JOE WILLIAMS

HEAR IT

Joe Williams
Self Titled

Liner notes:

This album has taken several years to create, and it is an absolute pleasure (and relief) to finally deliver the goods! The end result of so many months of deliberation and consternation and heel-dragging and inspiration is, in my opinion, a pleasantly strange compilation of tunes covering lots of ideas and time. Two of these songs were written just prior to recording. Another was actually rewritten after recording had begun, and a couple of these things are nearly eleven years old. That's pretty old for a song, in my opinion, but they appear to be holding up just fine! In fact, the old timers seem to have taken on a whole new shine - at least in my heart - since receiving the "new lease on life" in the studio.

Of course, the mechanics of recording these songs was a breeze compared to the process of finding a sensible name for the album. This album has had several names over time - some good, some not so good, and a few which shouldn't be repeated here. But we never found a title that made real sense of this lyrical and musical assortment. There didn't seem to be one individual track on the album that really "summed up" the mix, either. The work included here covers a whole lot of subject matter and, taken together, the songs paint a landscape that is just a little off-center. And how do you name that?!? Well, eventually, you don't. It finally became clear to everyone involved that a large pretzel should be placed on the cover, and that we should just title the album "Joe Williams" and try to get on with our lives. Now, in retrospect I think that using a pretzel was a pretty good symbolic choice for representing slightly 'twisted' music, served up in little bite-sized servings. But, really, there was no conscious thought process behind it. Pretzels look neat and we were tired.

Each song included here tells its own story, and I am thankful to all the people who have listened over time. I've enjoyed the company of these little creatures so far, and am very proud to present them to you now. I hope you like what you hear!

-Joe
November 20, 2001

Special thanks go to Katherine, the absolute love of my life, and to Henry and Riley, my other two absolutes. And of course the rest of my family who have all supported me in various ways for years, some even monetarily. Also, special thanks to Ben, Donald, Annie, Dennis, Meg, Mouse, Elain, John G., Larry, Janet, Gerry, and Bo for their help and encouragement through the years. Making this album was a fantastic experience, and I feel really honored to have worked with so many talented artists: Greg Bell (Chicken Wire Gang), Nic Brown (formerly of Atheneaum), Stu Cole (Squirrel Nut Zippers, Chickenwire Gang), John Gillespie (Nikki Meets the Hibachi, Two Fish Blue), Bill Hicks (Bill and Libby Hicks, formerly of Red Clay Ramblers), Greg Humphries (Hobex, Dillon Fence), Carter Miner, and John Plymale.