First of all, my songs are basically co-dependent anthems. I write Ouch Mommy Pick Me Up and Love Me songs. -- Composer Paul Williams

Yeah, but Paul, they're great songs we can all sing (except maybe "Evergreen," written for Barbra) like "We've Only Just Begun," "An Old Fashioned Love Song," "Rainy Days and Mondays," and "The Rainbow Connection." They make us happy. Heck, "The Love Boat" theme may have been the best part about the show.

Paul Williams, a longtime Long Beacher, emceed the Grammy Museum's 2010 Songwriters Hall of Fame concert, so in the past few episodes, we've heard him talking with other musicians about music. Now, he gets to tell his stories and sing his songs. 

Support for this podcast comes from Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and bythe Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.

Next up in our Summer of Song and excerpts from the stage of the Grammy Museum in 2010 is Ashford and Simpson. Valerie Simpson and her late husband Nick Ashford wrote "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "You're All I Need to Get By," "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)," and "I'm Every Woman," among many others.

They were awesome to see onstage, with Valerie at the piano vamping grandly as she and Nick told the stories behind their songs. 

Support for this podcast comes from Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and bythe Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.

Take a listen to some of these fine pieces that took you all over Southern California and then, please, help ensure the future of Off-Ramp with a contribution at kpcc.org. Thanks!

Lewis MacAdams - turning 70 this month - takes us up the LA River; James Ellroy takes us back to Dec. 1941 and the start of the Japanese internment; Marc Haefele takes us to the San Francisco of the 50s & 60s.

John spends a day in studio with Petros Papadakis; Kevin Ferguson tells us the story of the Glassell family; and "Tom Explores Los Angeles" takes us deep inside Bronson Canyon and Cave.

The miniature art of Sunland's Alan Wolfson; the High Desert horse rescue hurt by Erin Corwin's murder; It's so hot ... we collected It's So Hot jokes; Charles Burns shows us the Sugar Skull inside the Hive.

Special report: intersection of science fiction and science fact; Brains On and the monarch Mexico migration; Hungry, the competitive eating doc; Kenturah Davis weaves words and art

The sounds of Santa Monica's Pacific Ocean Park; the most powerful man in LA you never heard of; sci-fi tv and movies becomes real life; the Huntington's new American galleries

Russ Parsons gives BBQ tips, we remember the car evangelist William Matalyan, Mattress Tracker update, goodbye Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, fireworks how-to

Henry Rollins on Black Flag's early days, what makes Van Halen magic, and America's favorite all-female Iron Maiden tribute.