, Inc. Warning: All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws. 088 112 250-2

MCA A UNIVERSAL MUSIC COMPANY

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Don Williams, it’s like listening to an old friend. That deep baritone could sing the telephone book and we would sit there mesmerized. But he became a country superstar for more than just his rich, expressive voice and gentle, friendly personality. Those songs were terrific! So much of his naterial carried a pedigree that most other country hits of the ime couldn’t begin to match.

Songwriters such as Bob McDill, Wayland Holyfield and Roger Cook supplied Williams with instant classics, evidenced by ten of the 12 tracks presented here that made it to number one on the country charts (the remaining two hit the number two position). Also, the song arrangements were beau¬ tifully understated, perfectly blending the superb material, sub¬ tle production and what only can be described as that voice.

Born in Floydada, Texas and raised in Portland, Texas, he made his first public appearance at age

three in a local talent contest and won an alarm clock as first prize. At 12, his mother taught him how to play the guitar and he got his first paying job playing for $25.00 at the opening of the Billups Service Station in Taft, Texas. He remembered (in one of his many interviews) the reaction to his first primitive recording of a Jim Reeves song while he was in high school. “People were saying, You mean this big voice came out of this little bitty guy?’,” Williams recalled. “Back then I was about five-foot- two and weighed around 120 pounds.” Over the next few years, he grew to his full height of 6’1” leading the rugged looking singer to become known as “The Gentle Giant.” He supported himself with several “real” jobs: bill collector, bread truck driver, Texas oil fields worker and furniture store employee. Williams even worked for Pittsburgh Plate Glass and at a smelting plant. Following his mili¬ tary service in the Army, however, he craved a more consistent musical connection.

In 1964, he formed the Pozo- Seco Singers, a trio that sang a variety of music from folk to pop to country. Their first recorded single, “Time,” climbed to the Top 10 nationwide, but the group disband¬ ed in 1971. Williams’s first solo single, “Don’t You Believe,” was released on JMI Records in 1972, paving the way for his lengthy relationship with ABC-Dot that began in 1974. What followed was an impressive list of hits, many of which are on this collection. Williams’s interpretation of Bob McDill’s “Good Ole Boys Like Me” accomplished what its writer targeted: “I set out to write the definitive contemporary song about the South,” McDill said. The singer’s conviction brought the South to life in the song that remained number two on the coun¬ try charts for three weeks in 1980. Later that year, Roger Cook and Sam Hogin wrote somewhat of a social commentary, “I Believe In You,” with Williams in mind. “I could hear that warm, neighborly voice conveying the message with

no offense to anyone,” Roger Cook has said.

Those qualities can be heard in every syllable Williams sings. Back in an era known for drinking and carousing songs, Williams made his mark with messages that, nowadays, we call traditional family values. “I love songs that talk about a relationship in very strong ways, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be taken just as a guy’s feelings about his woman,” Williams said. “It can be on a much broader scale than that; talking about a friend, or your relationship with God.” A perfect example is this collection’s earliest hit, 1975’s “You’re My Best Friend.” The singer and that song garnered the Album Of The Year award from the British Country Music Association. Two years later, the single was voted “the all-time favorite country record in Britain.”

By 1978, the United States finally caught up to what the British knew and he was honored

as the Countiy Music Association’s Male Vocalist Of The Year. That same year, “Tulsa Time” hit the airwaves and became the latest rage for line dances. It also was honored as 1978’s Single Record Of The Year at the Academy Of Country Music awards as well as being a pop hit for Eric Clapton in 1980.

Although “Till The Rivers All Run Dry” is the only Williams original composition included on this collection (co-authored with Wayland Holyfield), his songs have been recorded by such artists as Charley Pride, Johnny Cash, Sonny James, Lefty Frizzell and Pete Townshend. “I’ve always tried to think of myself more as a writer than anything else,” Williams said. But as you can tell from this collection, he’s more than just a singer-songwriter. He’s also one heck of an artist.

Robyn Flans

February 2000

sources are from various RCA and internet bios

Compilation Produced by Mike Ragogna

Mastered by Jim Phillips at Universal Matering Studios-West

Art Direction: Vartan Design: Mike Fink @ilevel Photo Research: Jason Pas tori Photo Credits: MCA Archives

Project Coordinator: Beth Stempel Special Thanks to Ann & Tommy West

Also available by Don Williams 20 Greatest Hits (mcad-5944)

Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (mcad-31249) (mcac-1679)

The Best Of...20th Century Masters/ The Millennium Collections Also Available: Merle Haggard (oss 112 110-2/4)

Ernest Tubb (oss 112 118-2/4)

Bob Wills (088 170 117-2/4)

Buddy Holly (mcac/d- 11956)

Patsy Cline (mcac/d-70095)

Loretta Lynn (mcac/d-70106)

Conway Twitty (oss 170 085-2/4)

Bill Monroe (088 170 109-2/4)

Hank Williams (314 546 660-2/4)

Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn (oss 112 251-2/4)

Tom T. Hall (088 170 126-2/4)

Brenda Lee (mcac/d-70107)

Bill Monroe (oss 170 109-2/4)

George Jones (088 170 110-2/4)

Waylon Jennings (088 170 139-2/4)

MCA NASHVILLE

© 2000 MCA Nashville, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. 088 112 250-2

11 Believe In You (Roger Cook-Sam Hogin)

MCA single 41304 Country #1 / charted 8-23-80 Pop #24 / charted 9-27-80

Adult Contemporary #8 J charted 10-4-80

2 Lord, I Hope This Day is Good (Dave Hanner) MCA single 51207 Country #1 / 11-21-81

3 You’re My Best Friend (Wayland Holyfield) ABC/Dot single 17550 Country #1 / charted 4-12-75

4 Say li Again (Bob McDill)

ABC /Dot single 17631 Country #1 / charted 6-12-76

5 Tulsa Time (Danny Flowers) ABC single 12425

Country#! / charted 11-4-78

e I’m Just A Country Boy (Marshall Barer-Fred Hellerman) ABC/Dot single 17717 Country #1 / charted 9-3-77

7 Good Ole Boys Like Me (Bob McDill) MCA single 41205

Country #2 / charted 3-29-80

s (Turn out The Lights And) Love Me Tonight (Bob McDill) ABC/Dot single 17568 Country #1 / charted 8-16-75

9 Till The Divers All Dun Dry (Wayland Holyfield-Don Williams) ABC/Dot single 17604

Country #1 / charted 1-31-76

10 She Never Knew Me (Bob McDill-Wayland Holyfield) ABC/Dot single 17658 Country #2 / charted 10-16-76

n ll Hollywood Don’t Need You (Honey, I still Do) (Bob McDill) MCA single 52152 Country #1 / charted 12-11-82

12 Some Broken Hearts Never Mend (Wayland Holyfield) ABC/Dot single 17683 Country #1 / charted 3-12-77

Tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 11 Produced by Don Williams & Garth Fundis

Tracks 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12 Produced by Don Williams

The Millennium Collection CENTURY MASTERS