On the Trail of: John Williams' teenage years

A trip to North Hollywood High, where "Curly" Williams was a big deal. Plus, a rare and very special recording.

Read the first “On the Trail” entry here:

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One of the more auspicious factors that led to my biography was an article I wrote for the L.A. Times in 2018—where I connected John Williams’ high school years in North Hollywood to his annual concerts at the nearby Hollywood Bowl. It gave me my first excuse to interview John’s younger brothers, Jerry and Donald, as well as a schoolmate and bandmate from his high school combo: Perry Botkin, Jr. (who sadly died in 2021). My request to interview John for that article was declined, perhaps not surprisingly—but it still gave me a fun glimpse into what he was like as a teenager, and it introduced me to his family, which came in very handy as I started researching the book.

John was a student at North Hollywood High School from 1947 to 1950, having moved (back) to Southern California with his family when he was 15. I obviously wanted to track down any other classmates I could find (I happily located two guys from his class), and also pay a visit to the school’s library to pore through their archived student newspaper, The Arcade. It took a little effort and some administrative emails, but they finally granted me access in May 2022, and the librarian was kind enough to let me sit at a desk—often surrounded by students between classes, who no doubt wondered who this weird old bald guy was—and leaf through the hardbound copies of The Arcade from the years when John was a student.

John was not terribly active in the school’s social life or extracurriculars, but he was—of course—involved musically. He played in the orchestra and band, and in his first year he was also recruited to join a separate band, The Starlighters, headed by an alumnus. Early on his friends nicknamed him “Curly,” on account of his curly red hair, and he started using “Curly Williams” as his stage moniker when he soon started his own band—a jazz combo with Botkin and a few other North Hollywood High pals, who were all, like John, sons of quasi famous musicians. (Because the school was in Hollywood, a lot of people in the entertainment business sent their children there, and it also produced many famous alumni—including both West Side Story stars Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn.)

I only found one actual photo of John in The Arcade (it’s in the book), but there were several other cute discoveries—like this:

Curly’s combo was pretty famous on campus, playing school dances and socials, so they were naturally featured in several student articles. But they became nationally famous when Time Magazine wrote an article about them in October 1949. Time was mostly intrigued that they were all sons of well-known musicians, but also that they were the house band of a teenage nightclub—The Dri-Nite Club (“dri” because there was no booze)—and were even broadcast weekly on local radio. This treasure of an article was discovered many years ago, and has been floating around among JW fans. (Although, very funnily, John told me he was completely misquoted in it.)

I drove out to the address in Van Nuys where the Dri-Nite Club was located, but the building was torn down long ago. As was the Williams household on Vantage Avenue in North Hollywood, with the detached garage that Johnny Sr. converted into an apartment/studio for John and Jerry. (Such a bummer it’s gone!)

I found many local San Fernando Valley news articles about Curly and his combo, a group that often included his future wife, Barbara Ruick, singing solo or with her vocal group, the Melodairs. (Barbara also kept the band’s books). They played events and fundraisers all over town, including a St. Patrick’s Day dance in Reseda where Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball provided entertainment—just one of a million cool little vignettes in John’s incredibly Zelig, star-studded life.

I loved stumbling on this photo in an article from the Valley Times, January 1950, about a spaghetti dinner at a local businessmen’s association:

The actual N.H.H.S. yearbooks weren’t all that exciting—although I had fun going over to the Burbank home of John’s classmate, Vince Piazza, who gave me a few fun anecdotes and let me look through all of their class’ yearbooks at his breakfast nook. (Piazza died in 2023.) John’s headshot has floated around online, but here you go:

There was additionally at least one photo of him in the school band…

…and the school orchestra (when he was still playing trombone).

(And yes, the “Sontag” in that photo is future writer Susan Sontag.)

But the absolute coolest things I found (really, lucked upon) were actual audio recordings of John and his combo. Botkin’s dad, Perry Sr., played guitar with Bing Crosby and, probably for that reason, had home recording equipment. There survived a tape of “Curly” and the gang goofing around, which the very kind woman who handles Botkin’s estate graciously offered to digitize for me. (I burned a CD and gave it to John.)

A taste:

As mentioned earlier, the Dri-Nite Club performances were broadcast as “Teen Time” on KGIL (a Valley radio station)—and Botkin also preserved a recording of one of these, with “Curly’s” piano and Barbara’s voice in starring roles.

John graduated high school at the top of 1950 (in the school’s “winter” class) and immediately enrolled at UCLA—but only for a single semester. He then transferred to Los Angeles City College, but also only for a semester. (I wasn’t able to track down anything very useful from these short college stints.) By the end of that year, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, cutting his higher education short.

Valley Times, Jan. 18, 1951

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Next week, we’ll follow him out to several Air Force bases, hear from one of his fellow airmen—and dip into his early professional career.