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Location: Montreal, Canada | Maybe this has been discussed here before and it's no news for the 1957 Dodge expert (s) on here, but I just stumbled upon an interesting old discussion on local car forum. A car museum here in Quebec had apparently been loaned two cars by an American collector in 2007, that were exhibited for the whole year, and among them was a 1957 Dodge Custom Royal convertible reportedly built for Lawrence Welk.
Here's the pic that was used by the museum for its publicity.
Anybody know this car? Where could it be now?
Edited by soiouz 2010-08-31 11:53 AM
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Location: Montreal, Canada | Using the search engine on this forum, I found these two pics of Lawrence Welk with a 1957 Dodge convertible.
Unfortunately, the car museum in question closed permanently at the end of 2008.
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Location: Parts Unknown | Looks to me like Uncle Larry's car was white-white with a red interior. The museum car looks to be
light blue with an interior FAR from red ! Of course, it could have been redone, but if one is flexing the
Lawrence Welk connection, why not keep it restored like it was when Larry owned it ????
As a side note, I look at these pictures and find it impossible to get my head around the thinking that
newest-is-best still worked after about 1958. Were they giving this cowboy a new DeSoto every year
as a perk, when it came time to turn in my "old" 58 for the new 59, I would have told them to keep it
and kept on driving ! 
Was there ever a Dodge built that beat Lawrence's car pictured above ? Methinks not.
Oh, the bane of fashion ! 
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Location: Plymouth Spaceport | those '57 sweptwings sure are beautiful!
I actually prefer the front end styling on the '57's to that of the '58's.
If I was Mr.Welk I would have gladly accepted each new model they gave me until the fins came off and kept them all! |
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Location: Nasco , SWEDEN | Excuse for being rude, but who the f##ck is Lawrece welk? i´ve heard about Elvis , Buddy holly , Nixon and Virgil Exner but who´s Lawrence, is it that Arabian cat? 
Edited by mogge65 2010-08-31 12:10 PM
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Location: Montreal, Canada | Doctor DeSoto - 2010-08-31 12:03 PM
Looks to me like Uncle Larry's car was white-white with a red interior. The museum car looks to be
light blue with an interior FAR from red ! Of course, it could have been redone, but if one is flexing the
Lawrence Welk connection, why not keep it restored like it was when Larry owned it ????
:)
Of course, I noticed that too... but was there only one car made for Welk? As you can see up there, there seems to be differences between the two white cars too.. One seems to have the Lawrence Welk signature on the door, and the other doesn't.
I'm not saying the story about a surviving "Lawrence Welk special" car is true, of course (that's why I asked the question in the first place), but I wouldn't rule out the possibility based on one colour photo only.
Edited by soiouz 2010-08-31 12:16 PM
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Location: Connecticut | mogge65 - 2010-08-31 12:09 PM Excuse for being rude, but who the f*ck is Lawrece Welk? In the 50s and 60s, while the 'younger generation' listened to that rebellious Rock 'n' Roll music, mommy and daddy, grandma and grandpa were watching a bandleader on TV that only performed, 'safe', 'middle-of-the-road' 'inoffensive' music. In other words, the polar opposite of R 'n' R. There are clips of him on YouTube. You only have to watch about five minutes to get the idea. Ron |
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Location: N.W. Fla. | ronbo97 - 2010-08-31 11:55 AM
mogge65 - 2010-08-31 12:09 PM Excuse for being rude, but who the f*ck is Lawrece Welk? In the 50s and 60s, while the 'younger generation' listened to that rebellious Rock 'n' Roll music, mommy and daddy, grandma and grandpa were watching a bandleader on TV that only performed, 'safe', 'middle-of-the-road' 'inoffensive' music. In other words, the polar opposite of R 'n' R. There are clips of him on YouTube. You only have to watch about five minutes to get the idea. Ron |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Morgan, it may well be said that Lawrence Welk is the Patron Saint of the Forwardlookers.
He was like a rock-star (in fact, he WAS a 'rock-star') to the Great middle-class Society, in the 50's,
who were induced by him, since at least 1955 (and before?) to buy the Wonderous Dodge/Plymouth
products, as part of his info-mercial relationship to Chrysler Corporation, in his "Champagne Music"
TV shows, and promotions.
He scored new convertibles to drive around in, each year.
In the 60's, Bob Hope was directly associated with MoPars, in a more-distant, but quite real, way.
So, when we speak of L. Welk, here, we speak in a reverent voice.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | I haven't previously seen that all-Turquoise 57 CRL vert, before, and/or its being associated with Mr. Welk's
ownership.
As seen in two of my photos of his 57 vert, it was clearly an all-Glacier White model, with red interior.
You'll note his custom made personal nameplate on its driver's side door.
I've got several other photographs of it, but none of them show the right rear of its trunk, which would reveal
(probably) its D500 emblem.
It probably was a single-4 carb model, but, obviously, could have been a Super D500, with two 4-bbls on it.
I've got a nice 8x10" B x W photo of a TV-show picnic, with Welk handing out food in a serving line to his cast
members/crew, and with this white car parked in the background.
If the photograph had been taken with a +/- ONE second difference, the lady who is seen walking past the right rear
of the trunk would not have obscured the view of any D500 emblem which may have been installed on the car.
Also, an examination of that KABC TV studio publicity photo will show that Welk's "tanned and
slightly over-sized, with no-neck" head had been cut and pasted onto his(?) body.
I had also wondered about the placement of the torso/arms in this photo, but, it does appear to be possible
to attain, however uncomfortably.
Edited by d500neil 2010-08-31 4:20 PM
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| Lawrence Welk was BIG and unlike Dick Clark's show, the Welk audience had the money to buy NEW cars.
Sparky
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Location: Nasco , SWEDEN | Ron, Neil and Sparky Thank´s for the Education! i will use a more mature langwish when Mr Welk is spoken of here at the Forum! 
Edited by mogge65 2010-08-31 6:27 PM
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Wise Old Village Idiot
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Location: Dellslow, West ("By God") Virginia ! | ,,,,,,,,, turn 'off' the bubble machine |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | That's good, Morgan, but that ain't Mr. Welk, there....(no Continental Kit on the car).
"Bubble machine" ???? they were champagne bubbles, right? (hic!)...
He was a FUN guy!
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Location: Plymouth Spaceport | Anybody here remember Stan Frebergs comedy record "wun'erfull!,wun'erfull" with Daws Butler?
"say captain,that's a catchy sea shanty you're humming,what is it?"
Freberg was truly a brilliant satirist,he seems all but forgotten now.
His version of Belafontes "day-o" with the beatniks admonishment of the singer cracks me up!
"you're too loud man,like I don't dig loud noises,it's too piercing!"
I have a Lawrence Welk lp that has a full cover ad for the '57 Swept wing Dodge.
I can post it here tommorow if anyone would like to see it.
Edited by 1960DesotoAdventurer 2010-08-31 9:54 PM
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Location: Nasco , SWEDEN | d500neil - 2010-09-01 2:29 AM
That's good, Morgan, but that ain't Mr. Welk, there....(no Continental Kit on the car).
"Bubble machine" ???? they were champagne bubbles, right? (hic!)...
He was a FUN guy!
i know it aint Lawrence but it sure is a nice backend without that continental kit!
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Location: The Bat Cave, Fairborn, OH | 1960DesotoAdventurer - 2010-08-31 8:17 PM Anybody here remember Stan Frebergs comedy record "wun'erfull!,wun'erfull" with Daws Butler? "say captain,that's a catchy sea shanty you're humming,what is it?" Freberg was truly a brilliant satirist,he seems all but forgotten now. His version of Belafontes "day-o" with the beatniks admonishment of the singer cracks me up! "you're too loud man,like I don't dig loud noises,it's too piercing!" I have a Lawrence Welk lp that has a full cover ad for the '57 Swept wing Dodge. I can post it here tommorow if anyone would like to see it. Please do. I would like to see it and I'm sure the other FL fans would too.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | What's really sad, about our cars, is to think about all the really wonderful cars that were produced,
like this white/red CRL D500 vert, and to realize that so many of them either fell apart, and/or corroded-
apart, and/or were wrecked/salvaged after they had received only relatively minor/moderate damage
(because their resale value was so low).....
That CRL would have cost over $30K, in today's USD, and it probably was salvaged within
10 years of 1957.
Edited by d500neil 2010-09-01 7:04 PM
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Location: Parts Unknown | To extrapolate your thought ..... how sick is it that we Americans are so "flash-in-the-pan" amused and quickly lose
interest in those things of high quality or substance simply because the TV tells us there is "newer and better" ?
I like to quote Pirsig regarding this: Ask not "What is new?". Ask "What is best?".
To this end, and I am likely preaching to the choir here, cars never got better than the Exner Forward Look years.
It was the zenith of all post-war car building. How the public turned away from them so vehemently as they did and
sent them off to the junk yards en masse is beyond my comprehension. I lived through it, I witnessed it firsthand, but
I will NEVER understand it. I will never buy the argument that a car built after 1961 was better than Exner's flagships.
Some may have had great things going for them, but none had the style and grace, and for this, none measured up.
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | HEH----wait'll you see the New Thread that I've asked Sir Clive to post up, here.
Had you specifically in mind, for it, too (you'll see why).
The Mod's should create a new Message Board entitled : "Forwardlook Lifestyle".
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Location: N.W. Fla. | Doctor DeSoto - 2010-09-01 7:04 PM
To extrapolate your thought ..... how sick is it that we Americans are so "flash-in-the-pan" amused and quickly lose
interest in those things of high quality or substance simply because the TV tells us there is "newer and better" ?
I like to quote Pirsig regarding this: Ask not "What is new?". Ask "What is best?".
To this end, and I am likely preaching to the choir here, cars never got better than the Exner Forward Look years.
It was the zenith of all post-war car building. How the public turned away from them so vehemently as they did and
sent them off to the junk yards en masse is beyond my comprehension. I lived through it, I witnessed it firsthand, but
I will NEVER understand it. I will never buy the argument that a car built after 1961 was better than Exner's flagships.
Some may have had great things going for them, but none had the style and grace, and for this, none measured up.
Fins were a fad & when it passed it was buried quick. "Like fins on a car" is a quip for something long out of style. Like the joke about Russians defecting in the 80s & wanting a new car with fins to show how out of touch they were.
Edited by Mopar1 2010-09-01 8:15 PM
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Location: Some Island called Prince Edward | I've read it here and remember my dad telling me this: When fins went out of style in the early 60's, a lot of those folks who still had finned cars were embarrassed and dumped them. Many dealers didn't even want them on trade. Lot's of good iron went to the crusher. What a shame! |
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Location: CA | But wasn't chryco as well as the others guilty of selling us the "newer and better, refined" every year even back then? Thats just the american business model for you. Making yesterday obsolete one person at a time!
Edited by Finsinthemirror 2010-09-01 10:30 PM
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Location: Plymouth Spaceport | Finsinthemirror - 2010-09-01 10:29 PM
But wasn't chryco as well as the others guilty of selling us the "newer and better, refined" every year even back
then? Thats just the american business model for you. Making yesterday obsolete one person at a time!
Yes,the difference is back in 1957 it was true!
You were actually buying a dream car that was three full years ahead!
Never before had there been cars so futuristic and exciting.
It was an era of dazzling advances in art and technology,a melding of beauty and engineering,its just not the same today.
Chrysler and other manufacturers were selling us products of value,substance,dream cars of the future that were a reality today!
Yes,they were trying entice buyers with dramatic new styling,but they were sincere in giving us something exciting and new,something of genuine worth for our hard earned money,you were buying more than a car that would get you from one place to the other,you were buying a vision from the world of tommorow! a work of art.
Today it's just all shameless b.s. as companys put as little effort,imagination and quality into whatever they are trying to sell,hoping to turn a quick buck.
Anyone here get ecxited waiting for the "new" scion cardboard box cars to come out? what about those rollerskate "smart" cars? or sow-bug shaped prius.. are they the car of the future?
Anyone with eyes and a functioning mind can see the cars (and,music,movies,etc) foisted upon us today for the crap they are.
The problem is the mindset of todays people isnt the same as the greatest generation that made these cars...its been one constant lowering of standards ever since then.
To me the late 50's were the very zenith of civilization,take a good look at the world around us today,the people,music,movies,morals,its all rather depressing,we have not advanced,we have regressed.
Edited by 1960DesotoAdventurer 2010-09-02 10:51 AM
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Location: Parts Unknown | Finsinthemirror - 2010-09-02 7:29 PM
But wasn't chryco as well as the others guilty of selling us the "newer and better, refined" every year even back then? Thats just the american business model for you. Making yesterday obsolete one person at a time!
*************************************
To expand upon the previous post, .... it may have been these mfr's that were selling us the newer-is-better
thinking, but at some point the consumer has to take a certain responsibility for thinking for themselves.
As an example, I would have been thrilled to see the 55's after what had come before them. I would have been
ecstatic to see the fins and painted headlight bezels on the 56's. The 57 cars would have necessitated CPR !
58 was something of a holding pattern. To my eye, they are a little more "refined", but pretty much the same
car.
From 59 on, things were not getting better, they were sliding backwards. While still great and exciting, things
were not leaping forward like they had been from 55 to 58. But to think of seeing what came after Exner left after
just a few years earlier seeing such fantastic creations, I'd tell them to take their newest-is-best car and go run it
off a cliff !
I will laugh at anyone who tries to tell me that a 62 Plymouth is better than a 58. Sorry, ... I may look dumb, but
that's just a disguise.
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Location: Plymouth Spaceport | I still can't believe how ugly the cars got after exners forward look ended either.
The '62 plymouths are hideous,why would anyone have traded in a 57-61 for one of those?...and people love to pick on 1961 Dodges!
It was clear we had lost our direction,these cars were simply different,not more advanced or improved,it was change for changes sake.
Edited by 1960DesotoAdventurer 2010-09-02 1:07 AM
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Location: Plymouth Spaceport | Here's the photos of the Lawrence Welk LP,the back cover is an ad for the new Swept Wing Dodge.
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Location: Parts Unknown | 1960DesotoAdventurer - 2010-09-02 9:19 PM
I still can't believe how ugly the cars got after exners forward look ended either.
The '62 plymouths are hideous,why would anyone have traded in a 57-61 for one of those?...and people love to pick on 1961 Dodges!
It was clear we had lost our direction,these cars were simply different,not more advanced or improved,it was change for changes sake.
**************************************
That is how I see it. For a stretch it really was about getting better all the time. Then a bad acid trip or lack of good ideas set in
and we all know the story !  I mean, I like just about any pre-70 car just for being old and cool in the sense of nostalgia
and survivorship, but in a critical aesthetic review, a strike is a strike ! They were just changing them for no better reason than they
had set the precedent that next year's car had to look different, even if it meant not as good. And I really have no problem with that
part of it. The jones for me is the lie that this was improvement.
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Location: central oklahoma! | <p>just caught this thread. almost fell out of my chair laughing at the question, "who was lawrence welk?" on the other hand, it's just a reflection of how many of my years have passed...</p><p>good times, people. good times!</p> |
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Location: Royal Oak, MI | 1960DesotoAdventurer - 2010-09-02 12:19 AM
I still can't believe how ugly the cars got after exners forward look ended either.
The '62 plymouths are hideous,why would anyone have traded in a 57-61 for one of those?...and people love to pick on 1961 Dodges!
It was clear we had lost our direction,these cars were simply different,not more advanced or improved,it was change for changes sake.
Call me crazy, but I actually like the '62 Plymouth in a semi-perverse way, especially the Fury HT coupe and convert. I especially like the grille. For the downsized body, I think the '62 is better-styled than the watered-down editions of '63-'64. And then I think the '65 full-size Plymouth is a very clean looking car for its time. To me, Dodge wore the downsized styling much worse than Plymouth in '62-'63.
But yeah... Does the '62, or even the '65, compare at all to the '57-'58? No debate necessary. |
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Location: Plymouth Spaceport | I think Chrysler made a great choice in holding the 1957's over for 1958 with only minor changes,they knew they had a good thing going and nobody could touch them.
They really "dialed in" the Plymouth for '58 by changing the lower valance,adding the dual lights, and putting the V emblem on the grille,adding the winged hood emblem,and making the sport-tone sweep up the fin Fury style.
The Dodge on the other hand is a different story,I like the 1957 Dodge "grille-less" front end with floating Dodge emblem much better than the redesign for '58,it had a much cleaner appearance.
Edited by 1960DesotoAdventurer 2010-09-02 1:02 PM
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Location: Nasco , SWEDEN | 59savoy - 2010-09-02 6:33 PM
just caught this thread. almost fell out of my chair laughing at the question, "who was lawrence welk?" on the other hand, it's just a reflection of how many of my years have passed... good times, people. good times!
David, i´m from sweden, i hadn´t the faintest idea that your super hero was Lawrence Welk ! SORRY! |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | L. Welk was Swedish...born on 4/1/15.
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Location: Parts Unknown | Boris56 - 2010-09-03 9:36 AM
1960DesotoAdventurer - 2010-09-02 12:19 AM
I still can't believe how ugly the cars got after exners forward look ended either.
The '62 plymouths are hideous,why would anyone have traded in a 57-61 for one of those?...and people love to pick on 1961 Dodges!
It was clear we had lost our direction,these cars were simply different,not more advanced or improved,it was change for changes sake.
Call me crazy, but I actually like the '62 Plymouth in a semi-perverse way, especially the Fury HT coupe and convert. I especially like the grille. For the downsized body, I think the '62 is better-styled than the watered-down editions of '63-'64. And then I think the '65 full-size Plymouth is a very clean looking car for its time. To me, Dodge wore the downsized styling much worse than Plymouth in '62-'63.
But yeah... Does the '62, or even the '65, compare at all to the '57-'58? No debate necessary.
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I like the 62 Plymouth and Dodge .... in that "semi-perverse" way. I would actually own a 62 Polara 500 ragtop if I found one.
Have owned a 62 Sport Fury ragtop in the past. I love the 63 Plymouth. I am not so much knocking the post-Exner cars as much
as saying the Exner cars stand so far above all else there simply is no comparison. Nothing ever came close !
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | The 62's look a LOT better, with the convertible roofline, and with their tops-down, than they do, with that awful,
thin, pagoda/turret-looking C-pillar treatment.
The 62(+?) Chubbies, in fact, created a "convertible"-looking C-pillar roofline treatment.
With a vinyl top, they'd be dead ringers for verts (literally: hardtop convertibles").
Edited by d500neil 2010-09-02 3:00 PM
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Location: Parts Unknown | Oh c'mon, Neil .... those GM hardtops look like fake convertibles to anyone with an eye for cars !
Personally, I like the modified 4HT roof that Pontiac used on their Grand Prix in 63-64. I could be
very happy driving a 64 GP with a tri-power 421 HO 4-speed and eight-lugs in dark aqua metallic !
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | Was I right about L. Welk's "age"....? |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Wiki Bio:
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk during a taping of "The Lawrence Welk Show"
Born March 11, 1903
Strasburg, North Dakota
Died May 17, 1992 (aged 89)
Santa Monica, California
Occupation Musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario
Spouse(s) Fern Renner (August 26, 1903 - February 13, 2002)
Children Shirley, Donna and Lawrence, Jr ("Larry")
Website
Welk Musical Family
Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, hosting The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982. His style came to be known to his large number of radio, television, and live-performance fans (and critics) as "champagne music."
Contents [hide]
1 Early years
2 Early career
3 The Lawrence Welk Show
4 Personal life
5 Later years
6 Honors
7 Legacy
8 See also
9 Books
10 References
11 External links
[edit]Early years
Welk was born in the German-speaking community of Strasburg, North Dakota. He was sixth of the eight children of Ludwig and Christiana Welk, ethnic Germans who immigrated to America in 1892 from Odessa, Ukraine, which was then part of the Russian Empire.[1]
The family lived on a homestead, which today is a tourist attraction. They spent the cold North Dakota winter of their first year under an upturned wagon covered in sod.[citation needed]
Welk decided on a career in music, and convinced his father to buy a mail-order accordion for $400.[2] He promised his father that he would work on the farm until he was 21, in repayment for the accordion. Any money he made elsewhere during that time, doing farmwork or performing, would go to his family.
A common misconception is that Welk did not learn English until he was 21. In fact, he began learning English as soon as he started school. The part of North Dakota where he lived had been settled largely by Germans from Russia; even his teachers spoke English as a second language. Welk thus acquired his trademark accent, a combination of the Russian and German accents. He took diction lessons in the 1950s and could speak almost accent-free, but he realized his public expected to hear him say: "A-one, an-a-two" and "Wunnerful, Wunnerful!" When he was asked about his ancestry, he would always reply "Alsace-Lorraine, Germany," from where his forebears had emigrated to Russia. The Welks had left Alsace after Bismarck took over and imposed his anti-Catholic "Kulterkampf."
[edit]Early career
On his twenty-first birthday, Welk having fulfilled his promise to his father; left the family farm to pursue a career in music which he loved. During the 1920s, he performed with the Luke Witkowski, Lincoln Boulds, and George T. Kelly bands, before starting his own orchestra. He led big bands in North Dakota and eastern South Dakota. These included the Hotsy Totsy Boys and later the Honolulu Fruit Gum Orchestra.[3] His band was also the station band for popular radio station WNAX, in Yankton, South Dakota. In 1927, he graduated from the MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[4]
Although many jazz musicians scorn Welk, he did one notable recording in that style in November 1928 for Indiana-based Gennett Records. "Spiked Beer" featured Welk and his Novelty Orchestra.
During the 1930s, Welk led a traveling big band, specializing in dance tunes and "sweet" music. Initially, the band traveled around the country by car. They were too poor to rent rooms, so they usually slept and changed clothes in their cars. The term "Champagne Music" was derived from an engagement at the William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, when a dancer referred to his band's sound as "light and bubbly as champagne." The hotel also lays claim to the original "bubble machine", a prop left over from a 1920s movie premiere. The band performed across the country, but particularly in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas. In the early 1940s, the band began a 10-year stint at the Trianon Ballroom in Chicago, regularly drawing crowds of nearly 7,000.
His orchestra also performed frequently at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City during the late 1940s. In 1944 and 1945, Welk led his orchestra in many motion picture "Soundies", considered to be the early pioneers of music videos,[citation needed] and from 1949 through 1951, the band had its own national radio program on ABC, sponsored by "The Champagne of Bottle Beer" Miller High Life.
[edit]The Lawrence Welk Show
Main article: The Lawrence Welk Show
In 1951, Welk settled in Los Angeles. That same year, he began producing The Lawrence Welk Show on KTLA in Los Angeles where it was broadcast from the Aragon Ballroom in Venice Beach. The show became a local hit and was picked up by ABC in June 1955.
During its first year on the air, the Welk hour instituted several regular features. To make Welk's "Champagne Music" tagline visual, the production crew engineered a "bubble machine" that spouted streams of large soap bubbles across the bandstand. Whenever the orchestra played a polka or waltz, Welk himself would dance with the band's female vocalist, the "Champagne Lady". His first Champagne Lady was Jayne Walton Rosen (real name: Dorothy Jayne Flanagan). Jayne left Welk's show after her marriage and later pregnancy. After Welk and his band went on television, she appeared as a guest on the show, where she sang Latin American songs and favorites that were popular when she was traveling with the Welk band. Novelty numbers would usually be sung by Rocky Rockwell. Welk also reserved one number for himself to solo on his accordion.
Welk's television program had a policy of playing well-known songs from previous years, so that the target audience would hear only numbers with which they were familiar. In the TV show's early days, the band would rarely play tunes from the current charts, but strictly as novelty numbers. On December 8, 1956, two examples on the same broadcast were "Nuttin' for Christmas," which became a vehicle for Rocky Rockwell dressed in a child's outfit, and Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel," which was sung by violinist Bob Lido, wearing fake Presley-style sideburns).
Welk never lost his affection for the hot jazz he had played in the 1920s, and when a Dixieland tune was scheduled, he enthusiastically led the band.
The type of music on The Lawrence Welk Show was almost always conservative, concentrating on popular music standards, polkas, and novelty songs, delivered in a smooth, calming, good-humored easy listening style and "family-oriented" manner. Although described by one critic as "the squarest music this side of Euclid",[cite this quote] this strategy proved commercially successful, and the show remained on the air for 31 years.
Much of the show's appeal was Welk himself. His unusual accent appealed to the audience. While Welk's was passable, he never did grasp the English "idiom" completely, and was thus famous for his "Welk-isms," such as "George, I want to see you when you have a minute, right now", and "Now for my accordion solo, Myron, will you join me?" His TV show was recorded as if it were a live performance, and was sometimes quite free-wheeling. Another famous "Welk-ism" was his trademark count-off, "A one and a two..." which was immortalized on his California automobile license plate that read "A1ANA2". This plate is visible on the front of a Model A Ford in one of the shows from 1980. It has also been said that Lawrence once introduced the Duke Ellington tune "Take The A Train" as "And now, the famous Duke Ellington Tune, Take A Train"
Musical satirist Stan Freberg and his frequent collaborator, arranger Billy May, recorded a scathing 1957 parody of the Welk TV show titled "Wunnerful! Wunnerful!" featuring Freberg, voice actor Daws Butler and members of Jud Conlon's Rhythmairs mocking the show's corny nature, the band's more predictable arrangements and Welk's own mediocre accordion work. Studio musicians on the session included top Hollywood jazz players, many of whom scorned Welk's music and eagerly participated in the parody. After several "performances" and frequent asides from Freberg of "turn off the bubble machine," the machine spins out of control, sending the Santa Monica Ballroom floating out to sea. Welk was not pleased with Freberg's parody (a hit single that year) and denied he ever used the phrase "Wunnerful! Wunnerful!" though it later became the title of his autobiography.
He often took women from the audience for a turn around the dance floor. During one show, Welk brought a cameraman out to dance with one of the women and took over the camera himself.
Welk's musicians were always top quality, including accordionist Myron Floren, concert violinist Dick Kesner, guitarist Buddy Merrill, and New Orleans Dixieland clarinetist Pete Fountain. Though Welk was occasionally rumored to be very tight with a dollar, he paid his regular band members top scale - a very good living for a working musician. Long tenure was very common among the regulars. For example, Floren was the band's assistant conductor throughout the show's run. He was noted for spotlighting individual members of his band and show. His band was well-disciplined and had excellent arrangements in all styles.[citation needed] One notable showcase was his album with the noted jazz saxophonist Johnny Hodges.
Welk had a number of instrumental hits, including a cover of the song "Yellow Bird". His highest charting record was his recording of "Calcutta" which achieved one hit status in 1961[5]. Welk himself was indifferent to the tune, but his musical director, George Cates, said that if Welk did not wish to record the song, he (Cates) would. Welk replied, "Well, if it's good enough for you, George, I guess it's good enough for me."[cite this quote] Despite the emergence of rock and roll, "Calcutta" reached number 1 on the U.S. pop charts in 1961, and was recorded in only one take.[citation needed] The tune knocked the Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" out of the #1 position, and kept the Miracles' "Shop Around" from becoming the group's first #1 hit, holding their recording at #2. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[6] The album "Calcutta" also achieved number one status. The albums "Last Date", "Yellow Bird", "Moon River", "Young World", "Baby Elephant Walk" and "Theme From the Brothers Grimm" produced in the early '60s, were in Billboard's top ten; nine more produced between 1956 and 1963 were in the top twenty. His albums contnued to chart through 1973[7].
Welk's insistence on wholesome entertainment led him to be a somewhat stern taskmaster at times. For example, he fired Alice Lon, at the time the show's "Champagne Lady", because he believed she was showing too much leg.[8] Welk told the audience that he would not tolerate such "cheesecake" performances on his show; he later tried unsuccessfully to rehire the singer after fan mail indicated overwhelmingly that viewers disagreed with her dismissal. He then had a series of short-term "Champagne Ladies" before Norma Zimmer filled that spot on a permanent basis. Highly involved with his stars' personal lives, he often arbitrated their marriage disputes.[8]
The Lawrence Welk Show embraced changes on the musical scene over the years. The show featured fresh music alongside the classics for as long as it existed, even music originally not intended for the big band sound. During the 1960s and 1970s, for instance, the show incorporated material by such contemporary sources as The Beatles, Frank Zappa, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, The Everly Brothers and Paul Williams, albeit in Welk's signature "Champagne" style. Originally produced in black and white, the show was recorded on videotape starting in 1957, and it switched to color for the fall 1965 season. In time, it featured synthesized music and, toward the end of its run, early chroma key technology added a new dimension to the story settings sometimes used for the musical numbers. Welk referred to his blue screen effect in one episode as "the magic of television".[citation needed]
During its network run, The Lawrence Welk Show aired on ABC on Saturday nights at 9 p.m. (Eastern Time), moving up a half-hour to 8:30 p.m. in the fall of 1963. In fact, Welk headlined two weekly prime time shows on ABC for three years. From 1956 to 1958, he hosted a show titled Top Tunes and New Talent, which aired on Monday nights. The series moved to Wednesdays in Fall 1958 and was renamed The Plymouth Show, which ended in May, 1959. During that time, the Saturday show was also known as The Dodge Dancing Party. ABC cancelled the show in the spring of 1971, citing an aging audience. Welk thanked ABC and the sponsors at the end of the last network show. The Lawrence Welk Show continued on as a first-run syndicated show on 250 stations across the country until the final original show was produced in 1982.
[edit]Personal life
Lawrence Welk at ground breaking for the new Union Bank in Santa Monica, California, 1960
Welk was married for 61 years, until his death, to Fern Renner, with whom he had three children. One of his sons, Lawrence Welk, Jr., married fellow Lawrence Welk Show performer Tanya Falan; they later divorced. Welk had many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One of them, grandson Lawrence Welk III, who usually goes by "Larry Welk", is a reporter and helicopter traffic pilot for KCAL-TV and KCBS-TV in Los Angeles. One of his great-grandchildren, Nate Fredricks, reportedly enjoys the same love for music as his great grandfather did and plays guitar in a band.
Known as an excellent businessman, Welk had investments in real estate and music publishing. Welk was the general partner in a commercial real estate development located at 100 Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica, California. The 21-story tall white tower is the tallest building in Santa Monica, and is located on the bluffs overlooking Santa Monica Bay. It was informally named "The Lawrence Welk Champagne Tower."
Welk enjoyed playing golf, which he first took up in the late 1950s, and was often a regular at many celebrity pro-ams such as the Bob Hope Desert Classic.
Welk became a minister in the Universal Life Church.[9] He was also a confidant of southern gospel singer Jimmie Davis, a Baptist who was twice elected governor of Louisiana.
[edit]Later years
After retiring from his show and from the road in 1982, Welk continued to air reruns of his shows which were repackaged first for syndication and starting in 1986 for public television. He also starred in and produced a pair of Christmas specials in 1984 and 1985.
Welk died from pneumonia in Santa Monica, California in 1992 at age 89 and was buried in Culver City's Holy Cross Cemetery.
[edit]Honors
In 1961, he was inducted as a charter member of the Rough Rider Award from his native North Dakota.
He served as the Grand Marshal for the Rose Bowl's Tournament of Roses parade in 1972.
In 1994, he was inducted into the International Polka Music Hall Of Fame.
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6613-1/2 Hollywood Blvd.
In 2007, he became a charter member of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in Richmond, Indiana.
[edit]Legacy
Welk's band continues to appear in a dedicated theater in Branson, Missouri. In addition, the television show has been repackaged for broadcast on PBS stations, with updates from show performers appearing as wraparounds where commercial breaks were during the original shows. The repackaged shows are broadcast at roughly the same Saturday-night time slot as the original ABC shows, and special longer Welk show rebroadcasts are often shown during individual stations' fund-raising periods. These repackaged shows are produced by the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority.[10]
A resort community, developed by Welk and promoted heavily by him on the show, is named for him. Formerly known as "Lawrence Welk Village," the Welk Resort and Champagne Village are just off Interstate 15 north of Escondido, California, about 38 miles (61 km) north of downtown San Diego. Lawrence Welk Village was where Welk actually lived in a rather affluent "cottage". The resort is open to the public and contains two golf courses, dozens of upscale timeshares, and a theater containing a museum of Welk's life. The Welk Resort Theatre performs live Broadway musicals year round.
His organization, The Welk Group, consists of his resort communities in Branson and Escondido; Welk Syndication which broadcasts the show on public television and the Welk Music Group, which operates record labels Sugar Hill, Vanguard and Ranwood. From the late 1950s to the mid-1980s, the Welk Group was known as "Teleklew" in which tele stood for television and klew was Welk spelled backwards.
The "Live Lawrence Welk Show" makes annual concert tours across the United States and Canada featuring stars from the television series, such as Ralna English, Mary Lou Metzger, Jack Imel, Gail Farrell, Anacani and Big Tiny Little.
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Expert
Posts: 3588
Location: Plymouth Spaceport | Welk was sure married a long time!, 61 years to the same woman!
That would never happen in the entertainment industry today...hell it doesnt happen in the average population today.
Edited by 1960DesotoAdventurer 2010-09-02 5:13 PM
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Expert
Posts: 3588
Location: Plymouth Spaceport | Welk was sure married a long time! that would never happen in the entertainment industry today...hell it doesnt happen in the general population today |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | ..Any questions?
BTW, I was joking about his "Swedish" ancestry (hence his b-day on 4/1..), but, I had always thought that he was
Hungarian or Polish; certainly not "German".
I think he COINED the term :"My way, or the High-way", as far as his employment supervision was concerned.
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Location: Parts Unknown | "NO, Wade, ... dis is MY show dare, dont'cha know, ya !"  |
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Expert
Posts: 1295
Location: Nasco , SWEDEN | d500neil - 2010-09-02 8:53 PM
L. Welk was Swedish...born on 4/1/15.
WHY DIDN´T YOU SAY SO IN THE FIRST PLACE................. second thoughts he seems to be a great guy........
Edited by mogge65 2010-09-04 3:05 AM
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Expert
Posts: 3588
Location: Plymouth Spaceport | but he's actually of German descent.... |
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Location: Parts Unknown | Swedish, German, North Dakotan .... what's the difference ?
Germany is to North Dakota what 1915 is to 1903, right ?
What would Mensa say ?
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Kangasala, Finland | 1960DesotoAdventurer - 2010-09-04 4:28 PM
but he's actually of German descent....
"He was sixth of the eight children of Ludwig and Christiana Welk, ethnic Germans who immigrated to America in 1892 from Odessa, Ukraine..."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Welk |
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Expert
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Location: Plymouth Spaceport | FinFury57 - 2010-09-04 12:19 PM
1960DesotoAdventurer - 2010-09-04 4:28 PM
but he's actually of German descent....
"He was sixth of the eight children of Ludwig and Christiana Welk, ethnic Germans who immigrated to America in 1892 from Odessa, Ukraine..."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Welk
Yes.
DoctorDesoto posted the entire thing a few posts back. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 693
Location: Kangasala, Finland | Oh, so he did. Sorry about that...  |
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Exner Expert 19,174 posts. Neil passed away 18 Sep 2015. You will be missed, Neil!
Posts: 19146
Location: bishop, ca | I was fun'in....about April Fools day, 1915 and the Sveedish ancestry.
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Expert
Posts: 1782
Location: calif | i had a roomate in college who's dad was the acct exec for dodge for their ad agency,coincidentally the family lived near the welk's in pacific pallisades.the dad told a story that one year when mr welk's complimentary new dodge was being delivered,lawrence went into a frenzy to get ahold his secretary who was en route to get his 'old' dodge to the car wash,so she wouln't spend the $4 to get it washed since the dodge rep was picking it up in exchange for the new model.
also spoke a few years back to the son of the owner of claude short dodge in santa monica who maintained the welk show car fleet in the 50's.he said the service guys who detailed the cars after servicing them often found evidence in the back seat cushions that the 'champagne ladies' were probably not all virgins! |
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A Lawrence Welk 1957 Dodge convertible still in existence?
