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Ray Williams

RAY WILLIAMS
 
 
Ray Williams  (born 1947, London, England), is an A&R music producer/publisher.  He is well known as the man who discovered Elton John and introduced him to lyricist Bernie Taupin.  Williams has been a prominent figure of the music and film industry for many years as a press agent, A&R head, artist manager, film music producer, and publisher.  He was the music supervisor of films including The Last Emperor, Absolute Beginners, and Naked Lunch.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 

In 1967, Elton John – then using his real name Reggie Dwight – answered an ad in the prominent British magazine New Musical Express by Ray Williams, a Liberty Records A&R man.  (The initials stand for "artists and repertoire"; they are basically the people who shake the bushes looking for new talent).  Bernie Taupin had answered the same ad; although neither artist was actually signed by Liberty Records, Ray Williams gave him Taupin's telephone number.

 

(April 2015/1)

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