 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Chris
Date: 2001-08-12 03:38
I briefly saw a very old Lawrence Welk rebroadcast today. It was in B&W, and Pete Fountain was playing.
It got me wondering about several things:
Where did LW find all those players? Like who did the hiring?
How long was the show on the air, not counting rebroadcast of old shows?
Any idea who the different clarinet players (and in some cases, doubler) were? Is there a list somewhere of people who played in the group?
Just curious,
Chris
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Author: GBK
Date: 2001-08-12 07:06
There are numerous sites on the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, all easy to find using any search engine. The most prominently featured clarinetist (post Pete Fountain) in the rebroadcasts now shown on television was Henry Cuesta. His bio and other info on the show can be found at http://www.welkshow.com/cuesta.html
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-08-12 08:00
"On Friday, May 2, 1951, the band made its local television debut on station KTLA in Los Angeles, California. On July 2, 1955, the band made its national television debut on ABC. The Lawrence Welk Show ran on ABC until 1971, when it changed to syndication. The syndicated shows continued into the early 1980's. The Oklahoma Network began repackaging episodes with various Welk stars as hosts in the late 1980's, and several 'new' PBS episodes continue to appear each year."
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/2143/welkbio.html
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2001-08-12 14:23
Yes, I clearly recall Pete and Henry Q[?]uesta, and other fine reed players over many years on L W's programs, often playing "commercial, simple-minded" music [my perspective] where they were certainly capable of better!! We have the OETA-PBS tape on the way for contribution "thanks", I'll look it over carefully and try to name some of the other fine musicians, working hard to make mediocre music sound well, for some of the [prob.] best pay at that time. Enjoyable tho!! Don
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2001-08-12 16:46
I never cared much for Lawrence Welk's music (except for when he would feature one of the instrumentalists) but I heard he paid his musicians well. The great comic Lenny Bruce once did a bit about a young jazz musician getting a job with Welk. "You haff a monkey on your back? Dot's okay. Ve like animals!"
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Author: Chris
Date: 2001-08-12 17:09
I reference to the "pay," I had been told by someone that LW did indeed pay well, in a time when many gigs did not. Could that be why everyone was always smiling?
Thanks for all the info!!
Chris
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Author: Robert Small
Date: 2001-08-12 18:44
Smiling all the way to the bank.
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Author: GBK
Date: 2001-08-12 19:11
Lawrence Welk had numerous misquotes and on the air bloopers. Two famous ones that always come to mind are:
"Now the band will play a medley of tunes from World War Eye (World War I)"
and the famous line he told the band before going on the air:
"Boys, look like you're having fun, but don't have any."
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Author: Wes
Date: 2001-08-12 19:17
Welk was quoted as saying, "Now the boys will play that Duke Ellington song 'Take A Train'".
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Author: Bob Arney
Date: 2001-08-13 00:07
Hey Wes, does that mean that "Guy Lumbago's" Band would have played "Take The Train, Eh!"
Bob A
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Author: willie
Date: 2001-08-13 02:21
I liked the show where Pete fountain was asked to fill and start the bubble machine. He put too much fluid in the machine and literaly drowned the band in a sea of bubbles. I don't think they ever rebroadcast that one. We watched that one on an old Setchel Carlson black and white TV. Remmember turning it off and watching the white dot get smaller and smaller till it went out?
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-08-13 04:09
Yes, Willie ... many of watched the picture (thoroughly) black out. mw
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2001-08-13 12:53
Wasn't that a Stromberg-Carlson?? Missed the bubble incident, as I recall, Pete added quite a bit of musical humor to to Velks commentary. Don
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Author: Mario
Date: 2001-08-13 18:21
To Bob Arnbey: This is a great joke... How many people out there can actually get it?
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Author: Bob Arney
Date: 2001-08-13 22:23
Mario...The same ones that would get this:
A tired Lawerence Welk Clarinetist is sitting at a Bus Stop after a gig at 3:AM when a guy comes running up, out of breath and says " Crosstown Busses run all night?" And the hip clarinetist says:, "Doo Dah, Doo Dah."
Bob A
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Author: ~jerry
Date: 2001-08-14 00:37
Well, as long as you guys are bragging (about your age), we got our first TV when I was 12. We lived in San Diego, CA and the nearest TV station was in Los Angeles (100+ miles away). Seeing as how TV siginals are line of sight and with poor "front ends" in the receivers in those days, you can imagine that our picture was *mostly* white dots - called snow.
I think the only thing on the air then was The Texaco Hour (I think that was with Milton Berle), Time for Beany, and wrestling. We strained to see thru the "snow" at shadowy figures dancing across the screen (maybe those were Pete's bubbles), and called having a good time.
The set was an Emerson with a 10" screen, a record player in a drawer (78rpm only) and storage slots on each side of the "tube" for record albums.
Hey! we loved it.
~ jerry
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Author: mw
Date: 2001-08-14 02:33
My father worked on an Assembly Line putting out some of the first televisions just after the end of WW2. YES, it was a factory in Long Island City putting out Emerson TV's. Small world. and those were small picture tubes! mw
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Author: Mario
Date: 2001-08-17 13:23
To Bob:
I give up. After several days, I simply cannot figure your last joke out...
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Author: Bob Arney
Date: 2001-08-17 16:29
Mario, Maybe I have been around too long. I'll try again! A tired Lawerence Welk Clarinetist is sitting at a Bus Stop after a gig at 3:AM when a guy comes running up, out of breath and says " Crosstown Busses run all night?" And the hip clarinetist says:, "Doo Dah, Doo Dah."
Mario, the "Crosstown Busses run all night?" That question beats the rhythm for "Camptown Races" the response, naturally, by the hip clarinetist was therefore--"Doo Dah, Doo Dah"...Sorry, I guess you had to be there? Not funny?
Bob A
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