![]() ![]() Those two sides were followed by three cuts from the LP, all presented here in their original mono single mixes. Surprisingly, neither song was included on the band's LP despite arguably being stronger than some of the material that did make the album. Williams' pointed lyrics were directed at a heartbreaking if attractive lady ("Yes, I'd like to hang around/But I'll have to let you down/I just haven't got what it takes/To put up with you.") while Nichols' ironically breezy, pillow-soft melody did its best to let her down easy. Drummer Jim Gordon sat in on "Bitter Honey" and Buffalo Springfield's Dewey Martin handled drums and/or percussion on three other cuts.) "Love for Everyone," a boisterous, country-meets-garage-rocker-with-harmonies penned by the solo Paul, was paired on 45 RPM with one of the most delicious put-down songs ever: "To Put Up with You," co-written with Roger Nichols. (And while an orchestra of Los Angeles' finest players was heard on the LP, The Holy Mackerel was very much a band, playing on every track. Love for Everyone offers all five single sides released by the band in 1968. The Nichols/Williams partnership, represented on The Holy Mackerel by the ironically bouncy sunshine pop nugget "Bitter Honey" (also recorded by Jackie DeShannon and others) was going strong. By the time of The Holy Mackerel's November release, the six-person band had already survived a line-up change and split up for good. Sessions for an eclectic, psych-pop album with Perry commenced in March 1968. With Cynthia Fitzpatrick and Michael Cannon rounding out the lineup - bassist Bob Harvey and drummer Don Murray left before recording had concluded - they settled on the name of The Holy Mackerel. Rather than flying solo, he enlisted a group of friends with whom he had been making music since late 1967, including his brother Mentor, Jerry Scheff, and George Hiller. Perry sensed Williams' potential and approached him to cut his own album for Reprise. When "Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips with Me" became a surprise hit for the ukulele-playing Laugh-In favorite, Paul's song was the B-side. Up-and-coming producer Richard Perry selected "Fill Your Heart," a song written by Williams with Biff Rose, for Tiny Tim's Reprise album debut. Fate brought A&M songwriter Williams to the competing label. The Holy Mackerel's Love for Everyone: The Reprise Mono Singles and More and Paul Williams' The Reprise Mono Singles and More both shine a light on the young singer-songwriter's stunning, early body of work for Reprise Records. The rest is history.and it's now being chronicled anew by Hanky Panky Records on a pair of new vinyl releases. He paired Williams with an aspiring composer named Roger Nichols, and Williams' often hopeful, always universal lyrics proved the perfect match for Nichols' bright, infectious melodies. A friend played his songs for Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss' A&M Records, and the label's head of publishing, Chuck Kaye, was more than impressed. But he didn't have to wait long for a new opportunity. A brief three-month stint peddling his tunes at The Turtles' home of White Whale Records ended in disappointment when Williams was shown the door. A modern-day renaissance man, the Nebraska native tried his luck as an actor, a songwriter, and a singer from his earliest days in Los Angeles. He might have been born a someday man, but Paul Williams has proven himself to be a forever artist.
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