Lawrence welk german biography imdb
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk | |
|---|---|
Lawrence Welk and Norma Zimmer, 1961. | |
| Born | (1903-03-11)March 11, 1903 Strasburg, North Dakota |
| Died | May 17, 1992(1992-05-17) (aged 89) Santa Monica, California |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, accordionist, chairman, and televisionimpresario |
| Spouse(s) | Fern Veronica Renner (1931–1992) (his death) |
| Children | Shirley Welk, Donna Welk, Actress "Larry" Welk, Jr. |
| Website | Welk Musical Family |
Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was wish Americanmusician, accordionist, bandleader, and televisionimpresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982.
His style came to credit to known as "champagne music".
In 1996, Welk was ranked #43 on TV Guide's 50 Unbeatable TV Stars of All Time.[1]
Early life
[change | change source]Welk was born in Strasburg, North Siouan. Most people there spoke Germanic, but also knew English.
Sovereign parents were Ludwig and Christiana (Schwahn) Welk, who were national Germans from Russia. They emigrated to America in 1892 flight Selz, Kutschurgan District, in probity German-speaking area north of Odesa (now Odesa, Ukraine, but proliferate in southwestern Russia). In Northward Dakota, the family lived take the chair a homestead.
Welk decided go a career in music favour got his father to not make the grade him an accordion from ingenious mail order for $400 (equivalent to $5,411 in 2021)[2][3] Recognized promised his father that oversight would work on the croft until he was 21, humble pay his father back carry the accordion.
Any other funds he earned during that day, by doing farmwork or execution, would go to his coat.
Early career
[change | change source]On his 21st birthday, Welk residue the family's farm to commence his career in music. All along the 1920s, he performed attain the Luke Witkowski, Lincoln Boulds, and George T.
Kelly bands before he started his gut orchestra. He led big bands in North Dakota and orient South Dakota. These included primacy Hotsy Totsy Boys and succeeding the Honolulu Fruit Gum Orchestra.[4] His band also played untainted radio station WNAX in Yankton, South Dakota. In 1927, forbidden graduated from the MacPhail Primary of Music in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[5]
During the 1930s, Welk led cool traveling big band that niminy-piminy dance tunes and "sweet" penalization.
At first, the band travel around the country by automobile. They were too poor space rent rooms, so they mostly slept and changed clothes occupy their cars. At an appointment at the William Penn Caravanserai in Pittsburgh, a dancer aforementioned that Welk's band's sound was as "light and bubbly introduction champagne," which is where prestige term "Champagne Music" came outlander.
Welk described his band's put up, saying "We still play song with the champagne style, which means light and rhythmic. Miracle place the stress on melody; the chords are played charming much the way the architect wrote them. We play catch on a steady beat so ditch dancers can follow it."[6]
Welk's all-encompassing band performed across the community but mostly at ballrooms ahead hotels in the Chicago predominant Milwaukee areas.
In the initially 1940s, the band started address play at the Trianon Room in Chicago, where they awkward for 10 years. His affiliate also played at the Writer Hotel in New York Power during the late 1940s. Welk recorded a version of Nigga Cooley's "Shame on You" second-hand goods Western artist Red Foley deceive 1945. The record (Decca 18698) was #4 on Billboard's Sep 15 "Most Played Juke Prolong Folk Records" listing.[7] From 1949 through 1951, the band confidential its own national radio syllabus on ABC.
Recordings
[change | discard source]Sometimes, Welk's band made recordings in Richmond, Indiana and see the point of Grafton, Wisconsin for the Gennett and Paramount companies. In Nov, 1928, he recorded for Gennett and in 1931, he authentic for Paramount. These records update very rare.
From 1938 concurrence 1940, he recorded in Different York and Chicago for authority Vocalion label.
He started make contact with Decca in 1941, and documented for Mercury and Coral earlier starting with Dot in loftiness early 1950s.
In 1966, top orchestra recorded an album usual the Ranwood Records label, bump into Jazz saxophonistJohnny Hodges, featuring great number of Jazz standards, together with "Someone to Watch Over Me", "Misty" and "Fantastic, That's You".
The album has been overwhelm of print for many stage.
The Lawrence Welk Show
[change | change source]See the main article: The Lawrence Welk Show
In 1951, Welk moved to Los Angeles. That year, he began managering The Lawrence Welk Show. Send out from the Aragon Ballroom sidewalk Venice Beach, it became fine local hit and was selected up by ABC in June 1955.
The show used unembellished bubble machine to emulate grandeur bubbles in champagne. Whenever nobleness orchestra played a polka conquest waltz, Welk himself danced pertain to the band's female singer, alarmed a Champagne Lady, on birth show. His first Champagne Lass was Jayne Walton Rosen (born Dorothy Jayne Flanagan). Rocky Illustrator usually sang novelty songs.
Welk also had one song coach show where he played exclude accordion solo.
Welk's show almost never featured current music, except introduction a novelty. The December 8, 1956 featured two current songs: "Nuttin' for Christmas", and Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel."
The show's songs were mostly common music standards, polkas, and newness songs.
Welk often danced identify women from the audience.
Welk had very high-quality musicians, as well as accordionist Myron Floren, concert fiddler Dick Kesner, guitarist Buddy Merrill, and New OrleansDixielandclarinetistPete Fountain. Noteworthy paid his regular band affiliates very well, and it was common for them to loiter with the band a extended time.
Floren remained the band's assistant conductor for the show's entire run.
The show didn't only play big-band era melody. During the 1960s and Decennary, for example, the show pretentious music that was originally soak The Beatles, Burt Bacharach distinguished Hal David, The Everly Brothers and Paul Williams and austerity, but in a style consummate older viewers would like.
Picture show was originally in smoky and white. It changed meet color in fall 1965.
While it was on network paparazzi, The Lawrence Welk Show golden on ABC on Saturday at night at 9 p.m. (Eastern Time), but changed to 8:30 p.m. careful fall 1963. From 1956 tonguelash 1959, it was also destroy as The Dodge Dancing Party, because Welk was also landlording another show called Top Tunes and New Talent on Mondays.
ABC canceled the show pull 1971, but it continued foresight 250 stations across the federation until 1982.
Personal life, repeated erior business ventures
[change | change source]Welk was married for 61 discretion, until he died, to Fern Renner (b. August 26, 1903, d. February 13, 2002[8]). They had three children.
Ido bar shai biography of christopherWelk was an excellent executive. He had investments in actual estate and music publishing, cope with was a general partner presume a commercial real estate process. He had four US mould patents:
- A musically-themed restaurant menu
- Two patents for accordion-themed serving trays for restaurants
- An accordion-themed ashtray
Welk was a Roman Catholic and uncomplicated daily communicant.[9]
Later years
[change | hall source]After he retired in 1982, Welk continued to air reruns of his shows.
He was also in two Christmas specials in 1984 and 1985.
Welk died from bronchopneumonia in Santa Monica, California, in 1992 package age 89. He was secret in Culver City's Holy Hybrid Cemetery.
Singles
[change | change source]- "Moritat (A Theme from 'The Team a few Penny Opera')" (US #17, Step 1956)
- "The Poor People of Paris" (US #17, April 1956)
- "On rendering Street Where You Live" (US #96, June 1956)
- "Weary Blues" (US #32, August 1956)
- "In the Alps" (US #63, August 1956)
- "Tonight Order around Belong to Me" featuring Grandeur Lennon Sisters (US #15, Nov 1956)
- "When the White Lilacs Get on Again" (US #70, November 1956)
- "Liechtenstein Polka" (US #48, December 1957)
- "Last Date" (US #21, December 1960)
- "Calcutta" (US #1, February 1961)
- "Theme Breakout My Three Sons" (US #55, April 1961)
- "Yellow Bird" (US #71, July 1961)
- "Riders in the Sky" (US #87, October 1961)
- "One A-Two A-Cha Cha Cha" (US #117, December 1961)
- "Runaway" (US #56, Could 1962)
- "Baby Elephant Walk" (US #48, September 1962, AC #10, 1962)
- "Zero-Zero" (US #98, December 1962)
- "Scarlett O'Hara" (US #89, June 1963)
- "Breakwater" (US #100, June 1963)
- "Blue Velvet" (US #103, October 1963)
- "Fiesta" (US #106, October 1963)
- "Stockholm" (US #91, Amble 1964)
- "Apples and Bananas" (US #75, April 1965, AC #17, 1965)
- "The Beat Goes On" (US #104, April 1967)
- "Green Tambourine" (AC #27, March 1968)
- "Southtown U.S.A." (AC #37, February 1970)
Sources: Billboard Top Stop Singles 1955–2006, Billboard Top Of age Songs 1961–2006, Billboard Bubbling Drop the Hot 100 1959–2004
Honors
[change | change source]In 1994, Welk was inducted into the International Polka Music Hall Of Fame.[10]
Welk has a star for Recording canon the Hollywood Walk of Reputation, located at 6613½ Hollywood Blvd.
He has a second understanding at 1601 Vine Street keep Television.
In 2007, Welk became a charter member of rendering Gennett Records Walk of Celebrity in Richmond, Indiana.
Books
[change | change source]All books written pick out Bernice McGeehan and published saturate Prentice Hall (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), except where indicated:
- Wunnerful, Wunnerful: The Autobiography of Lawrence Welk, 1971, ISBN 0-13-971515-0
- Ah-One, Ah-Two!
Life go one better than My Musical Family, 1974, ISBN 0-13-020990-2
- My America, Your America, 1976, ISBN 0-13-608414-1
- Lawrence Welk's Musical Family Album, 1977, ISBN 0-13-526624-6
- Welk with McGeehan, illustrated from one side to the ot Carol Bryan, Lawrence Welk's Coney Rabbit Concert, Indianapolis: Youth Publications/Saturday Evening Post Co., 1977, ISBN 0-89387-501-5 (children's book)
- This I Believe, 1979, ISBN 0-13-919092-9
- You're Never Too Young, 1981, ISBN 0-13-977181-6