Arguably the best-known modern exponent of the classical guitar, John Williams has done much to popularise what is often seen as the more academic side of the guitar world. He has also been crucial in expanding the repertoire of the instrument by successfully incorporating different styles from different cultures. His wide-ranging collaborations with other musicians include Julian Bream, Andre Previn, Cleo Laine and John Dankworth as well as his involvement with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, the Chilean group Inti-Illimana and his various collaborations with Richard Harvey.
Williams’ version of the tune ‘Cavatina’ - better known as the theme to the multi-Oscar winning Michael Cimino film, The Deer Hunter - even made the UK charts in 1978, landing him on Top Of The Pops. It’s not the only brush he’s had with the pop and rock world - he also enjoyed chart success with the supergroup Sky when their instrumental ‘Toccata’ hit the top ten in 1980. He worked briefly with Beatles producer George Martin and has even performed onstage with Pete Townsend, but despite his continuing interest in contemporary and world music, he has remained true to his classical roots.
“I’m not wild about the classical title,” he says. “I wish one could take it away. It’s just that when people ask me what do you play, I tend to say classical. You have to accept some sort of description and, like it or not, the acoustic, nylon-stringed guitar is seen as a classical guitar.”
Does he regard his success with ‘Cavatina’ – The Deer Hunter theme as a blessing or a curse? “It’s definitely a blessing,” he says. “Anything that widens the audience for what I do has to be a good thing. Besides, most of these things are accidental. Record companies think they plan them but they don’t. I recorded ‘Cavatina’ a long time before The Deer Hunter and always thought it should be a single. It was Pete Murray at the BBC who told me he got a lot of requests for it, so it was eventually released.
“But I had become quite well known long before the success of ‘Cavatina’,” he continues. “During the late 60s I was a regular of guest on Val Doonican’s Saturday evening show, which was the biggest show on TV at the time, with about 16 million viewers. I’d play a classical piece and then do a duet of some sort with Val - he’s a very good guitar player. That brought me a huge audience.”
Born in Melbourne, Williams was initially taught to play the guitar by his father, a jazz player. He attended summer courses with the great Segovia at the Academia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy and also studied at the Royal College of Music in London. By the early 1960s he had performed around the world, emerging just as the guitar became the dominant instrument in rock ‘n’ roll. Did this cause him any worries in terms of his future career a classical guitarist?
“I actually missed out on all that,” he says. “You see, I was brought up to play strictly classical. The technique was so specific and I was a little bit closeted away from popular music. But I certainly didn’t look down on it like some people did. There’s an attitude among some classical guitar players that tends to be patronising towards other disciplines. It probably comes from the British intellectual puritan tradition (laughs). I think that’s it’s still around to some degree, but people are more broadminded these days.
“It’s all music in the end and all of the elements relate to classical playing in some way. If I play South American Music or Venezuelan music you have to respect those traditions, which are quite flexible. The problem with classical teaching is that it regards those things as separate. I have to say that the curriculum in music schools as far as classical guitar is concerned can be limited. They’re missing a crucial element of what the spirit of the guitar is. There are times when I would rather say to guitar students, ‘Just listen to Eric Clapton’s live album Just One Night.'”
Williams’s collaboration with Pete Townsend came about when he appeared on The Secret Policeman’s Ball, a series of charity concerts in the late 70s and early 80s.
“We were originally going to do ‘Pinball Wizard’ together but I didn’t think I could make it work, so we did ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’. But when we did it my microphone wasn’t working properly even though I played what I felt was a very nice part. Whenever I see the video or DVD of it I can’t hear the part I did, which is frustrating.”
How did he find working with Beatles producer George Martin?
“It wasn’t a major thing - he produced a very early record of mine so I don’t like to make a big thing about it. But he was a very nice man and a great person to work with.”
Williams continues to tour and record widely. Sony Classical has recently released a 2 CD retrospective John Williams: The Ultimate Guitar Collection. This 39-track compilation includes key pieces from all his recent releases, including last year’s El Diablo Suelto, a celebration of Venezuelan guitar music, and 2001’s Magic Box on which he joined forces with fellow musicians John Etheridge, Chris Laurence, Paul Clarvis and Richard Harvey to explore the continuing tradition of guitar music in Africa and Madagascar, and 1997’s The Black Decameron on which he performed music by the contemporary Cuban composer Leo Brouwer. Williams appears at the upcoming Guitar Festival of Ireland with long time musical associate and former Soft Machine guitarist John Etheridge.
“I get continually impressed by so many things musically,” he says “About seven years ago one of our local councillors here in London who really liked music said, ‘Have you heard this guy who he was playing at a local venue?’ His name was Clive Carroll. I went along and was absolutely astounded. If you haven’t heard his CD or seen him live you don’t know what you’re missing.”