are always welcome
And tucked somewhere in there, between the reviews of current singles (Judith Durham's debut at the top) and the list of NME's Top 30 albums and Top Ten singles, that week highlighting Jackie Trent, The Sandpipers and Ramsey Lewis, was a quarter-page graphic of the Statue of Liberty with some writing below.
Turn the page and you'd miss it. Get caught up in the latest on Gerry Marsden (he of the Pacemakers) and it's gone. But the text underneath, 'Liberty Wants Talent', beckoned to the musical youth of Britain just as its namesake that stands upon the shores of Manhattan has to millions around the world. As if saying, "Give us your tired, your poor, your Hollies wanna-be's..."
The man responsible for the placement of that ad, and thus responsible for introducing Elton John to Bernie Taupin and launching the career of one of the most successful songwriting teams in music history, was then 19-year-old Liberty Records executive Ray Williams.
In 1992, John F. Higgins interviewed Ray in his London offices. The following are excerpts from that conversation:
John F. Higgins: So, anyone who comes in to your office and says (as Reg Dwight did), "I feel lost," you just hand them their life, is that how it works?
Ray Williams: (Laughs) He actually did say that, yes. I have had in the past, a pretty good intuition if somebody or something has talent or potential. Now, it's very easy to say when you look back. But I do remember I was really impressed. He had something in his voice. He certainly didn't have any writing ability at that time. But he had a great voice, even then. It had great warmth, character and appeal. It was one of those great recording voices. When he first came into the office he was just a member of the backing group (Bluesology, who were the band for Long John Baldry at the time) that wasn't allowed to sing. I can remember him saying that. The problem was, he wanted to sing and he wasn't allowed to, really, other than to do backing vocals.
JFH: When Bernie sent his packet of lyrics in, was it purely the contents, or was there a letter with it?
RW: Yes, God, I seem to remember the letter that came. It said, basically, "I'm a poet and I think that my words might be suitable as lyrics if set to music." There were dozens of people sending in lyrics. Most of them were "moon in June" and that sort of stuff. But there was some sort of imagination attached to Bernie's. They weren't just the norm, even though we couldn't understand all of them. I think that it was this (imagination) that made me think that I should put him in touch with Elton...that he was the one. You know, it could easily have gone no further. But there were these lyrics and I wrote Bernie back saying I'd pass them on and that sort of thing. And that's how it all started.
