Williams, Roger (Louis Weertz)

Williams, Roger (Louis Weertz), American pianist and arranger; b. Omaha, Nebr., Oct. 1, 1924. Williams was the most successful pianist of the second half of the 1950s, starting with his recording of “Autumn Leaves/’ He continued to score hits into the early 1970s, including “Till” and “Born Free.”

Williams’s mother was director of the symphony orchestra at Emporia State Coll. in Kans.; he began playing the piano at age three. After serving in the navy during World War II, he graduated from Idaho State Univ. at Pocatello, later taking his masters degree and Ph.D. at Drake Univ. He attended the Juilliard School of Music and studied privately with jazz pianists Lennie Tristano and Teddy Wilson. He earned a spot on the TV show Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, which led to his being signed by Kapp Records. His instrumental recording of “Autumn Leaves” (music by Joseph Kosma, French lyrics by Jacques Prevert, English lyrics by Johnny Mercer) hit #1 in October 1955 and sold a million copies, launching his career.

“Wanting You” (music by Sigmund Romberg, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II) peaked in the Top 40 in January 1956, followed by “La Mer (Beyond the Sea)” (music and French lyrics by Charles Trenet, English lyrics by Jack Lawrence) in March, the same month that his album Roger Williams (aka Autumn Leaves) reached the LP charts. In February 1957, Williams released his fourth Top 40 hit, “Almost Paradise” (music by Norman Petty) and first Top Ten, gold-selling album, Songs of the Fabulous Fifties. His fifth Top 40 hit, “Till” (music by Charles Danvers, lyrics by Carl Sigman), appeared in the fall; it was a million-seller. A Till LP was released in March 1958, reaching the Top Ten and going gold.

Williams scored his second Top Ten single with a revival of the 1947 song “Near You” (music by Francis Craig, lyrics by Kermit Goell) in September 1958; an identically titled album also hit the Top Ten. Williams’s singles were less successful after 1958, but he continued to score with his LPs: More Songs of the Fabulous Fifties, released in May 1959, went gold; With These Hands reached the Top Ten in 1960; Temptation was in the Top Ten in 1961; Greatest Hits, released in January 1962, went gold; and Maria hit the Top Ten in 1962.

Williams continued to chart with several albums a year in the early 1960s, then made a considerable commercial comeback in 1966, first with the gold-selling album Somewhere My Love (aka I’ll Remember You), which spent more than a year in the charts, and then with a Top Ten recording of the theme from the movie Born Free (music by John Barry, lyrics by Don Black), which led to a gold-selling Top Ten album.

Williams’s albums continued to reach the charts until 1972, and he continued to record for MCA (which absorbed Kapp Records) and later for Bainbridge Records.

—William Ruhlmann