Drug abuse

... Singer-songwriter to present message at benefit luncheon SEARCH Pick Newspaper Birmingham News Mobile Register Huntsville Times FIND A BUSINESS More From The Mobile Register | Subscribe To The Mobile Register Singer-songwriter to present message at benefit luncheon Thursday, March 30, 2006By MIKE BRANTLEY TV & Media Editor Remember seeing Paul Williams on "The Tonight Show"?

Chances are, you're remembering a night he doesn't.

The singer, songwriter and actor was a frequent guest on the show when Johnny Carson delivered the monologues and sat behind the desk, but most of Williams' appearances came at the height of the diminutive entertainer's problems with cocaine and alcohol.

"I did 48 'Tonight Shows,' and I think I remember six of them," said Williams from his home in California.

Williams - whose accolades include an Oscar, two Grammys and several Golden Globes, as well as membership in the Songwriters Hall of Fame - will be the featured speaker Monday at the annual benefit Drug Education Council Luncheon in Mobile.

He said, "When you've misplaced a decade, you know you're an alcoholic.

The '80s were really lost years for me." He's found himself now, so he doesn't count them as completely wasted years.

He uses them now to help himself and to help others in recovery.

"I began self-medicating probably when I was 14 years old - drinking," said Williams, whose hits have included "We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days and Mondays, "(Just An) Old Fashioned Love So...

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