[78-L] Lawrence Welk's son said...

[Taylor Bowie]

Right on the money,  Rodger,  Cathcart was always terrific in any setting 
and there were plenty of other jazz guys who played with the band in the 
50s,  60s and 70s.  Most famous was Pete Fountain,  but also guys like Don 
Bonnee (had been with Teagarden in the early 50s),  George Thow (Dorsey 
Brothers,  '34-'35),  Bob Havens (top trombone guy),  Jack Martin (ex-Kyser 
and others),  Jack Dumont (ex-Ray Noble and later with the Hollywood 
Saxophone Quartet),  Mahlon Clark (fine clarinet whose group made some good 
modern records in the 40s), etc.

And many of the long-serving Welk guys were more than capable of excellent 
jazz,  such as sax player Russ Klein,  trombonists Barney Liddell and Kenny 
Trimble,  bass player Buddy Hayes,  drummer Johnny Klein,  guitar virtuoso 
Neil Levang, etc. etc.

I feel like a missionary trying to educate the natives about the great music 
which the Welk band often produced,  but it's hard to get some people past 
Norma Zimmer or Guy & Ralna or the Bubble Machine...but when you make the 
effort,  you will be rewarded!

Taylor


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rodger Holtin" <rjh334578 at yahoo.com>
To: "78-List" <78-l at 78online.com>
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 10:13 PM
Subject: [78-L] Lawrence Welk's son said...


I picked this up from a couple different places, maybe in one of Welk's many 
books, but the one I'm sure of is a Larry Welk interview duiring one of 
those PBS fundraisers and he talked about old dad Lawrence's personal 
favorite music - The stuff he played on his home phonograph for his own 
enjoyment was....
.... I won't keep you in suspense...

stuff like Red Nichols Five Pennies, Louie Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke - 
hot jazz of the 1920s - the formative years for Welk's own band. He knew it 
wouldn't sell like Bobby and Barbara and Myron Floren, but he liked best all 
the same. Listen to some of those shows where he brings out the "dixieland" 
band stuff with guys like Dick Cathcart and or Skeets Herfurt - maybe not 
world-class all-time great, but very good stuff in its own right - 
especially in the context of television! I can recall only one or two where 
he allowed it to get hokey, otherwise reasonably good 'dixie' style playing
The problem for guys like DL and others is you have to wade through hours of 
Joe Feenamint and Norma Zimmmmerrrrzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ... and I don't blame you.
We let it play while we do the dishes and once in a while get lucky - but 
like any other instance of getting lucky - it's not very often.

Rodger



For Best Results use Victor Needles.



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