John Williams, the Early Years

Here's music you've likely not over-heard

As someone who is very much attracted to contemporary classical music, it sometimes pains me to say that my favorite living composer is John Williams, but there you have it. His soundtracks, along with his music for memorable occasions such as the Olympics, touch me emotionally time and time again. Should I feel I need a break from the most-performed scores (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T., Jurassic Park), I can always sample soundtracks I didn’t remember he composed (I just this week listened to his music for Dracula). Thus, I welcome with open ears Tim Greiving’s new William’s biography, John Williams: A Composer’s Life. Grieving is especially strong in his consideration of each and every John Williams film score, while also providing glimpses into the composer’s personal life. I’m just starting the section of the biography which looks at Williams’ time as Boston Pops conductor, which also includes a discussion of Williams’ often maligned reputation among critics of classical music.

Any book about music has to overcome the limitation of not providing the reader with the music to accompany the description of it. But here is where YouTube and Spotify come in handy. Over and over again as I read about some of Williams’ musical endeavors preceding his mid-70’s breakout with Jaws, and his association with Steven Spielberg, I said, “Hmm, I wonder what it sounds like,” and in every case, even the most obscure, YouTube or Spotify was there to satisfy my curiosity.

So much of this early music is surprising. For example, I had totally forgotten (if I ever really knew) that Williams provided the score for a series of blockbuster disaster films in the early 70’s (The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, The Towering Inferno). These are not scores I chose to sample; instead, it’s the following rarities that made me stop and check them out:

1. You Are Welcome

Johnny Williams (as he was then known) was stationed in Newfoundland with the Air Force in 1953 when he was asked to provide the music for a 20-minute film promoting tourism in Newfoundland. I suspect the only reason this film is on YouTube is that it’s his first film score, but it’s quaint in its way and historically significant in the life of its then 21-year old composer:

2. The John Towner Touch

If in the early 50’s one had to guess what John Williams’ career would look like, one probably would have projected him to be a jazz pianist. Here’s a recording of his from that time, where he uses his middle name of Towner, perhaps looking for something more dynamic sounding than Williams:

3. Alcoa Premiere - The Jail

In the early 1960’s, Williams was composing an extraordinary amount of music to accompany TV dramas such as Alcoa Premiere, hosted by Fred Astaire. This episode, “The Jail” caught my attention because the script was penned by a favorite of mine, Ray Bradbury. The score is far more atonal than one would assume from the later John Williams:

4. Rhythm in Motion - Johnny Williams

In between writing music for TV, Williams maintained a foot in jazz. This recording showcases Williams as bandleader and arranger:

5. Make Me Rainbows - Ella Fitzgerald

Besides instrumental film scores, Williams would often provide a song or two for the films he scored. Here’s Ella Fitzgerald’s version of a song from the film Fitzwilly, from 1967:

6. Heidi

To football fans of a certain age, the TV movie Heidi is most famous for cutting short an NFL game with the Jets and Raiders that included a Raiders comeback which happened after the cutaway. To John Williams fans, his Heidi score was a chance for millions of viewers, perhaps for the first time, to experience the Williams magic on a large scale:

7. Lost in Space

Yes, John Williams composed the theme music for the somewhat ridiculous yet beloved 60’s TV series:

8. Evening at Pops - Live on Opening Night

The earliest Williams scores that he will still often perform in concert are those for The Reivers (1969) and The Cowboys (1972). Both feature his Americana, Aaron Copland-esque, Western movie sound. Williams conducted both pieces at his inaugural 1980 concert as Boston Pops music director, and WGBH’s Evening at Pops captured the occasion. I’m especially fond of actor Burgess Meredith’s narration of the suite from The Reivers. A week ago this concert was up on YouTube, but this week it isn’t. Such is the nature of the beast with YouTube. What remains available is the Pops recording of the suite with Meredith:

9. Thomas and the King

Finally, did you know that John Williams wrote a stage musical? Here it is, from London’s West End in 1975, retelling the story of King Henry II and Thomas Becket. It failed, quite miserably, but as a lover of both musicals and John Williams, I just had to listen: