Return Of The Jedi Allowed For A Rare Father-Son Collaboration For Composer John Williams
Joseph Williams was eight years old when his father John earned his first Academy Award nomination for scoring the sudsy big-screen adaptation of Jacqueline Susann's "Valley of the Dolls." Yes, the legendary composer whose music would whisk moviegoers off to a galaxy far, far away, and make us believe a man could fly once flung us into the ugly, pill-popping drudgery of 1960s Hollywood.
John Williams was the son of jazz drummer Johnny Williams, so music has always coursed through the blood of this brood. But while John could occasionally knock out a magnificently jazzy score (never better than his stoned, soulful theme for Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye"), he didn't become the Max Steiner of his era until he delivered the nerve-jangling, two-note motif for Steven Spielberg's "Jaws." Almost 50 years later, he is the most beloved scorer of the post-New Hollywood era. He's practically a rock star. Wherever he conducts an orchestra, there will be a roaring, sold-out crowd.
Joseph had to grow up under this intimidatingly long shadow, and, to his credit, he carved out his own creative identity. He succeeded Bobby Kimball as the lead singer of the rock band Toto and has maintained a prolific solo career to this day. He's a rock star in his own right. But for film geeks, his most indelible work was likely done alongside his father for "Return of the Jedi."
Yub Nub forever
The first, but not last, big-screen Williams collaboration came about during the scoring for "Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi." When it came to writing the otherworldly lyrics for "Lapti Nek" (performed by the Max Rebo Band on Jabba the Hutt's skiff) and "Ewok Celebration" (aka "Yub Nub"), John turned to his burgeoning singer-songwriter son. Joseph actually penned words in English for these ditties, which, according to a 2022 Mel Magazine article by Tim Grierson, were "translated" into the invented languages of Ewok and whatever Rebo's lead singer is warbling.
Tragically, both numbers have been excised from the film's "Special Edition." This could be a 49-year-old's nostalgia talking, but the replacement numbers lack the earthy texture of the original songs. "Yub Nub" is silly, but so are the Ewoks. "Lapti Nek" actually sounds like an alien pop song. I'd love to see these tracks returned to "Return of the Jedi," if only because they're a joyous collaboration between the Williams family.
We've still got the Williams duo's "Augie's Great Municipal Band" cue at the end of "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace," but this will likely be it. The 91-year-old John just knocked out the score for James Mangold's "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," but time is drawing sadly finite. As for Joseph, he's happy with the music they've created together. "I've never judged myself against him, ever," he told Mel. "I went down a slightly different path and did pretty well, but mine lacks some of the discipline that he grew up with."
When you're comparing yourself to John Williams, "doing pretty well" is a roaring success.