Editing John Williams (guitarist) (section)

== Other musical genres ==
Although Williams is best known as a performing classical guitarist, he has explored many different musical genres, as well as being a composer and arranger. 

Williams is perhaps best known to the general public for his recording of the [[Stanley Myers]] piece "[[Cavatina (Myers)|Cavatina]]". The piece originally included only the first few bars of the tune as it is known today, but at Williams' request Myers rewrote and expanded it into the better-known guitar arrangement. After this transformation, it was used for a film, ''[[The Walking Stick]]'', in 1970. In 1973, [[Cleo Laine]] wrote lyrics and recorded it as the song "He Was Beautiful" accompanied by Williams. The guitar instrumental version became a worldwide hit single when it was used as the theme tune to the [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]-winning film ''[[The Deer Hunter]]'' (1978).

Between 1978 and 1984, Williams was a member of the instrumental fusion group [[Sky (English/Australian band)|Sky]], with whom he recorded six successful albums and scored a UK Top Five single with "Toccata". At the invitation of producer [[Martin Lewis (humorist)|Martin Lewis]], he created a highly acclaimed classical-rock fusion duet with rock guitarist [[Pete Townshend]] of [[The Who]] on Townshend's anthemic "[[Won't Get Fooled Again]]" for the 1979 [[Amnesty International]] benefit show ''[[The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979)|The Secret Policeman's Ball]]''. The duet featured on the resulting album and the film version of the show, bringing Williams to the broader attention of the rock audience.