Dixieland Jazz - Pete Fountain Discography: July 2011

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Pete Fountain Birthday News - Memorabilia

In the 1960s famed Dixieland jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain always closed his New Orleans club around the Independence Day holiday in order to celebrate his birthday on July 3. He and his wife, Beverly Lang Fountain, are shown here on one such excursion, outside the Broadwater Beach Hotel in Biloxi. The couple married in October 1951. Their son, Kevin Fountain, who submitted the photo, says he believes it was taken around 1965.

Fountain was first mentioned in The Times-Picayune on March 4, 1948, when police reported the theft of two of his instruments, worth $250, from Warren Easton High School.

The following February his photo was featured in a Werlein's ad congratulating his Junior Dixie Land Jamboree Band for winning on the Horace Heidt Youth Opportunity Program, a national radio talent show which was a precursor to American Idol.

John Kelly, The Times-Picayune Les Causeries du Lundi elected officers for the 1962-63 season Monday (May 14) at a gathering at Gallier Hall. Installed for the coming year are (from left, seated): Mrs. Frank B. Delery, president; Mrs. Lilian Lewis, first vice-president; and Miss Gladys Anne Renshaw, second vice-president; (standing) Miss Adele Drouet, reception chairman; Mrs. Richard Massie Martin, treasurer; and Mrs. Paul Perret, program chairman. May 16, 1962

After evacuating for Hurricane Katrina, Fountain is back living in New Orleans, but his son reports he has been in East Jefferson General Hospital for the past three weeks. All his fans wish him well today on his 81st birthday.

Courtesy of John Kelly, The Times-Picayune NOLA.com
John Kelly can be reached a jkelly@timespicayune.com.

Pete Fountain's 81st Birthday - News

Happy 81st Birthday Pete!

Pete Fountain, Jazz Clarinetist, was born on July 3, 1930 in New Orleans. He has entertained us for decades and we all wish him the best.

We wish Pete a happy 81st birthday, and may he continue to "toot" and make music for many more years.

Pete's Baby Photo

Pete's Bio

Peter Dewey Fountain, Jr. was born July 3, 1930 in New Orleans, the cradle of American music, Jazz. He was a skinny kid who spent too much time hanging around the front stoop of the Top Hat Dance Hall near his home. The Top Hat was a stronghold of Dixieland Jazz and Jazz already had a strong hold on Pete Fountain. But, oh the sounds! This was music straight from the soul. Sounds that would never be written in stone, that would always be brand new because they were purely personal. Pete heard all the greats in New Orleans and he knew he wanted to play Jazz.

After endless hours of practicing and listening to the recordings of Benny Goodman and Irving Fazola, the personal sound of Pete Fountain began to emerge and it was "Fat." By the time Pete was 16, he had already gained a reputation on the street, Bourbon Street.

Through these formative years of his musical training, Pete performed with several sensational bands. One such band was the Junior Dixieland Band which performed in the famous Parisian Room-often performing for legendary jazz men. It was a heady time of life and Pete Fountain was savoring every moment.

A few years later Pete joined Phil Zito's International Dixieland Express. They were playing the El Morocco on the street. It was there he met Beverly. She had decided very young to marry a musician and Pete had decided very young to be a musician.

Pete was performing with some of the best known jazz bands in the country--The Basin Street Six, The Dukes of Dixieland, Al Hirt--and it was great.

Until 1956...Be-Bop and Rock & Roll were the hot new sounds, and the music that Pete loved could not provide him or anybody else with a living. Jazz, in its own birthplace New Orleans, was definitely asleep. He gave up music. He had no choice. With a wife and three small children to support, music was a luxury he could not afford.

All he really wanted to do was play music. All he needed was a band, a bandstand and a place to play.

In 1957, Lawrence Welk, host of the nation's most popular television program, wanted Pete on the show, and that kind of opportunity only comes once in a lifetime. For two years, Pete was the most famous Jazz musician on television. Pete Fountain became a household name and New Orleans Jazz made a comeback that has never faded.

After two years in California, Pete came home to New Orleans. He had learned what every New Orleanian has to accept as a fact of life. you can leave New Orleans, but it never leaves you. The cuisine, the sights and the sounds.

Pete immediately opened his own jazz club in the heart of the French Quarter. His national fame and fans followed him to New Orleans which allowed Pete's club to expand, through the past 34 years, into the largest jazz club in the city.

Pete has always been considered an ambassador of New Orleans Jazz as he performs his music on guest appearances on network television and specials. Some of the highlights have been such classics as the Ed Sullivan, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Andy Williams specials. More recently his credits include A Close up of Pete Fountain, Super Bowl Saturday Night and the National Memorial Day Concert. He also performed 59 times on Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show."

Pete has performed at four U.S. State Dinners by command performance for four Presidents of the United States. He has also performed for Pope John Paul II at the New Orleans Papal Mass with an attendance of over 400,000 people.

During Pete's career, he has recorded 56 albums and has been a featured performer on 44 additional albums for a total of 100 recordings. Three of Pete's albums have gone gold, "Pete Fountain's New Orleans," "The Blues," and "Mr. New Orleans." He also received a gold record for his hit single "Just A Closer Walk With Thee."

Through Pete's career he has received numerous awards and honors including a Doctorate of Music from the College of Santa Fe; he was voted the #1 Jazz Clarinetist for 13 consecutive years in the Playboy Readers Poll; he was King of Bacchus; he received an Emmy for the 1990 Super Bowl Pre-Game Music; and he was awarded the 1993 Louisiana Legends Award.

Pete has performed with music legends ranging from Louis Armstrong and Harry James to Harry Connick, Jr. Yet to this day his greatest thrill is taking the stage and performing the music he loves, watching as it works its irresistible magic on the audience. Straight to the soul.

Pete Fountain and his wife, Beverly, have three children and five grandchildren. He divides his DAYS between his family, various charitable organizations and his favorite fishing hole.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Pete Fountain Birthday News - Memorabilia

Pete Fountain's 81st Birthday - News

The Pete Fountain Musical Timeline

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Pete's Bio

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