UFFALO EVENING NEWS—TV TOPICS May 13, 1961
Each Actor on 'Roots' Has a Theme Song
Most television shows have, just one theme song —but the From These Roots daytime series (330 PM, Ch. 2) has eight themes, And there might even be more. "Not only is there a theme for the show, but each major character also has a song," explains organist Clarke Morgan, who provides the music for the program. "HE'S an idea I introduced when the show started (in June 1958) and which we have used ever since when our fans wrote in to approve," said Morgan . "Our cast also likes the idea."
TO FIND appropriate songs for each character often requires detective work on Clarke's part, but no two songs came about in the same way. The music I play for Maggie and Buck Weaver (actors Billie Lou Watt and Len Wayland) is called 'Green Years,' but it took me a long time to come up with it," said Morgan. "For some time the characters just weren't set in my mind and I couldn't decide on a song for them. "Then one day they began talking about their high school days together and recalled how green they were at the time. This brought to mind 'Green Years,' which proved to be perfect for them."
THE MELOD Y Morgan plays for Liz (Ann Flood) and her husband David Allen (Robert Mandan) came about in another way. "It was originally David's song," Morgan explained. "As a bachelor, he was always feeling sorry for himself. So one day, as a joke, I played 'Hearts and Flowers' behind his dialogue. Everyone liked it, so I adopted it as David's song." Lyddy's (Sarah Hardy's) theme is an original tune by Morgan titled "Julie." It was written several years ago, before Morgan came to From These Roots. But when he saw Lyddy, a_pretty and bright young lady — on the television screen, he knew the song had to be Lyddy's. Its mood was "perfect for her."
VIEWERS LIKE the idea of individual themes, and Morgan also finds them helpful as a basis for the improvisations that form the show's mood music Clarke describes his job as "translating into music what happens to the characters." "I frequently try to feel the same emotions that the characters do," he said. "This is the only way to get the proper mood in my music." Morgan must follow each day's program just like any home viewer — on a TV monitor. He works in a windowless room shared only by the sound effects engineer and his equipment.
By
Paul Raven ·
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