Songs for the Family of Man: A Collection 1969-1979

Paul Williams was an exceptional song writer and this collection contains some of his best work...

Before the financial responsibilities of a spouse, a mortgage, and two children, I owned a couple of Paul Williams' records. I enjoyed them immensely.Two years ago I decided I needed to upgrade my PW record collection; nothing fancy, just a good anthology and a cd with Rainbow Connection on it. There were several greatest hits compilations available, but "Evergreens: The Best of the A&M Years" was the only album that Amazon listed as being remastered. Since I was upgrading, I wanted the best sound quality possible. But, seeing the astronomical prices for that album here (and at other websites), I decided to purchase this album instead, along with "Back to Love Again" for Kermit's song.About a month ago, I noticed a couple of sellers had a new "Evergreens" listed for a little over the original retail price. GREAT! Finally, I could get the superior sound of remastered originals. I made the purchase. Only after I bought "Evergreens" did I learn that Raven, the publisher of this cd, had remastered the original music as well. There was no need for me to buy a second compilation!For a quick comparison of the albums: both contain An Old Fashioned Love Song, We've Only Just Begun, Let Me Be The One, I Won't Last A Day Without You, Out In The Country, Rainy Days And Mondays, You And Me Against The World, A Little Bit Of Love, Loneliness, If We Could Still Be Friends, The Family Of Man, The Hell Of It, Ordinary Fool, Waking Up Alone, and Evergreen."Songs for the Family of Man" added Bitter Honey, Someday Man, Trust, When I Was All Alone, Don't Call It Love, For Goodness Sake, Save Me A Dream, and Here's Another Fine Mess to the shared tunes.While "Evergreens" chose I Never Had It So Good, Traveling Boy, That's What Friends Are For, What Would They Say, Dream Away, Nice To Be Around, and Time And Tide to round out it's collection.Although both cds contain Waking Up Alone, the "Evergreens" version has mellow instrumentals in the background; while "Songs for the Family of Man," has hard driving piano and drums dominating the song, and is twenty seconds longer.The sound quality is wonderful for both retrospectives. However, I think Hip-O Select did a slightly better job of remastering the music. Paul's voice and the instruments have a brighter and cleaner tone on the "Evergreens" cd. However, this difference is only noticeable in a direct comparison.Which one should you purchase; avoiding my mistake of buying both? There are three things to consider: (1) the price - is one significantly less than the other; (2) the songs - is there a specific song you want; and (3) the sound quality - both are top-notch with a slight edge to "Evergreens." Whichever one you decide to purchase, you really can't go wrong.No matter which greatest hits album you decide to buy, I would highly recommend you add the "Back To Love Again" cd to your collection. The songs are excellent; and Paul's singing voice has grown richer and more mellow with age.

A greatest hits album from a prolific and accomplished songwriter. A number of these songs were unfamiliar to me when I bought the album, but I love them now. Not every single one is perfect, but it's still pretty great. The obscure song that I really bought the album for was "Here's Another Fine Mess", a great overlooked treasure of a song. I was also pretty thrilled to get "You and Me Against the World", etc. (the hits) but surprised by such great songs as "Bitter Honey" and "Someday Man". I'm very glad I bought this album.

I love this collection of songs. The songs are all so good, and they all take me back to a time when I had hope. I must have listened to "Songs for the Family of Man" six or seven times the day it arrived. The arrangements are perfect - not overdone, a little sad, uplifting. I have always thought that Paul Williams was underappreciated as a singer. He has a wonderful voice, and the way he interprets the songs touches my soul. This is one of the best birthday gifts I've gotten in years. If you like Paul Williams, you'll love this album!

I have a soft spot for Paul Williams and his music. This collection has a songs I never heard before which is nice AND "the Hell of It" from The Phantom of the Paradise which is freaking awesome. Glad I bought this through amazon!

I have been a fan of Paul Williams for years and have picked up several "Greatest Hits" CD's of his. This baby from Australia is the best I seen (heard) for the size of the collection as well as the variety of sources (including "The Hell of It" from "Phantom of the Paradise"!)This is a fine gathering of jewels for the neophyte or the old fan of Paul's.

I have always liked Paul Williams, even though all my friends and relatives had never heard of him and I had to explain about his writing for the Carpenters and Bugsy Malone. I have most of his LPs and thought I had better start upgrading him to CDs. This CD is terrific and takes me back to when I first started collecting him.

Our family fell in love with Paul Williams and his music back in 1969. We went through his 33 RPM vinyl discs, attended his live shows and totally enjoyed his performances. We thank you for this CD of grand music and memories. Paul Williams is the King of Music.

listen to these songs and wonder at the genius of this man. His versions of songs we know by the carpenters and barbra are wonderful always felt at the time they were released he never achieved the success he deserved for his own works, stand out song for me is waking up alone the version here really good search out his re recording which tugs even more at the heartstrings

Worth it alone for his A and M re-recording of "Waking Up Alone" ,only available on japanese import. This was a retooling with syndrums in the 70s that worked .As with Raven's compilation of Jim Webb --this is a fantastic overview of the diminutive genius.Avoid the StarTrax compilation of PW --I DIDN'T!

Thank you so much

Perfect

I bought this as a present and they are very pleased with it.