Mentor Williams

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Mentor Williams is an American songwriter and producer. He is best known for writing "Drift Away", a middle-of-the-road playlist classic performed by Dobie Gray in 1973. He is the brother of famed songwriter Paul Williams.

Background

He has received an award from ASCAP for his 30 years of songwriting, and has earned 17 writer awards. His compositions have earned dozens of Gold and Platinum awards for millions of sales by such outstanding artists as: Dobie Gray, Rod Stewart, George Jones, Michael Bolton, Alabama, the Rolling Stones, Waylon Jennings, Ringo Starr, Randy Travis and Uncle Kracker.^{[citation needed]}

Williams maintained an office at Almo-Irving, in Los Angeles, as staff writer in the late 1960s. He produced for A&M, MCA, RSO and CBS Records, commuting constantly between Los Angeles, Nashville, and London. He worked at The Record Plant with Paul McCartney and Kenney Jones and at APPLE STUDIOS in London with Stealers Wheel and Gerry Rafferty. He produced Kim Carnes, John Stewart, Paul Williams (Mentor's brother), and Dobie Gray, among others. Mentor was a post-production, re-mix engineer for The Muppet Movie, which won a Grammy Award and an Academy Award. He also worked on the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid soundtrack.

"Drift Away," William's most successful composition, was a #5 hit in the United States for Dobie Gray in 1973.^[1] The 2003 cover of the song Uncle Kracker held the Number 1 spot on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Charts for a record-setting 38 weeks. It remained in the Top Ten for 70 weeks.^{[citation needed]}

Williams built a home overlooking Taos, New Mexico, which he shares with his long-time partner, country music singer Lynn Anderson.^[2] He holds numerous songwriting seminars and lectures at the college level, in an attempt to help up-and-coming writers learn the craft of putting words and music together. He finds inspiration for his music in the beauty of the New Mexico mountains, riding horses, and from his brothers, Paul Williams, Songwriter's Hall of Fame inductee, and the late John Williams, a NASA rocket scientist.

References

1. ^ Marsh, Dave. The heart of rock & soul: the 1001 greatest singles ever made, p. 100-01 (1999 ed.)
2. ^ (4 December 2009). Lynn Anderson hit Colusa Casino Resort stage next week, Colusa County Sun Herald ("Also performing will be Anderson's long-time partner Mentor Williams, who wrote the hit 'Drift Away.'")

External links

• Mentor Williams at the Internet Movie Database

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