Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Autumn leaves, rising, not falling, more from the Iowa-Almanac in a moment. Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. Now is the time to make a plan. Whether you plan to vote absentee by mail, in-person at your County Auditor's Office before Election Day, or at your polling place on November 5th, it's important you take steps now to make your plan at voterready.iowa.gov. Remember, Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. Find more information at voterready.iowa.gov, this message presented by the Iowa Secretary of State. Early on, people in Des Moines knew Louis Wert's sad talent. His father was a minister, his mother, a music teacher. The family moved to Des Moines before Louis was even a year old, and by the time he was three, he was already playing the piano by air. The studies in piano at Drake University were interrupted by World War II, but he later returned to Drake and earned a master's degree. After that, it was on to the famous Juilliard School, and while in New York, he won multiple national TV talent contests. The founder of cap records heard him play and signed him to a recording contract. And that's how Louis Wert's became known as Roger Williams. In 1955, Roger Williams recorded Autumn Leaves. It became the only piano instrumental to ever reach number one on Billboard magazine's pop music chart. It was the fourth number one song of the rock era, and first moved to the top of the chart on October 29th of that year. It stayed at number one for four weeks, and wound up being the fourth most popular song of the whole year. Roger Williams scored 18 gold and platinum albums and played for nine U.S. presidents, ranging from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2011, just a week after his 87th birthday. Iowa's Louis Wert's, known to the world as pianist Roger Williams, went to number one on the pop charts with Autumn Leaves, on this date in 1955. And that's Iowa Almanac for October 29th. Follow us on Twitter @IowaAlmanac. Until tomorrow, I'm Jeff Stein.