Lawrence Welk from 1938

[1954crc]

Back in the 30s Welk played on my mother's farm.They had what was called The Swan Lake pavilion on the family farm.This video took place just a couple or several years afterwards.

[weatherboi]

Would have liked to have lived during this days. 

[stlivermore]

Lawrence Welk always had that magic touch, even before his long tv career.  What a gem, thanx for sharing.

[karmic454]

@ 1:56...........get that liquor flowing

[libertatus]

Well, Lois Best is gorgeous! Love the

[jwmellott]

where is this?

how did it come to be recorded? certainly not for tv

[fubarz]

The first trumpet player who stands up is Leo Fortin. He was my grandpa. I wish I would have had the chance to learn how to play from him.

[chkjns]

@fubarz How cool to have such a treasure as this to watch & remember your granddad! Thanks for weighing in on this. My channel is 700 playlists of the best of a century of music, with 112 lists for every year since 1900 - added this to my Music of 1938 playlist, where your granddad will play forever on my channel. In the old music, there was QUALITY: artistry, elegance & glamour. My compliments on the talent of your predecessor - all the great orchestras were made up of many like him. chuck

[johndian176]

I Believe that's Jerry Burk on the Organ. He was with Lawrence from 1934 till his death in 1965.

[iTubeNL]

Please watch the complete 9:33 short on my channel iTubeNL

[mlowry74]

Yess... more LW! Although I'm a rockstar, I do like to dabble in other genres!

[Leebm29]

I am wondering if the trumpet playerr is Clyde McCoy ? Leebm29

[cvwtzhaar]

@Leebm29 No the Trumpet player is not Clyde McCoy. By this time Clyde McCoy was a well established band leader.

[buxombeautease]

Positively boss!!

[mayonpi]

My mother played accordian and just adored Mr. Welk. Too bad there isn't more Lawrence Welk stuff from the early days. What a tight little band he had there . . .

[ukcatfan36]

I saw Welk's band in Louisville in the 70's and they did a couple of Glenn Miller numbers ..they really swung!!! lol

[steventhestudent]

at this point hitler was getting super charged to take over europe. just imagine how many people were soon to die.

[steventhestudent]

lawrence welk was all ready 35 by this time.

[summer1wind]

The trumpet soloist on "Ain't She Sweet" is my dad, Jules Herman, and my mom is Lois Best, the original Champagne Lady! Dad passed away 5 years ago, but mom is 92 and still as lovely today! They are both in the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame after long successful careers in the Twin Cities. It's so nice to see these videos posted here!

[erod1944]

@summer1wind Before I read your comment I had already replayed this just to listen to what turns out to be your Mom & Dad. I was impressed with the effortless glissando in the trumpet solo and the clarity of your Mom's voice as well as her personality projection. WOW!

[boneman222]

How fascinating! Your mom sang beautifully. Any particular reason she didn't continue on with Welk?

[summer1wind]

@boneman222 Thank you! Yes, Welk had a rule within his organization that there could be no married couples, and my father, Jules Herman, was in the trumpet section. So after my parents married in 1939, he graciously allowed them both to remain for awhile, but then my mother bowed out to start their family. My brother was born in 1940. They remained friends with the Welks throughout their lives. Mom was a part of the 2000 PBS Lawrence Welk Reunion special, as the original Champagne Lady.

[boneman222]

Thanks for that great info. My dad's group used to alternate days with Lawrence Welk's band in Omaha...probably in the early-to mid 30's. Lawrence spent a fair amount of time there, apparently. When did your mom begin singing with Welk? Interesting, my mom is also 92.

[motorcitymiguel]

@summer1wind Wow! How Cool! this is way before my time, as a matter of fact, 1938 is the year my Mother was born! lol. You must be So Proud. Old School Hollywood lacks in Hollywood now.  Love it! God Bless you & your family & Mom.

[highlandsh]

Very tight band. Who was lead trumpet?

[RonN448]

If I'm not mistaken, that's Jerry Burke playing the Hammond organ. Sure looks like him!!

[Jim1Johnson]

Jerry Burke played with Welk from 1934 to 1965.

[akibakemono]

Excellent video and insight into the instrumentation mlaprarie!

[Leebm29]

Who was the telegraph operato ?

[meauxb]

I Love this! Very nostalgic. I was born in '57... Brings back many childhood memories.

Thanks for posting!

[78timothy]

The Organ is a Hammond "A" series. They featured the Hammond Novachord beginning in 1936 then went to the Hammond "A" in 1938. Lawrence Welk and Ted Fio Rito from this period were the first Orchestras to feature the Hammond in their Orchestras. Funny, they were both Chicago based bands. Welk's claim to fame was that he never changed his sound or style. Also he used a Professional Announcer because of his thick German Accent. His competitor Henry Busse did not, who lasted?

[dancebandleader]

@78timothy Good points. But I think you are in error maintaining that\

Welk never changed his style. Welk changed his style very gradually

over the years (and I'm familiar with all of Welk's record output from 1938

on).

[theredarrow78]

Early Lawrence Welk is truly awesome . Have been a fan since 1955 when I first saw him on TV

[envision43]

Welk rocks! God had his journey in life all set for years to follow after this clip's time period.

[hep2jive]

and what an era.

[hdfatboy2k]

The keyboard solo scares me. It makes me think of the church organ scene in the movie "Carnaval of Souls",

[ctomarctus]

This is an interesting clip...bands then were often distinguished as being "swinging" (Basie, Miller, Barnet) or "sweet" (Kassel, Sammy Kaye, Casa Loma, etc.) with Welk definitely falling into the latter camp. Though forever considered square almost to the point of camp, and reviled as such, Welk's band seems here, in 1938, to be very trendy. Muted horns, slap bass, and that hot clarinet don't seem hokey at all.

He certainly made the big time from here!

[Glinkaism1]

@ctomarctus LW was a great promoter. Very smart guy who KNEW what the vast majority of people wanted. He INTEGRATED the accordion and organ into every arrangement. He outlived his detractors. His TV shows are still rabidly watched.

[karmic454]

whats with all the old men and pretty young women?

[DonMeaker]

I am an old man, and given a choise, I would dance with a pretty young woman.

[ekocentric]

A man is only as young as the woman that he feels.

[OMGMiyazaki829]

Yeah, man... Dancing with a "pretty young thing" gives you that extra pep in your step you've been missing! ;)

[bruceok]

May and I still watch re-runs on public television every Saturday night, 7:00 p.m. (This is 2009; he never goes out of style.)

[Teflon65]

"You're from Dubuque/You play the uke"?  Interesting.

[frankiejonasROCKZ]

thats my best friends cuz distant cuz

[andyjaconuts]

Did lawrence Welk play for Hitler?

[dudemantwo]

andy why the stupid comment?

[bobareebop]

I had assumed that Welk had developed the "Champagne Music" sweet style much later in his career than this video was shot. Astralislux is correct in that this music is more jazz-tinged than the later years, but even this is pretty sweet. I understand that Welk packed 'em in back in the 1940's.

[donnacheer11]

he didn't do so bad in the 50's and 60's either, I went to 3 of his shows as a young child

[astralislux]

I like this Lawrence Welk sound. In the later years the sound lost the jazz.

[tieintercepterpiolit]

wow.... i prefer death metal...

[dudemantwo]

A lot of drinking and alcohol...I guess Americans were getting tired of Prohibition...

[dudemantwo]

What song is he playing on the accordian?

[Wolverine1925]

"Bubbles in the Wine", his theme. Actually Prohibition ended several years before this.

[MacintoshWizard]

bubbles in the wine

[dudemantwo]

Why does she sing like she has molasses in her mouth?

[dudemantwo]

Lawrence Welk seems to be jiving at what he is doing...I always found him to be a pleasant man...

[MCWEDS]

I think he was close to 100% German. He never learned English until adulthood and always carried his noticeable accent.

[karmic454]

the bass player reminds me of Young Frankenstein.

[dudemantwo]

Lawrence Welk...anyone know what his background was? I always thought he was German or Polish...from those nations...

[dudemantwo]

Lawrence Welk looked like Liberace...

I think Lawrence Welk was a kind man...

[Funkyrocket1000]

HA! This is like the music they played in the old merrie melodies cartoons. Funny that the whole reason they made those cartoons was to promote the music by the same company they also owned, Brunswick records

[dancebandleader]

@Funkyrocket1000 Just noticed your comment. Warners

got rid of Brunswick by the end of 1931. But the Looney Tunes

and Merrie Melodies were used to promote music, but not on

Brunswick records,  Warners owned about a half-dozen

music publishers with a long backlog. And songs they owned

were given free reign in the cartoons. Music directors usually

used this catalog in Warner cartoons and movies. And of course

NEW songs then were usually published by one of those

companies.

[nycbbbco]

Excellant clip---don't know where you found it but thanks!!

[IDLERACER]

1938 was the year that Bob Ralston, the organist that would eventually replace Jerry Burke, was born.

[caffiend98]

And does anyone know who the Champagne Lady was back then?

[baldwin67]

It was Lois Best

[caffiend98]

This is amazing... does anyone know the back story? Is this from a movie, or is it specifically a LW film? Is there more like this out there?

[mlaprarie]

This is an excerpt from a Paramount musical short. These "one reel" shorts usually ran 8 to 10 minutes and were shown in theaters before, or in between, the main features.

[karmic454]

@caffiend98 I believe it is from a short that they would show in conjunction with other shorts at a movie theater along with "B" movies.

[Mescrotus]

Being only 22, is it weird that I find this amazing? It's really a testament to the music and culture of this era.

[1947Desoto]

It's not weird at all. I'm 18 and I find this vid amazing!

[karmic454]

this is like the epitome the night life of high society in the pre war years.

[chkjns]

@Mescrotus - if you like the music of earlier days, I've made 111 playlists for every year since 1900. Just play all on any year and take a step back in time...........

[fullmooney1]

@Mescrotus scary isn't it?

[MIKEPREAMP]

This is wunnerful! A-thank-a-you.

[baldwin67]

Excellent video.  Thank you very much. I love seeing Jerry Burke at the organ. And Lois Best looks wonderful.

[groundhog2008]

I love this! Thanks for putting it on You Tube!! I am 56, so this is a lil before my time, but I love watching Lawrence Welk on PBS, Saturdays at 7:00p.

[marsmoke]

I'm 54, and I remember watching his network show on saturday nights on ABC in the sixties. My wife says it was watched by her whole family. Imagine something on TV like that today.

[winghaz]

I never realized it until watching this, but it must have been tough for Lawrence Welk to direct the band while "wearing" (for lack of a better word) his accordion. It looks awkward.

[bassfiddlesteve]

I like the slap bass break at 3:15

[romeman01]

Very charming. The organist is Jerry Burke, who was still with Welk in the 1960s!

[kspm01]

Brilliant! This still rather has a late 20's atmosphere than a late 30's one.