Film Albums: Lee Evans Plays Themes from Great Motion Pictures

There was a plethora of great piano music albums released in the 1960s. Most of them were from the "big names" like Ferrante and Teicher, Horst Jankowski, Liberace or Frankie Carle... but a name that deserves to rank among those famous ivory-ticklers is Lee Evans. 

Evans name may not be familiar to most people because he worked behind-the-marquee as a music director for Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones, Carol Channing and others. He also was the creative talent behind nearly 90 songbooks released through Hal Leonard Publishing, so if you play the piano yourself, you've probably been playing Lee Evans arrangements. 

Evans released five albums in the 1960s with Capitol and MGM Records, all of which are excellent. If we had to choose a favorite it would be Lee Evans Plays Themes from Great Motion Pictures, naturally because it features film themes. 

Evans style is similar to Ferrante and Teicher with numerous trickly arpeggios and lush strings accompanying him, but the arrangements (by Dick Hyman) are unique and lovely to listen to. This album (MGM, SE-4460) has three particularly must-listen-to pieces: "Early in the Morning", a Frank DeVol piece from The Happening (1967), a sporty version of Georgy Girl, and a haunting rendition of "Wednesday's Child", made famous by Matt Monro. 

Track Listing

Side One

Born Free

Theme from "The Sand Pepples"

A Man and a Woman

Early in the Morning ("The Happening")

Warning Shot

Tara's Theme

Side Two:

Georgy Girl

Lara's Theme

Theme from "The Deadly Affair"

Wednesday's Child from "Quiller Memorandum"

Hurry Sundown Blues

This is My Song

Top Picks: Theme from The Sand Pebbles, Early in the Morning, Lara's Theme, The Deadly Affair, Wednesday's Child