Anecdotes about John Williams

[Jay 37,281]

FACT: In 1987 I was scoring the movie "Witches of Eastwick" with John Williams at the Fox recording stage. In the middle of one of the days (my wife at the time was pregnant with my Son Alex) while having a blast scoring this wonderful soundtrack out comes John and the contractor Sandy telling me they had gotten an emergency call from Cedar Sinai Hospital in the recording booth. I had given my wife that scoring stage number in case anything like this might ever happen. My wife was having heavy contractions at 26 weeks into her pregnancy and Alex was trying very hard to pop out. John and Sandy told me to leave and get over to the hospital asap. I shot over to Cedars and I then walked into the hospital to meet this 5'7" black guy: Dr. John Williams, MD, LA Pediatrics. I starting laughing thinking someone was playing a practical joke on me with this Dr named John Williams. He told me My wife (at the time) had to buy 2 weeks not to allow Alex out of the womb because of the maturation of the lungs etc. My wife was put on the appropriate drugs and her cervix was sown shut. We bought the 2 weeks exactly to the day. Alex popped out into this world at 28 weeks and 3lbs exactly. Alex and his Mom to this day are fine. Alex is now 28 yrs old, 6'3" and as healthy as they come. My Dad died 2 months later of Alzheimer's. The circle of life. Toboe's life is never boring! lol

Oh. I shot back to the scoring stage to finish the day of recording with the REAL/OTHER John Williams.. lol.

One the best at scoring music to film, the other a world renown neonatologist. 2 John Williams in one day? OBOYD.

https://www.facebook.com/tboydoboe/posts/10152842946218481

[Hlao-roo 389]

[publicist 4,643]

Make the thread title "Nice stories about John Williams"...then we can assemble all the stuff about the composer, the director of reproductive genetics and the guitar player.

In Tom Mankiewicz's book about his time in Hollywood, he tells some Williams stories, i. e. how he and Richard Donner sat down for the first spotting sessions of SUPERMAN and Williams asked how it should sound, to which Donner replied 'Gee, you should tell us!" and Mankiewicz suggested to Williams that he should think about something that could (after some deafening moments of silence and anticipation) open the Superbowl and would people have standing on their feed. Thus, the SUPERMAN march was born. Also how he shared a bungalow on the Fox lot with Williams and played pranks on him.

[Hlao-roo 389]

In Tom Cruise's 1992 interview with Rolling Stone, the actor makes clear his respect for Williams and what he brings to the table:

Somewhere down the line, perhaps after getting critically drubbed on Cocktail (which Cruise admits "was not a crowning jewel"), the actor decided to exercise his considerable clout. "I try to put together the A team, the Super Bowl team," he says on a soundstage where he's spent the afternoon watching Far and Away composer John Williams set the images onscreen to music. It's a process most actors wouldn't bother to check in on. Cruise thumps his fist on a table. "I invest too much in my movies," he says. "I want it to be great every time."

[nightscape94 965]

FACT: In 1987 I was scoring the movie "Witches of Eastwick" with John Williams at the Fox recording stage. In the middle of one of the days (my wife at the time was pregnant with my Son Alex) while having a blast scoring this wonderful soundtrack out comes John and the contractor Sandy telling me they had gotten an emergency call from Cedar Sinai Hospital in the recording booth. I had given my wife that scoring stage number in case anything like this might ever happen. My wife was having heavy contractions at 26 weeks into her pregnancy and Alex was trying very hard to pop out. John and Sandy told me to leave and get over to the hospital asap. I shot over to Cedars and I then walked into the hospital to meet this 5'7" black guy: Dr. John Williams, MD, LA Pediatrics. I starting laughing thinking someone was playing a practical joke on me with this Dr named John Williams. He told me My wife (at the time) had to buy 2 weeks not to allow Alex out of the womb because of the maturation of the lungs etc. My wife was put on the appropriate drugs and her cervix was sown shut. We bought the 2 weeks exactly to the day. Alex popped out into this world at 28 weeks and 3lbs exactly. Alex and his Mom to this day are fine. Alex is now 28 yrs old, 6'3" and as healthy as they come. My Dad died 2 months later of Alzheimer's. The circle of life. Toboe's life is never boring! lol

Oh. I shot back to the scoring stage to finish the day of recording with the REAL/OTHER John Williams.. lol.

One the best at scoring music to film, the other a world renown neonatologist. 2 John Williams in one day? OBOYD.

https://www.facebook.com/tboydoboe/posts/10152842946218481

Should have named his kid John Williams Boyd, what the hell is wrong with this guy. He has cursed at the gods, and his son will pay for this folly later in life.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[nightscape94 965]

Didn't know where else to put this, but I came across this little anecdote from Stéphane Denève, a conductor.

"One night, I'm having dinner with him . . . we had one or two glasses of wine . . . and we sang this melody by heart." Denève runs to the piano and begins playing the beloved Poulenc song "Hotel." "He knew it by heart - in French. I'll remember it all my life. I sang this music with John Williams!"

[Thor 7,465]

Didn't know where else to put this, but I came across this little antidote from Stéphane Denève, a conductor.

"One night, I'm having dinner with him . . . we had one or two glasses of wine . . . and we sang this melody by heart." Denève runs to the piano and begins playing the beloved Poulenc song "Hotel." "He knew it by heart - in French. I'll remember it all my life. I sang this music with John Williams!"

That's anecdote, not antidote, LOL!

But thanks for the story. I can picture it. Cute.

[nightscape94 965]

Spell check screwed me. Oh well.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Thats a great story

[Dixon Hill 4,232]

At 1:23. It's a lovely song.

[RedBard 71]

Didn't know where else to put this, but I came across this little antidote from Stéphane Denève, a conductor.

"One night, I'm having dinner with him . . . we had one or two glasses of wine . . . and we sang this melody by heart." Denève runs to the piano and begins playing the beloved Poulenc song "Hotel." "He knew it by heart - in French. I'll remember it all my life. I sang this music with John Williams!"

That's anecdote, not antidote, LOL!

But thanks for the story. I can picture it. Cute.

[indy4 155]

Anybody hear this one before?

The composer was amazed by the film, and felt it would be too challenging. He said to Spielberg, "You need a better composer than I am for this film." Spielberg responded, "I know. But they're all dead!"

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schindler%27s_List

[Naïve Old Fart 9,493]

In fairness to you, that is a very famous quote among JWfans. The question remains... to whom, exactly, was SS refering..?

[Thor 7,465]

I'm sure indy4 was joking. That is probably the most-mentioned anecdote that Williams and Spielberg pull out from their bag of tricks -- along with the simplicity of the JAWS theme, the many permutations of the CE3K theme, the cutting-to-music part of the E.T. finale etc.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,493]

Don't forget the one about JW trashing Spielberg's office, when he was told that he would not be working on "The Color Purple".

[RedBard 71]

Don't forget the one about JW trashing Spielberg's office, when he was told that he would not be working on "The Color Purple".

That never happened...

did it?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Officially it didn't happen. JWFan revieced a letter from some lawyers when it was reported on the main page years ago.

But yeah....

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

Wait....

So it actually might have happened?!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

It happened.

There are even pictures circulating in the trading circles.

If anyone wants to see them, I'm willing to trade them for the Prisoner Of Azkaban recording sessions.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

Don't have that. Would you be willing to trade them for John Williams' rejected Tucker: The Man and His Dream score?

[RedBard 71]

Wait a minute. How can I be sure that you have said pictures? How do I know that these pictures can't be found in a Google search?

[Thor 7,465]

Don't forget the one about JW trashing Spielberg's office, when he was told that he would not be working on "The Color Purple".

LOL!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Whatever the story is regarding John Williams and The Color Purple, we know that he did work on the film and taht therefore the music he did wrote ended up not being used. Though I personally loathe to use the word rejected, since that would indicate that there was an issue with the music itself.

IMO Quincy Jones, who was the producer of this film simply put his foor down and decided to score it himself.

Exactly how much music JW wrote for The Color Purple remains unknown, though at one point, about 10 years ago one of the lablels had a release planned. I think it might have been Varese, or Intrada. A cover pic appeared at SAE, but was pulled after only a few days, and no mention of the score was ever made again. Thankfully it was saved by someone before SAE deleted it. I had to look for it but I still had it on Photobucket.

[Thor 7,465]

IMO Quincy Jones, who was the producer of this film simply put his foor down and decided to score it himself.

He didn't really "put his foot down". It was part of the contract that he was to both produce and score the film.

I'm not aware of any John Williams involvement in the film. Sounds like urban legend.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Quincy himself refutes this, Thor.

In a documentary he once said he "ended up" scoring the film because no one thought to hire a composer.

Which is ofcourse total nonsense.

[publicist 4,643]

Jones brought the movie to Spielberg (and some other directors) together with Walker. Spielberg was finally hired and loved to be involved but he had to do so under certain conditions (which he gladly accepted).

[Thor 7,465]

Jones brought the movie to Spielberg (and some other directors) together with Walker. Spielberg was finally hired and loved to be involved but he had to do so under certain conditions (which he gladly accepted).

Exactly. One of those conditions was that Jones write the score.