The Lawrence Welk Show: Tiger Rag

[popscj2a]

Pete Fountain is clarinet badassery

[billyboy647]

Freakin' Awesome. Pete always left me wanting more and more on Welk. What a terrific player! And great guy!Love ya, Pete!

[pegcage]

Pete used to appear with his band on the Johnny Carson show and the audience just made them suspend the show and let Pete play. I saw him in person a bunch of times, and went out on St. Charles Ave. to talk to him when he marched at Mardi Gras. Love Pete!

[dancebandleader]

Pete recorded this at the time on a Coral

records LP called "Lawrence Welk

Presents Pete Fountain" well worth

looking for as it gives the lie to the

hipper than thou jazz writers who imply

that Pete's work with Welk was nothing

but bubbles. Too bad it's not on CD.

[meepmeepmfer]

Daym!

[ingeniosofeliz]

Excelent, good listening music of all times. oldies but goodies.  I remember my parents.

Roberto Ibarra from Monterrey Mexico.

[pisser1953]

I'll tell everyone out there that I myself will keep dixieland jazz alive as long as I live. I think it's great to be able hear and play this kind of music. Not everyone has the talent to play this kind of jazz .

[panzerschnott]

From a guitar player: Sadly, there's not enough clarinetists of this caliber today. Pete plays Le Blanc, so did Woody Herman. Goodman and Jimmy Dorsey played Selmers and Artie Shaw played Conn. That explains all the different tones. They all sound good to me!

[kaitey18]

o.O he's fantastical

[MultiDKenny]

I think Big Tiny Little started out with

Welk also. He moved on past Welk also,

but not quite to the fame as Fountain.

[dadslbm]

Au contraire, he was well known prior to his stint on LW. He was fixture in the New Orleans music scene, and was well known and successful.

[pegcage]

@dadslbm Right on! And he gave up the national stage to return to New Orleans and open his own club. His heart was in New Orleans always.

[fordman4444]

Nobody on his show had more fame than the Lennon Sisters

[kentcourtney]

Yeah, Pete, Hol' Dat Tigah!

[m0u53m4t]

Love the expressions on his face, will deffo be trying out some of his licks this weekend :)

[pisser1953]

Hey skitrees, I don't have any vidoes of me playing but, I hope to have someone record me and put it on "YOU TUBE" some time in the future. Don't know when it will be. I just did two numbers at the "Anne Arundel Comunity Collage " on 3/08/09. It sounded good. I received quite a few comments.

[trudbol]

Thanks for the great video! Love it!

[snoopy29936]

I love Pete Fountain too!!! And especially this song! It makes me happy when I am down and I also get out the clarinet and try to keep up ha ha. My dad got me a Pete Fountain Album when I was in the 6th grade and Im 45 now and have been playing ever since, but just for the dogs and the kids lol

[pisser1953]

I'm 55 now but I can hold my own playing Dixieland. I think I sound pretty much like Pete. I'm currently heading and playing in a Dixieland band. I'll never get tired of listing to Pete Fountain.

[snoopy29936]

He certainly had a style all his own! I tried to imitate but ....lol

[skitrees]

pisser1953 - do you happen to have any video or audio posted anywhere? I love dixieland/traditional jazz and would love the opportunity to hear you!! Pete's my favorite of all time, but there have been SO many great clarinetists over the years - can't get enough of that great clarinet sound!!

[9652584]

I love PF, too! Read a piece from him on an album jacket how he and Al Hirt were Orkin Men in the 40's and 50's 'cause they couldn't earn enough playing! Imagine!?

[pisser1953]

I love to watch and listen to these video's of pete fountain. When I get them on "YOU TUBE" and have the time, I get out my clarinet and play along.

Pete Fountain has and always will be my idol and insperation to continue my playing.

[snoopy29936]

I do that too

[romeman01]

Superb. Dixieland was Lawerence's favorite type of music, as you can probably tell from his reaction at the end of this piece.

[skitrees]

romeman01; please don't take this as an attack, but an honest question: what is your source about Lawerence liking Dixieland? I just finished reading Pete Fountain's book, and he stated just the opposite - that Lawerence wanted to play more "pop" music, but the public's cry for Dixieland/trad jazz made him go that way for a while. I'd love to read whatever you did about the other viewpoint - it would be very interesting to me! Thanks!

Superb video! There will never be another like Pete!

[romeman01]

skitrees, LW combined extreme discipline and a strong business sense. One of his core beliefs was that the big bands died because they began to play more for other musicians than for the public. Therefore he made pleasing the public his No. 1 priority. Thus Pete may have wanted only Dixieland, and LW too, but LW put aside his personal preferences. One source is LW Jr on Larry King: "...Dixieland was his favorite kind of music." But LW also said this in his own books and in biographies about him.

[skitrees]

romeman01 -

Thanks for the quick response!! I'll have to do some more reading - thanks for pointing me in the right direction! Sorta funny about LW's viewpoint - I've always felt that people didn't leave jazz - jazz left the people. So I'm sure I'd like to read more about LW if that's the way he felt too!

Thanks again!!

[GayAsianLover]

I do have to side with romeman01 on this, as LW always stated on television that dixieland was his favorite music. I also heard this stated many times from other performers. Although, I do have to admit to not reading Pete's biography.