Going into this weekend, pianist Roger Williams had performed for eight U.S. presidents. He'd played for Richard Nixon, who wanted to hear GOD BLESS AMERICA. And for LBJ, who asked for YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS. And for Ike, who liked Williams version of AUTUMN LEAVES, a lush No. 1 pop single in 1955.

Somehow, though, the man known as Pianist of the Presidents , had never tickled the ivories for Jimmy Carter until Friday, when Williams found himself in the lobby of the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum with a $258,000 Steinway & Sons piano and a list of songs that the Nobel laureate and 39th president, now seated just a few feet away, had requested.

The occasion was Carter's 80th birthday. As it happened, it was Williams 80th as well - and Williams has a birthday tradition of breaking his personal performance endurance record with an all-request concert. And so, on top of entertaining Carter, Williams had the extra challenge of playing for 13 1/2 hours.

Williams, even at his advanced age, is a vigorous man. He jogs several days a week, and while holding his nose, regularly guzzles a vegetable smoothie. His handshake feels strong enough to crush a walnut.

A person would have to be fit to attempt an unprogrammed 13 1/2 hour piano marathon, even with 15-minute intermissions every hour. A typical Roger Williams concert, when he is not playing for a commander-in-chief or testing his stamina, lasts a little less than two hours, making Friday's feat the rough equivalent of seven consecutive performances.

At the end of about 11 hours, Williams said Thursday, relaxing on a sofa at the Ritz-Carlton Atlanta, sometimes my fingers are bleeding and I've really had it, buddy. That s pushing it awfully hard.

In Williams experience, Harry S. Truman was the most musically knowledgeable president - he had the pianist play for almost an hour. requesting Bach and Ravel, then sat down and played his own version of a Chopin waltz.
Williams said President John F. Kennedy was a tremendous fan who apparently listened to his record YELLOW BIRD while shaving, only hours before he was assassinated.

An overflow crowd of more than 200 came to see Williams perform Friday morning, and the audience stayed large deep into the night, (see footnote*) requesting soft pop and jazz numbers such as MOONLIGHT IN VERMONT, AS TIME GOES BY, TENDERLY, and PUFF, THE MAGIC DRAGON. These kinds of songs suited Williams technique, which is romantic and more than a little nostalgic. Some musicians play with their heads, he likes to say, but he plays with his heart.

Carter entered the lobby during Williams second set. The two men, though exact contemporaries, looked strikingly different. Ever sober, Carter wore a dark suit and a tie, looking ready to address the United Nations. Ever the showman, Williams wore creased stone-colored pants, white boots, and an untucked Hawaiian shirt, open at the neck, looking ready to address a pina colada.

The two men clasped hands, and then Carter spoke into a microphone. This is going to be one of the finest events, he said, in the history of the Carter Center and the Carter Presidential Library, and also my own life. Then he took a seat in the front row as Williams resumed playing, between the dramatic and the melodramatic.

Carter - perhaps best-known, music-wise, for his love of Willie Nelson - had asked to hear WIND BENEATH MY WINGS, UNCHAINED MELODY, AUTUMN LEAVES, and music from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.

In addition to honoring the former president s requests, Williams took a few playful passes at HAPPY BIRTHDAY. and when it came time for his signature song, he played the melody with his left hand and, with his right, made a cascading sound meant to conjure a falling autumn leaf.

Though Williams professes not to get nervous playing for presidents, his music became noticeably more urgent and concentrated than it had been before Carter's arrival.

After the performance, Williams and Carter rose to greet the arrival of a white, cube-shaped cake. The men leaned in to blow out the candles and, for a moment, it appeared that they would kiss. Candles extinguished, the octogenarians left book-ended by Secret Service agents. But Williams returned again and again, and Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, slipped back into the room during a late-afternoon set and began dancing to MARGIE. Williams segued from there into a reprise of HAPPY BIRTHDAY and then, by request, he played HAIL TO THE CHIEF.

The marathon continued until past 11 P.M., ending with another inevitable AUTUMN LEAVES. But the show symbolically concluded a few minutes earlier as Williams played GOODNIGHT, IRENE, and the audience sang, sweet and low, as though it were not Friday night but Sunday morning.

(*Footnote: By the end of the evening there were some 2000 people who had seen and heard Roger during his 13 1/2 hr. marathon. ----Pauline)

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