Lawrence Welk

Lawrence Welk

Source: A.V. Club

Lawrence Welk is best known for his television program, 'The Lawrence Welk Show' syndicated from 1951 to 1982 [PBS / Wikipedia]. Welk fairly personified popular music during the decades that he pumped out his show week after week without missing a beat. What distinguished his organization from sweet hotel jazz bands like Benny Goodman's was that his was a champagne hotel band, a light and bubbly approach arising in the twenties. Popular music versus or at the time of early rock n roll was very the offspring of Broadway, film and television, that is, entertainment, as compared to popular music elsewhere in the world, such as Brazil, where it arose as a political movement. The 'Lawrence Welk Show' was television that every youth knew about but few watched, it being intentionally old-fashioned in its interpretations of the Great American Songbook. That is, Welk was hugely popular with older audiences, 'Wah Wahtusi' further below a uniquely rare rock n roll number. One could think that Welk was the most conservative bandleader on Earth, but Mitch Miller of the 'Sing Along with Mitch' television show probably had him whooped in the domestic category of clean family entertainment a world away from jazz or rhythm and blues.

Welk was born in Strasburg, North Dakota, on 11 March 1903. His was a family of farmers which had come a long way from an upturned wagon plastered in sod to when Welk's father purchased a $400 mail order accordion for him, that equivalent to above $4,000 now. The deal was that Welk repay his father by age 21, which he did, working as a farmer. He then took off to play in various bands, soon forming his own like the Hotsy Totsy Boys and the Honolulu Fruit Gum Orchestra. Welk also worked in radio for WNAX in Yankton, South Dakota.

Welk graduated from the MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1927. His first record issues are thought to have been for Gennett in 1928, among them 'Doin’ the New Lowdown' (6697) and 'Spiked Beer' (6712). Those were also issued on Champion. Recordings for Vocalion appeared from 1938 to 1940, Decca spinning his carousel in 1941. Welk and his Orchestra began placing high on the charts in 1938 when 'Change Partners' released on Vocalion 4270 reached #13. Welk scored eight Top Ten issues from 1938 to 1960 when 'Calcutta' was released to become Welk's overall best selling title:

    I Won't Tell a Soul (I Love You)   1938   #8
   Annabelle   1939   #10
   The Moon Is a Silver Dollar   1939   #7   Vocalion 4681
   Don't Sweetheart Me   March 1944   #2 w Wayne Marsh on Decca 4434
   Shame on You   Sep 1945   #13 pop #1 country w Red Foley on Decca 18698
   At Mail Call Today   Nov 1945   #13 pop #3 country w Red Foley on Decca 18698
   Oh, Happy Day   Jan 1953   #5 w Larry Hooper
   Calcutta   Dec 1960   #1 pop #10 R&B on Dot 16161

'I'm Through with Love'   Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra

Recorded July 1931 in Grafton WI   Broadway 1484 A

Trumpet: Leo Fortin  

Clarinet / alto sax / violin / guitar: Raleigh Chestney

Piano: Spider Webb   Accordion: Lawrence Welk   Drums: Homer Schmidt

Vocal: Frankie Sanders

Composition: Ted Koehler / Eddie Pola / Jack Golden

'Bubbles in the Wine'   Welk's theme song   The Champagne Music of Lawrence Welk

Recorded 26 July 1938   Okeh / Vocalion 4368   Charts: #13

'Colorado Sunset'   The Champagne Music of Lawrence Welk

Recorded 26 July 1938   Vocalion 4284

Vocal: Walter Bloom

'I Won't Tell a Soul'   The Champagne Music of Lawrence Welk

Recorded 30 Sep 1938   Vocalion 4435

Vocal: Walter Bloom

Medley   The Champagne Music of Lawrence Welk   Unidentified film of 1939

Vocals: Lois Best (Champagne Lady 1939-40) / Walter Bloom / Parnell Grina

Welk toured the nation with his Novelty Orchestra in the forties, also appearing in 10 Soundies in 1944 and 1945.

'I Learned a Lesson I'll Never Forget'   Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra

Soundie of 1944   Vocal: Jayne Walton (Champagne Lady 1940-45)

Per above, Welk and Red Foley covered Spade Cooley's 'Shame On You' in 1945. He later had his own radio program from 1949 through 1951 sponsored by Miller High-Life. 'The Lawrence Welk Show' premiered in 1951, broadcast from the Aragon Ballroom in Venice Beach by KTLA in Los Angeles. That ballroom dance program remained in business until 1982. For someone big on champagne and beer Welk ran a clean, highly conservative operation: no comedians, no short skirts, no sponsors of liquor or cigarettes, and no drunks until the firing of trumpeter, Lin Biviano, much later in 1997. Though beer disappeared champagne remained in the form of the Champagne Ladies commencing with Maxine Gray in 1934. There was also a bubble machine as of 1938 [Roadside America] to immerse one's mind, making carbonated drinks like champagne unnecessary as Lawrence waved his seemingly innocent wand of twinkling magic amidst seemingly innocuous bubbles which could be purchased for dreaming up spells in your own home [Accordion Uprising]. Leaving Welk free to conduct his band, Myron Floren played accordion for Welk from 1950 to 1980.

Myron Floren 1969

Source: Wikipedia

'Shame On You'   Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra w Red Foley

26 June 1945   Decca 18698

'Dakota Polka'   Lawrence Welk and His Champagne Music

Matrix 3414   Mercury 5434

See also the LP 'Lawrence Welk Featuring Myron Floren' by Dot Records DLP 25302   1960

Accordion: Myron Floren

'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles'   'The Lawrence Welk Show'   Television 1951

Vocals: Roberta Linn w Garth Andrews

Music: John Kellette

The most notable of Welk's entourage were the Lennon Sisters who featured with Welk from 1955 to 1968. They consisted of Dianne aka Dee Dee born in 1939, Peggy born in 1941, Kathy born in 1943 and Janet arriving in 1946. The Lennon Sisters are thought to have released their first records in 1956 with Welk, such as 'Hi! to You' bw 'Mickey Mouse Mambo' (Coral 9-61597) and 'Graduation Day' bw 'Toy Tiger' (Coral 9-61648). They issued the album, 'Let's Get Acquainted' in 1957, commencing a recording career with well above twenty LPs to their catalogue..

Lennon Sisters

Diane / Kathy / Peggy / Janet

Source: Donkey-Show

'Mickey Mouse Mambo'   Lawrence Welk and His Champagne Music

Recorded 3 Feb 1956 in Los Angeles   Coral 9-61597

See also 'Lawrence Welk Presents the Lennon Sisters' on EP CORAL EC 81150

Vocals: Lennon Sisters

'Toy Tiger'   Lawrence Welk and His Champagne Music

Recorded 30 April 1956 in Los Angeles   Coral 9-61648

Vocals: Lennon Sisters

'Let's Get Acquainted'   Lawrence Welk and His Champagne Music

Recorded 12 June 1957   Brunswick EB-71035

See also the album 'Let's Get Acquainted' on Brunswick BL 54031

Vocals: Lennon Sisters

Medley   Lennon Sisters   'Mickey Mouse Club' television show of 14 Oct 1957

'Pleasant Dreams'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 11 Jan 1958

Another longtime member of Welk's crew was the highly talented pianist, Jo Ann Castle, from 1959 to 1969. Castle released her first album, 'Accordion in Hi-Fi', in 1959. Vocalists, Bobby Burgess and Barbara Boylan arrived to Welk's organization in 1961. Boylan was replaced in 1967 by Cissy King until 1978.

Jo Ann Castle w Cissy King 1969

Source: Wikipedia

'Maple Leaf Rag'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 1959

Piano: Jo Ann Castle

Composition: Scott Joplin   1899

'Calcutta'   Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra  

Dot 45-16161   1960

Composition: Heino Gaze   1958

'Baby Elephant Walk'   Lawrence Welk

Charts: #9   LP: 'Baby Elephant Walk' issued May 1962

Composition: Henry Mancini for the film 'Hatari!'   1961

'Wah Wahtusi'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of May 1962

Vocals: Lennon Sisters w Larry Hooper

Composition: Scott Joplin   1899

'Scarlett O'Hara'   Lawrence Welk

LP: 'Scarlett O'Hara' issued May 1962 on Dot DLP 25528

Composition: Jerry Lordan

'French Show'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 15 Feb 1964

'Hummingbird'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 22 Feb 1964

Vocals: Lennon Sisters

Composition: Don Robertson   1955

'More'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 13 June 1964

Vocals: Lennon Sisters

Composition: Riz Ortolani / Nino Oliviero   1962

'Hello Dolly'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 13 June 1964

Piano: Jo Ann Castle

Composition: Jerry Herman   1964

'Tumbling Tumbleweeds'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 23 July 1966

Vocals: Lennon Sisters

Composition: Bob Nolan   1934

'Can't Help Singing'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 12 Nov 1966

'Winter Music and Fun'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 17 Dec 1966

'Musical Memories'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 27 Jan 1968

'California Show'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 1 June 1968

'Salute to the USA'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 11 Sep 1971

(Ironically the same date as the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks thirty years later)

'Childhood Memories'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 16 Dec 1972

Bantam published Welk's autobiography, 'Wunnerful, Wunnerful!', on 23 February 1973 written with Bernice McGeehan. Prentice Hall published their 'Ah-One, Ah-Two!: Life with My Musical Family' in 1974. Pocket published Welk's 'My America, Your America' in 1977, also with McGeehan. 'This I Believe' saw print by Prentice Hall in 1979, this his fourth and last again with McGeehan.

'Big Band Days'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 13 Oct 1973

'Grammy Award Songs'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 12 Jan 1974

'The Roaring Twenties'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 1 Oct 1977

'Salute to Senior Our Citizens'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 21 March 1981

'Big City USA'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 9 Jan 1982

'Spotlight on our Musical Family'   'The Lawrence Welk Show' of 17 April 1982

Final 'Lawrence Welk Show' recorded 24 Feb 1982

Welk retired to live with his wife in 1982, dying a decade later on May 17 of 1992 in Santa Monica, California [obit].

Iconography:

Wikimedia Commons (Lawrence Welk)

Wikimedia Commons (The Lawrence Welk Show)

9 November 1979 (Jocelyn Dorsey / television)

Recordings by the Lennon Sisters: Catalogs:

45 Worlds   All Music   Discogs

Music Brainz   RYM   SHS

Recordings by Lawrence Welk: Catalogs:

45 Cat

45 Worlds

Discogs (Lawrence Welk)

Discogs (Lawrence Welk and his Orchestra)

Music Brainz

RYM

SHS

Recordings by the Lennon Sisters: Select:

Let's Get Acquainted (first LP / Brunswick BL 54031 / 1957)

Recordings by Welk: Select:

Bubbles in the Wine (LP / Dot CRL-57038 / 1956)

Recordings by the Lennon Sisters: Sessions: DAHR

Recordings by Welk: Sessions:

Steven Abrams (Broadway series 1000 / 1926-32)

Further Reading:

Constance Metzinger (Remembering “The Lawrence Welk Show” / 2023)

Authority Search: VIAF

Other Profiles:

Kit and Morgan Benson (Find a Grave)   Wikipedia Français

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