Roger Williams (pianist)

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Roger Williams (* 1. October 1924 in Omaha as Louis Weertz , † 8. October 2011 in Los Angeles ) was an American pianist of popular music . His nickname was "Pianist of the Presidents" because Williams had played for all US presidents from Harry Truman to George W. Bush .

Live and act

Williams, who grew up in a musical family in Des Moines , began playing the piano at the age of three. He studied piano at Drake University in Des Moines until he was de-registered for playing the pop song Smoke Gets in Your Eyes in the rehearsal room . After he had completed his military service in the Navy, he studied to a bachelor's degree at Idaho State College (now Idaho State University ) in 1950. He then studied to a master's degree at Drake University. To jazz piano to learn, he moved to New York City , where he attended the Juilliard School of Music with Lennie Tristano and Teddy Wilson was trained.

After winning a talent contest, David Kapp signed him to Kapp Records and changed his name to Roger Williams. In 1955 he played his version of Autumn Leaves , which was the only solo piano piece to date to be a number one hit on the US Billboard charts. To this day, the LP / CD of the same name is the best-selling piano album of all time. He had other chart successes with his easy listening versions of the songs Born Free , Near You , Till , The Impossible Dream , Yellow Bird , Maria "and Theme from Somewhere in Time . According to the Billboard , he was the am with 18 gold and platinum records best-selling light music pianist and inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame in 2010 .

The musician died in his Los Angeles home as a result of cancer.

Discographic notes

  • Autumn Leaves (Kapp 1955)
  • Plays Christmas Songs (Kapp KL1042, 1956)
  • Roger Williams (Kapp KL1012, 1956)
  • "Near You" (Kapp Kl-1112 1958)
  • Songs of the Fabulous Fifties (Kapp KXL5000, 1957)
  • Songs of the Fabulous Century (Kapp KXL5005, 1958)
  • More Songs of the Fabulous Fifties (Kapp KL1130, 1959)
  • Songs of the Fabulous Fifties- Part 1 (Kapp KL1209, 1960)
  • Yellow Bird (Kapp KL1244, 1961)
  • Greatest Hits (Kapp KS3260, 1962)
  • Mr. Piano (Kapp KS3290, 1962)
  • Country Style (Kapp KL1305, 1963)
  • By Special Request (Kapp KL3, 1964)
  • The Solid Gold Steinway (Kapp KL1354, 1964)
  • Autumn Leaves-1965 (Kapp KL1452, 1965)
  • Plays the Hits (Kapp KL1414, 1965)
  • Summer Wind (Kapp KS3434, 1965)
  • Born Free (Kapp KS3501, 1966)
  • By Special Request-Vol.2 (Kapp KS4, 1967)
  • Golden Hits (Kapp KS3530, 1967)
  • Roger! (Kapp KL1512, 1967)
  • Cupid (Kapp KS3549, 1968)
  • The Piano Magic of Roger Williams (Columbia Record Club P3S5314, 1969)
  • Summer of '42 (Kapp KS3650, 1971)
  • Twilight Themes (Longines LS206C, 1971)
  • Love Theme from "The Godfather" (Kapp KS3665, 1972)
  • The Way We Were (MCA-403, 1974)
  • Autumn Leaves-The Best of Roger Williams (Reader's Digest / MCA, 1978)
  • Golden Christmas (Holiday HDY-1927, 1981)
  • 1970's (MCA2-4180, 1983)
  • Golden Christmas (Special Music Company SCD-4607, 1993)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Obituary The standard
  2. ^ Valerie A. Nelson: Roger Williams dies at 87; 'Autumn Leaves' pop pianist found commercial success . In: Los Angeles Times . October 9, 2011, p. A43.
  3. ↑ Short biography (grabow.biz) ( Memento of the original from February 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.grabow.biz
personal data
SURNAME Williams, Roger
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Weertz, Louis (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American entertainment musician
DATE OF BIRTH October 1, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Omaha
DATE OF DEATH October 8, 2011
Place of death los Angeles