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Paul Williams (music journalist)

Paul Williams
Born Paul S. Williams
(1948-05-19)May 19, 1948
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died March 27, 2013(2013-03-27) (aged 64)
California, U.S.
Occupation music journalist, writer

Paul S. Williams (May 19, 1948 – March 27, 2013), born in Boston, Massachusetts, was an American music journalist and writer.

Williams created the first national US magazine of rock music criticism Crawdaddy! in January 1966 on the campus of Swarthmore College with the help of some of his fellow science fiction fans (he had previously put out some science fiction fanzines). The first issue was ten mimeographed pages written entirely by Williams. He left the magazine in 1968 and reclaimed the title in 1993, but had to end it in 2003 due to financial difficulties.

He was also the author of more than 25 books, of which the best-known are Outlaw Blues, Das Energi, and Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, the acclaimed three-part series. Williams was a leading authority on the works of musicians Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, and Neil Young, and science fiction writers Philip K. Dick (serving as the executor of his literary estate) and Theodore Sturgeon. His final published books were The 20th Century's Greatest Hits (a "Top 40" list that includes movies, books & other documents)(2000) and the last volume of his critical look at the music of Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan: Mind Out of Time (Performing Artist Vol. 3, 1987-2000) (2004).

In 1981 he edited and published, with David G. Hartwell, the first book edition of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with a foreword by Jimmy Carter.

In the spring of 1967 Williams was introduced to the fiction of Philip K. Dick by Trina Robbins, Bhob Stewart and Art Spiegelman. In August 1968 at the 26th World Science Fiction Convention he introduced himself to Dick, beginning a friendship that lasted through the rest of Dick's life.


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