Birthday Greetings For Paul

Today is Paul Williams (aka Crawdaddy, or daddy of Craw?) birthday and he received a flood of happy greetings via my Facebook account. I read them to him at noon today over his favorite lunch, a chili relleno burrito from Juanita's taco stand. Paul teared up and dabbed his nose a number of times while listening, a few of the comments even brought him some laughs .... Below I share with you a few of those messages from an illustrious array of fans and friends...

Joshua Nye Paul, several years ago you did me the courtesy of meeting w/me to discuss your recollections of hearing the acetates for "Smile". I so greatly appreciate having the opportunity to listen. Thank you, and happy birthday.

M.J. Stevens Yeah, we are still out here reading your stuff, Paul. Thanks, and Happy Birthday.

Scott Kempner

Happy Birthday Paul - I discovered Crawdaddy in the summer of 67, with Issue 9. It changed my life - for the better, & set me on the path of being a lifelong musician. I came to befriend R. Meltzer, who is the Godfather of my band, The Dictators (Pearlman was our manager), & it began my lifelong passion for smart, impassioned rock criticism. I treasure all those early issues, which i still own, & are never more than an arm's length away. They're still in perfect shape. They still hold their magic. I grew up in the world of rock criticsim, with Lester, Greil was my father in law for five years, Landau, et al. I have a band called The Del-Lords, make solo albums, & work with the great Dion DiMucci. I am not sure how much of this blessed life would have happened without you. Thanx for everything. And, i do mean everything.

Todd Everett Happy birthday to one of the pioneers, from one of his many acolytes. If we were in the same room, I'd shake your hand.

Arn McConnell Happy birthday to a writer who was influencing me long before I even knew who he was!

Cynthia Lawless happiest 63rd birthday to one of the greatest hits of the 20th century! congrats, Paul!

Mick Gray Happy Birthday to one of THE GREAT ROCK N ROLL WRITERS!!! I wish you a very special day. Paul!

Dave Weil Thank you for the days, Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me. I'm thinking of the days, I won't forget a single day, believe me.

Thankfully, we don't need to sing the second verse because you're still here shining the light!

Rock Critics Anything for the man that made trips to Target worthwhile growing up (straight to the mag rack). Have a very Happy Birthday, Paul!

Peter Stampfel happy birthday, and thank you massively for glorious shitloads!

David Beckham Happy Birthday Paul, Thank you for offering us all Das Energi. I have made it a gift for so many. Also thank you for "Only Apparently Real" and keeping PKD alive for us.

Steven Ben-Off Abrams Happy birthday, Paul! I picked up "Das Energi" as a teenager in the late 70s, really dug it & then was pleasantly surprised when I caught up with your later work & found it to be just as exciting and worthwhile. Thanks for being a good influence on me!

Jocelyn Ertel Das Energi, one of the key books of my life. Happy Birthday Paul!

Rainer Vesely Happy birthday from Austria, Paul!

Michael Rapp happy birthday from your friends at Swarthmore College

Steve Stiles A very happy birthday to you, ol' pal. And merry unbirthdays later.

Gary Heffern birthday greetings from finland paul!

Art Linton Happy Birthday, Paul! You touched my life in a profound way with your writings, especially Das Energi. Eternal thanks to you! Happy birthday! Many happy returns of the day to you! Cheers and all best wishes! Peace and grace.

Gary Schulstad Happy Birthday Paul, Thanks for your friendship; for all the connections you provided between inspiring people, for the direction you gave to hear music in new ways, for deepening my appreciation of life using truths you discovered, and for opening my eyes to numerous and different adventures to experience.

Bob Colby An extremely happy birthday to you, and thanks for all that your writing has done for me and all of us!

Charles R. Cross happy b day paul... your smile and that of your family, can be seen and felt all the way up here in Seattle.

Roy F. Good Happy Birthday! You are the common thread through many people I've met and memories I have...happiness and peace down the road...

Keith Shiraki Happy Birthday Paul, Thank you for sharing your passion for the music that moves you with us. You are blessed with a beautiful and loving wife and son. I treasure the conversations we have shared. Your words continue to inspire past, present and future readers. Peace.

Dan Chusid Happy Birthday Paul! I still have my early Crawdaddys and will never let them go.

David G. Hartwell Happy birthday, Paul. I am going to visit in the fall. Seems like a long time since we last caught up.

Karl Fitzke Paul, Happy Birthday from upstate NY. I treasure the time my family and I got to spend with you and your family when we lived in San Diego. I also love your very personal style of writing which we still get to enjoy despite being so far away. Rock on, brother. You are the gold standard. -Karl

Bart Mann Happy birthday Paul. Thank you for an inspirational career. Oh and thank you for believing in and supporting Phillip K Dick.

Robert Collyer I was a big Crawdaddy fan..mother jones..all that stuff. Paul ! Thanks for making my bleek life in the foggy potato fields of the early 70's in Germany a somewhat joyful one !!!

Debra Ruzinsky Paul, you have touched our lives deeply! We love you and wish we were there to tell you in person. Happy Birthday from Deb,McNevin, and Nathan.

Matthew Wilson Happy birthday to a man whose writing has expanded my mind and spirit!

White-Face Had The Courage

I apologize for the big gap since my last posting. My computer was out of commission for weeks and only in the last few days have I been back up and running.

So much has happened in the last few weeks I barely know where to start. Firstly, I want to thank Werner Pieper for the wonderful letter and package that arrived in the mail today. Werner has been a dear friend of Paul's and a German publisher that put a few of Paul's books out in German, including "Rock and Roll: Hundred Best Singles". When I get my new scanner up and running I'll include a photo Werner just sent me of himself and Paul hanging out, looks like circa 1990.

I hope Werner doesn't mind me sharing a wonderful story with you when he and Paul went to see a concert together. He writes....

"One of my finest moments with Paul: when we went to see Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan together. All The Pakistani people dancing in front of the master, throwing money on stage. Then Paul getting up, joining the almost 100% Arabic crowd dancing in front of of the stage, throwing a note, Nusrat looks him in the eyes, Paul moves on to the side and then this big Arabic man comes up to him, a moment of fear, but this guy just hugs him full of joy that white-face had the courage to come up close to the front...I remember Paul coming back to us pretty excited.."

I love this story about Paul and it reminds why he's been such a hero to me. Thank you Werner.

* * *

So this week we found out that Paul was turned down by Medi-Cal for a second time. Fortunately we have an attorney helping us through the morass of the Medicaid system. When I asked him why they turned him down our attorney said " slow and sloppy work" . He says maybe 25% of his clients have to go through this a few times before the system gets that we aren't going to give up and they work out the issues.

When Paul was turned down the first time back in May it was because he needed to be in a nursing home for at least 30 days before we could apply for help. We finally got him in a nursing home in mid June and reapplied in July. It took them 5 months to get to the point where they could look at his chart and say, no. Whatever...

I know it will all work out in the end...... but in the meantime it puts a damper on the Christmas Cheer when there's a question as to whether you may eventually have to pay back all those months of nursing home stay (at $7000. a month!! ), where we didn't pay cuz we are "Medi-Cal pending". (you can stop paying your bill while waiting to get Medi-Cal and the nursing home will be paid by the state retroactively.).

So Merry Christmas to you too.

* * *

Oh a happier note it was a banner week for my ego as I was asked to be a model for a new line of Taylor Guitars (their new acoustic Baritone series ...I want one... they tune like this B-E-A-D-F#-B). An established painter here in Encinitas (Ron Lemen) did a portrait of me, and I really like it. I was contacted by a Italian concert promoter and asked if I'd like to do a tour of Italy (yes). I had a really nice conversation with songwriter Peter Case about touring Italy. And, my friend Doc Paula said she'd love to go with me on that Italian tour.

All very good. Now I just need to summon the courage.