Williams fills tall order

Monday, June 7, 2004 | 10:44 a.m.

If he had to rely on his vocal talent, Paul Williams would be walking horses for a living.

That's one of the many self-abasing jokes the 5-foot-2 actor/songwriter tells during his concerts. But there may be more truth than humor in the comment.

Williams, who has a distinctive voice, is handicapped by a limited vocal range, and he doesn't always hit the notes at which he is aiming.

Fortunately, the 63-year-old Williams is an extraordinarily gifted songwriter and has never had to worry about horses or a so-so singing voice to put his children through private schools.

He mostly sings for fun, not profit.

Williams and most of his fans seemed to have fun at his first Las Vegas concert in 15 years, which was at Suncoast Showroom over the weekend.

During the evening he sang more than a dozen of his most popular songs, told plenty of stories, joked about himself ("In Japan, I'm a size medium.") and talked about his career and the alcoholism that almost destroyed it in the '80s.

"This is the first time I ever walked on a Vegas stage sober," he said near the end of his show, which was a good mix of singing and reminiscing.

Williams says he has been sober for 14 years.

"(Performing) was really scary," he said. "That's why I drank."

There was nothing to fear at Friday's performance. He was on friendly ground, singing to about 700 fans more interested in hearing the words to the songs that made him famous than voice that didn't.

"I sometimes embarrass myself, forgetting a word or two," Williams, dressed all in black, said. "But I never let professionalism get in the way of a good time."

Even if Williams had a superior voice, it would pale in comparison to the artists who have recorded the words he has written. He could never compete with the likes of Karen Carpenter, Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand. And so he is content with doing the best he can with what he has and to gain whatever satisfaction he can out of performing before a live audience.

The concert opened with his five-piece band harmonizing "Just an Old Fashioned Love Song," a hit for Three Dog Night in 1971.

Williams then joined them onstage and completed the song as a film montage began to role on a large screen behind the band.

The montage was of footage from assorted movies in which Williams has appeared -- among them his first (1965's "The Loved One" starring Jonathan Winters), "Planet of the Apes" (1973), "Phantom of the Paradise" (1974) and "Smokey and the Bandit" (1977).

"I did not start out to be a sex object," he said. "I wanted to be an actor, like Thomas Mitchell and Arthur Hunnicutt."

He said after his first film, he had the feeling that he was on his way to stardom, "Even though I looked a little like Hayley Mills."

Williams said his mother came to Los Angeles to live with him when he started making the film "The Chase," in 1966, starring Marlon Brando and Jane Fonda.

But most of Williams' scenes ended up on the cutting-room floor.

"The phone stopped ringing, then they took the phone out," Williams said. "Then, Mom got a job. I'm 27 years old, living with my mom, staying up all night plucking out tunes on my guitar."

He said memories of those days inspired "Rainy Days and Mondays," a hit by the Carpenters in 1972. Another Williams' hit by the Carpenters in 1972 was, "I Won't Last a Day Without You."

Williams' vocals were enhanced by a superior band that included pianist Chris Caswell (who has worked with him since 1976), saxophonist/pianist John Lee Sanders (who has worked with him since 1988), bassist Cliff Hugo, drummer John Lewis and guitarist Peter Hume (musical director for Melissa Manchester).

One of Williams' most popular songs is "Evergreen," the theme song he wrote for the 1976 film "A Star is Born," starring Streisand.

He sang a few lines from the Streisand number and then performed his own version of his song "You and Me Against the World," which was big for Helen Reddy in 1974.

His repertoire included "We've Only Just Begun," (the Carpenters, 1970) and "Love Boat," a standard for Jack Jones since he recorded it in 1977.

Williams concluded his show with "Let Me be the One," sung by the Carpenters in 1971, and "Rainbow Connection," from the 1979 film "The Muppet Movie," starring Kermit the Frog -- who, like Williams, knows what it's like to sing in limited range.