Coral Records - Catalog Number 94 603 - 7" EP
Country: France
Side A:
1. Yes indeed
2. Nobody knows the Trouble I've Seen
Side B:
1. Let Me Walk Closer to Thee
2. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
Liner Notes:
French import, late 1960's. Four tracks. Rare, hard to find, unique cover.
Plenty of Pete - Coral 7-98448 1963
Tony Almerico and his Dixieland Jamboree
All StarsNative New Orleans Jazz - DOT Records DEP 527 1956
1958 Coral Records CRL 57146 Mono / CRL 757146 Stereo
Selections Include:
Side One
1. China Boy (Go Sleep)
2. Sweethearts On Parade
3. Blue Moods
4. Should I
5. Pete's Tail-Fly
6. San Antonio Rose
Side Two
1. Barnyard Blues
2. When My Sugar Walks Down The Street
3. 's Wonderful
4. Tea 'n Trumpets
5. Thou Swell
6. Strike Up The Band
Liner Notes:
Since the inception of dixieland jazz as a regular part of the vastly popular Monday and Saturday night Lawrence Welk television shows, there has been a growing demand throughout the country for an album of this nature.
Here is a perfect successor to previous, overwhelmingly received Lawrence Welk albums by Coral Records. For the new dixieland feature on his shows, Lawrence Welk went to the source, New Orleans, and came up with one of the top clarinetists in the dixieland jazz field - Pete Fountain. Pete and his "Licorice Stick" are featured in the album as well as on the Welk TV shows.
This is the album you have been waiting for. Here, by popular demand, is dixieland jazz by the inimitable Lawrence Welk and his Dixieland Boys. Listen, and you will rediscover the remarkable Welk quality - apparent in any and all of his music.
1958 Coral Records CRL 57093 Mono / CLR 757093 Stereo
Side One
1. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Instrumental Fox Trot
2. I Wanna Do More Than Whistle (Under The Mistletoe)
Vocal By The Sparklers And Alice Lon
3. White Christmas
Vocal By The Sparklers
4. Christmas Island
Vocal By The Sparklers
5. The Christmas Toy
Vocal By The Lennon Sisters
6. Santa Claus Is Comin` To Town
Instrumental
Side Two
1. Winter Wonderland
With Larry, Dick And Curt
2. Christmas Dreaming (A Little Early This Year)
Vocal By Dick Dale
3. Christmas Comes But Once A Year
Vocal By Larry, Dean And The Sparklers
4. Thanks For Christmas
Vocal By Alice Lon And The Sparklers
5. Twelve Gifts Of Christmas
Vocal By Larry, Dean And The Sparklers
6. High On The House Top
Vocal By Larry Hooper
Pete was with Lawrence Welk when this records was recorded and is in the band playing.
Liner Notes:
The wondrous enchantment of Christmas and the festive holiday season has been told in many ways and in many languages down through the ages. From the moving biblical stories to the immortal lines of Dickens' Christmas Carol, we have come to know and understand the true meaning of this most revered day.
However, our feelings as Americans towards Christmas in other than a religious vein, have best been told by Tin Pan Alley and the present day song writers. In their words and melodies they have truly captured the thoughts of children and adults during the Christmas season.
They have depicted the sheer excitement of children when they know Santa will soon be on his way - their angelic faces and well mannered behavior - the anticipation of shiny new toys and a stocking crammed with delicacies, Their music has expressed our warm feelings of brotherhood, and our heartfelt desire for good will among men. The longing thoughts that stem from Christmas spent away from loved ones to the crackling spirits of a bright fireplace, and the sparkling freshness of a newly fallen snow have found their way from their pens to our hearts and imaginations.
In this musical greeting from Lawrence Welk, he and his Champagne Music Makers have chosen a group of selections that are wholly representative of the American Christmas spirit. Whether you spend Christmas in the sunny climates of Southern California and Florida, or in the snow covered countrysides of Maine and Minnesota, Lawrence Welk extends to you best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season.
Note, the covers were not scanned in by me, the quality is what it is until I get the originals to scan in.For more information on AstroSereo recordings , please visit
Side One
1. That's A Plenty
2. After You've Gone
3. Alexander's Ragtime Band
4. Ain't Misbehavin' (I'm Savin' My Love For You)
5. Jazz Me Blues
6. Oh, Lady Be Good
Side Two
1. Limehouse Blues
2. Honeysuckle Rose
3. Darktown Strutters' Ball
4. Georgia On My Mind
5. Sweet Sue, Just You
6. American Patrol
Personnel
With Pete Fountain....
His Own Rhythm Section Including
1962 Coral Records EC 81190 7" EP
Side 1:
1. Sing You Sinners
2. Yes Indeed
Side 2:
1. Dis Ol' Train
2. Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen
Liner Notes:
Pete Fountain With The Jubilee Singers And Orchestra
Directed By Charles Bud Dant
Personnel:
Pete Fountain: clarinet
Stanley Wrightsman: piano
Godfrey Hirsch: vibes
Morty Corb: bass
Jack Sperling: drums
Dick Cathcart: trumpet
Bobby Gibbons: guitar
Plas Johnson: tenor saxophone
The recordings here, which come from the Coral LP Swing Low Sweet Clarinet is a completely new experience in New Orleans Jazz. Through the magic that is Pete Fountain devout disciples of the traditional idiom born in the heart of Crescent City, will discover an excitingly new component with jazz. Production wise this album is different - a new departure among the usual tune anthologies under a single cover. Yet, amazingly enough, here is tradition somehow overlooked until now in the combined use of little band jazz with Jubilee Singers.
Site One:
No. 1: SING YOU SINNERS (Instrumental- Pete with Quintet)
Sperling establishes the opening pace as an introduction into a medium tempo with Pete's clarinet leading the group. Godfrey Hirsch embellishes the background with vibe figures. On the chorus Pete and Godfrey divide solos backed by strong rhythm. The device of a string bass and guitar stop-chorus by Morty Corb and Bobby Gibbons provides an exceptional taste contrast. Closing out, the technical artistry of Jack points up a fast following ensemble finish.
No. 2: YES INDEED (Jubilee Singers with Rhythm Section)
The fourteen voice choir - eight men and six girls, work with the small band on this Ray Charles number. Pete has a short cadenza that gets it jumping in a spirited mood. The choir answers Pete with the title words while the rhythm section drives on in the background. String bass and guitar take over a chorus dividing the honors; then the first driving chorus repeats. The Fountain clarinet is the emphatic force. There is a uniquely stated ending - very exceptional. A single of this title would be a smash hit!
Side Two:
No. 1: DIS OL' TRAIN (Fountain) (Singers with Rhythm Section)
The Pete Fountain rhythm section and the Jubilee Singers open this side with some well adapted vocal effects that quicklyget the train rolling out fast. Pete and Jack Sperling open the throttle with some well paced clarineting and drum work that make for a decidedly happy trip. The clarinet justifiably pre-dominates throughout. Use of dynamics, particularly with an exciting by-play drum break and application of chords ranging to a very soft closing, also diminishes the tempo speed to a slow, sustained ending.
No. 2: NOBODY KNOWS (Singers with Rhythm Section)
The intro is highlighted by Pete augmenting the Jubilee voices which sustain until the easy-riding tempo is set. Fountain's low register use with the singers provides a remarkably well balanced effect. Particularly outstanding in the happy mood of the chorus is soprano Gwen Johnson, who with the other Jubilees finds exceptional background blending by the rhythm section. The strong beat leads to interplay between Pete's clarinet and vocalist. The ending, as in the beginning. ritards.
There can be no doubt over the ultimate destiny of this album. The combined use of Jubilee Singers with Pete Fountain and his groups becomes a satisfying musical experience. It is fitting that this first album usage of the vocalists and musicians be in the traditional vein. Certainly, there has been no recorded similarity in this specific age with such outstanding success. This cannot be considered in the light of an experiment, for singing of this happy, exuberant type of music is as old as early jazz expression in New Orleans.
1968 Coral Records CRL 757502 Stereo / CRL 57502 Mono
Another front cover, released 1969 to capitalize on Pete's popularity
Side One
1. (I WONDER WHY) YOU'RE JUST IN LOVE
With Instrumental Accompaniment Sax And Clarinet Duet
2. A HUNDRED YEARS FROM TODAY
Tenor Sax Solo With Orchestra
3. OUT OF NOWHERE
Sax And Clarinet Duet With Instrumental Accompaniment
4. ALFIE - From The Paramount Picture "Alfie"
Tenor Sax Solo With Instrumental Accompaniment
5. WE TWO BLUES
Tenor Sax And Clarinet Duet With Orchestra
6. NEW ORLEANS
Tenor Sax Solo With Instrumental Accompaniment
Side Two
1. WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
Tenor Sax And Clarinet Solo With Orchestra
2. SOPHISTICATED LADY
Tenor Sax Solo With Orchestra
3. DREAM
Tenor Sax And Clarinet With Orchestra
4. "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE" THEME
Tenor Sax Solo With Orchestra
5. WHAT'S NEW
Tenor Sax Solo With Instrumental Accompaniment With Pete Fountain
Liner Notes:
Produced by Charles Bud Dant
Cover Photos: Hal Buksbaum
Eddie Miller plays the Vito Tenor exclusively
Eddie Miller, in the swinging '40s, was America's favorite Dixieland jazz tenor sax man. He was featured with the original Bob Crosby Bob Cats and at that time made his great record of Dream with Jo Stafford and the Pied Pipers.
Eddie Miller, today, is still making beautiful sounds on his tenor sax. He recently returned from a very successful jazz concert tour of England and is now the featured soloist with my own jazz group in New Orleans and in concerts.
"With A Little Help From My Friend" means that my man, Eddie Miller, horn and raised in New Orleans, brings you a wonderful collection of old and new favorites packed with his own jazz tradition, framed with the unique background of a modern rhythm section, featuring a swinging harpsichord and a baroque string quartet. You'll hear his beautiful tone and phrasing on Dream, New Orleans and What's New and some of his great jazz on We Two Blues, "Mission Impossible" Theme and Out Of Nowhere. My clarinet and I came along "with a little help" and had a ball.
- Pete Fountain
Side One
1. That's A Plenty
2. After You've Gone
3. Alexander's Ragtime Band
4. Ain't Misbehavin' (I'm Savin' My Love For You)
5. Jazz Me Blues
6. Oh, Lady Be Good
Side Two
1. Limehouse Blues
2. Honeysuckle Rose
3. Darktown Strutters' Ball
4. Georgia On My Mind
5. Sweet Sue, Just You
6. American Patrol
Liner Notes:
The idea of a "battle of the bands" is one that probably goes almost as far back as the origin of the popular orchestra. Certainly in the late nineteenth century there were rival street bands in many of the southern states whose relative merits were judged by their enthusiastic sup-porters in open-air musical galas. Back in the 1930s the so-called swing era brought a wave of special events at which leading groups would be paired off at the Savoy or some other famous ballroom.
Today, with the technological advantages of tape recording, hi-fi and stereo, the old gimmick has taken on a new twist. In the present meeting between Mr. New Orleans Jazz (better known as Pete Fountain) and Mr. Honky Tonk (alias Dudley "Big Tiny" Little) the occasion is a particularly important one for anyone equipped with a first-class hi-fi rig (especially if he happens to have stereo); and the musical effect is one of amalgamation rather than opposition.
The backgrounds of the protagonists in this musical merger have a great deal in common. Both Pete Fountain and Tiny Little were born in the summer of 1930, a few weeks apart. Both were the sons of well known musicians - Tiny's father was a famous orchestra leader for many years (he is now more or less retired but still books polka band gigs around Minnesota) - while Pete's father played drums and violin with various jazz groups around Biloxi, Miss. Most important, of course, is the bond between Pete and Tiny as alumni of the Lawrence Welk organization, in which they worked together for a couple of years and were jointly featured on the Welk television series.
Pete became a leader in the early 1950s, disbanding to join Welk in 1957 and resuming his independent career in the spring of 1959. Tiny, who had played piano from the age of five, organized his first trio while in his teens. Anative of Worthington, Minn., he played dance dates throughout the middle West and later worked as a sideman with the orchestras of Cliff Kyes, Jimmie Thomas and, not surprisingly, Tiny Little Sr. After joining the Air Force in 1950 he was based in Japan and formed a jazz combo of local citizens.
A seldom-publicized aspect of Tiny's career is the jazz venture he undertook not long after his discharge from the Air Force in 1954. For a while he worked at the Strollers Club in Long Beach, Cal., as one-third of a swinging trio whose other members were the distinguished jazz bassist Leroy Vinnegar and guitarist Irving Ashby (formerly of the King Cole Trio). After working solo for a while in cocktail lounges, Tiny was discovered by Welk, joining him in the summer of 1955 and remaining just four years.
Tiny describes himself as a "left-handed piano player," by which he means that he keeps the bass notes moving, much in the manner of his earliest keyboard idol, the late and immortal Thomas "Fats" Waller. (For similar reasons his current favorites include Erroll Garner at the top of the list.)
Pete Fountain names as his favorite clarinetists the late Irving Fazola (a New Orleans product like Pete himself ) and another Crescent City veteran, Eddie Miller of the old Bob Crosby band. Nevertheless, listeners who have followed Pete's work in recent years discern a strong Benny Goodman influence.
Of the Little-Fountain cooperation on these sides, Tiny says: "This was something we'd had at the back of our minds for a long time; we were happy when Coral arranged for us to join forces. Pete is just a natural player and it's a stimulating experience to work with him."
Listeners who hear the stereo version will find Tiny on the right channel with his men - including the one-time Benny Goodman guitarist, Allan Reuss, playing banjo; Buddy Hayes on tuba, Morty Corb on string bass and Jack Sperling on drums, plus Jack Imel offering such miscellaneous percussion sounds as washboard, spoons, woodblocks and anything else handy. On the left hand channel is Pete with his clarinet and his own rhythm section, including Merle Koch on piano, Lowell Miller on bass and Paul Edwards on drums. Also on the date was Lou Singer (alternating with Elmer Schmidt) on xylophone and vibraphone.
The session opens with a little walking music a la Jackie Gleason as the boys tear into That's A Plenty, a Dixieland standard of the mid-1920s. Then time marches back for After You've Gone, written during World War I and handled here just as it has almost always been done by jazzmen, with the first chorus slow and the second in double-time. Next, Tiny takes the lead chorus, followed bysome of Pete's must fluent ad-libbing, on the rousing treatment of Irving Berlin's first hit, Alexander's Ragtime Band, now rounding out its first half century. Ain't Misbehavin' moves the clock ahead a little to 1929, when this song became one of Fats Waller's first major hits. Next comes Jazz Me Blues, a song recorded by scores of Dixie-land combos since Bix Beiderbecke immortalized it more than three decades ago. A fast tempo treatment of Gershwin's Lady Be Good offers a touch of Allen Reuss' banjo chords along with solos by Tiny and Pete.
The second side opens uproariously with a reckless investigation of Limehouse Blues, another hit of the early 1920s, complete with Oriental effects, whistles, rattles and Tiny's "doctored" piano all contributing to an atmosphere that's as corny as a carousel and just as much fun. Stereo listeners will get a special kick out of the "ping-pong" effect created by the two drummers in the introduction to Fats Waller's Honeysuckle Rose, which features Merle Koch, Pete's pianist, as well as Tiny. The familiar "riff" played during the last chorus is taken from the famous Fletcher Henderson arrangement of this tune, popularized around 1939 by the Benny Goodman band.
After Darktown Strutters Ball, which has some of the most typically exuberant Little piano work of the entire album, the mood changes for a relaxed interpretation of Hoagy Carmichael's 30-year-old classic Georgia On My Mind. Notice how effectively the piano answers each clarinet statement of the melody in the opening chorus. The tuba rounds out the overall sound in an effective arrangement. (Whatever planned music can be heard on this session is credited to Larry Fotine, the arranger who has collaborated with Tiny on a number of ragtime pieces.) The second chorus of Sweet Sue is a real panic, especially for stereo listeners - sheer uninhibited bedlam, complete with rollicking keyboard, xylophone, tuba and everything else but (or possibly even including) the kitchen sink. This tune dates back to 1928, which makes it somewhat younger than the concluding item, American Patrol. Here we have another example of how a time-honored melody with no direct jazz associations can be transformed with-out any trouble at all into a vehicle for this kind of free-for-all improvisation.
Very recently Pete Fountain won the Down Beat International Jazz Critics' poll as new star of the year on clarinet for 1960. Although the atmosphere on these sides is hardly intended to appeal to purists or snobs (for whom rowdy, no-holds-barred music merely produces a "we-are-not-amused" lifted eyebrow), it's a cinch that this meeting in modern sound between the critics' new favorite and the public's favorite honky-tonk expert will win many new fans for both.
- LEONARD FEATHER
Side One
1. Fascinating Rhythm
2. Golden Wedding
3. Big Crash From China
4. Cute
5. Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing)
6. Hawaiian War Chant (Ta Hu Wa Hu Wai)
Side Two
1. Wire Brush Stomp
2. Scott Free
3. Las Chiapanecas
4. Quiet Please
5. Creole Gumbo
6. Big Noise From Winnetka
Liner Notes:
Pete Fountain Presents Jack Sperling And His Fascinatin' Rhythm
Drum Solos With Orchestra Directed By Charles Bud Dant
On each of the previous Pete Fountain albums for Coral the propelling factor at the drums has been Jack Sperling. It is not inappropriate, then, that such a basic and yet highly important integer be showcased with a special spotlight. And to add color, special arrangements were written, and a hand-picked group of musicians rounded up for the occasion. Don Bagley, who has appeared with Pete on at least one of his albums for Coral, and who is a Kenton big band alumnus, did the arrangements. Pete told me, gleefully, that after "Bags" had completed a couple of arrangements for the date he brought them in to Bud Dant and said, "Give me some more to do, man; my chops are fine!" Which, (in musicians' parlance) usually refers to physical condition in playing, and more specifically embouchure; but in this case it was the arranging ideas that were flowing easily; and, as you will hear, the results were as colorful and direct as Bagley's speech.
Rounding out the rhythm section and comprising the rest of the basic quartet with Pete and Jack are pianist Stan Wrightsman and bassist Morty Corb - both veterans of the jazz scene and no strangers to recording dates with Pete and Jack.
Among the other musicians heard in the big band passages are Bill Usselton on ten, saxophone; and just about the "strongest" lead trumpet man in the business, the ever-in-demand Conrad Gozzo.
It's something of a tribute to Jack Sperling that I can't tell you minute biographical details about him. After I'd had a chance to give an advance dub of the album a listen we chatted long-distant (I here in New Orleans and he in Hollywood) and in my enthusiasm for the music I had heard and in discussing it I forgot to ask him where he was born, which shoe he ties first. how he likes his eggs (or if he even likes eggs!) and all that jazz. This we know: that he was with the Glenn Miller band that Tex Beneke took on the road right after World War II; that subsequent to that he became Les Brown's drummer and held that chair for several years on a steady basis, eventually relinquishing it to accept a position as staff drummer at NBC, but still working with Les on the Bob Hope TV shows. Needless to say he's an experienced, talented, and swinging drummer; and if you can corner him long enough between staff duties, recording dates, etc., I'm sure he'll be glad to fill you in with additional personal data...
Fascinating Rhythm serves as the Overture to the album - a preview of things to come, inasmuch as Jack holds a sort of question-and-answer session with himself through the use of his conventional drums, tom-toms, and small tuned drums.
Dancers will find the moderate tempo to their liking.
Golden Wedding (La Cinquantaine) is taken at a slower, more deliberate tempo than the first Woody Herman version - which featured drummer Frankie Carlson: and much slower than the Third Herd version of the early 'fifties' with Sonny Igoe at the drums. Jack Sperling and bassist Morty Corb take the intro by themselves. Don Bagley has written a pretty score for the sax section in the first chorus, with Pete leading into the bridge - and again the first part of the second chorus, with tenor man Billy Usselton soloing on the bridge. Sperling and Corb finally take it out by themselves through the same door marked "Rhythm" by which they had entered.
Big Crash From China was one of the specialty numbers of the old Bob Crosby band for featuring drummer Ray Bauduc. Jack makes a solo entrance; then is joined by the other members of the quartet; Pete, Morty, and pianist Stan Wrightsman, for a stop chorus. The melody has a bluesy flavor to it, and made me feel as tho' it might be an inversion of the old "Wang Wang Blues." Jack's brush work is crisp and deft, and punctuated by the bass drum - but all in all not nearly as crashing as the title might indicate.
Cute was written by the prolific Neal Hefti to feature drummer Sonny Payne and flutist Frank Wess with the Basie band, and quickly has become a favorite with combo drummers as a head arrangement. Don Bagley has scored this for the full orchestra once more; and Jack takes the breaks during the first chorus with sticks on the hi-hat cymbal. Pete solos in the second chorus, with Jack and the orchestra splitting the third. From then on it's anybody's ball, with the chores pretty evenly divided.
Sing, Sing, Sing, is the number that broke it up at the Benny Goodman 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. Gene Krupa was the Goodman drummer, and set a pretty driving pace on the tom-toms compared with the easy lope of this new version. Jack actually plays melody, solo-wise, on the first chorus, excepting the bridge - which is taken by bassist Corb. After the full band joins in for the second chorus there is some interesting conversational by-play between clarinet and drums. Notice the unison melody by Corb and Sperling just before the ending.
Hawaiian War Chant salutes drummer Buddy Rich and his one-time boss Tommy Dorsey, Jack splits his attention between tom-tom savagery and driving rhythm on the conventional percussion. It's Quartetville once more with piano, bass and clarinet keeping pace with a driving tempo that bodes ill for the durability and longevity of any grass skirts that may be worn by the dancers.
Wire Brash Stomp was a big hit for Gene Krupa shortly after he formed his own band back in '38; and now, through modern recording techniques, Jack gives it his multiple, tho' ,divided (sic!) attention. Stereo fans will see what I mean. There's just a hint of the heavy after-beat that has been so prevalent in recent dance arrangements catering to the teen-age set; and Jack's crisp and dexterous brush work is neatly laced with accents on bongos. Pete comes racing back from the water cooler and slides to a stop just in time for the finale.
Scott Free is an original by "Bags" and Jack, with some more tasty brush work from Jack against a stop-chorus from the band that will probably remind you of the delightful soft-shoe routines of the halcyon days of vaudeville. Pete takes a relaxed second chorus, spelled by a contrasting trombone on the bridge. Then it's full band once more, and everyone is homefr...er, I mean, Scott Free!
Las Chiapanecas (sounds like a Los Angeles street name) is another echo of the Woody Herman-Frankie Carlson alliance, and was performed then by the Four Chips from Woody's band. (There sure were some wonderful things on those old Blue Label Deccas!) The traditional 6/8 of the Mexican dance is felt on and off in this rendition; but the urge to wail in 4/4 is predominant. Stan Wrightsman plays a fine chorus; and Jack's rhythms are masterful throughout.
Quiet Please was a Tommy Dorsey flagwaver used as a showcase for pyrotechnist Buddy Rich. After the opening fanfare and statements from the orchestra, the quartet takes over. Jack's re-strained yet driving rhythm isn't lost on Pete - who makes melodic reference to fit in the release of that chorus. Notice, too, the timbre of Morty's bass-work on this one. Cognizant of Jack's distaste for extended drums solos (which tend to bore the listener and cease to prove anything after the first few minutes other than the drummer's endurance quotient) Don Bagley has scored with commendable brevity and the message is well delivered in less than two minutes. The cymbal-work is strategic, and Jack wraps it up with a snap-roll on both bass drums. Look out Astaire!
Creole Gumbo is another original, and as satisfying and smile-evoking as the New Orleans dish far which it was named. Clarinet and drums compare cooking ideas with laudable precision in reaching agreement as to the best way to make it - and like, they DO - ya' know?
Big Noise From Winnetka featured drummer Ray Bauduc and bassist Bob Haggart — with extra melody provided by some between-the-teeth whistling from "The Hag". It was named for a feminine admirer of one of the boys in the Crosby band; and she would come into the Blackhawk in Chicago where the band was playing and "spook" him ad infinitum. Since she hailed from the suburb north of Chicago, Winnetka, and was none too reticent in voicing her admiration, this bit of by-play was so-named as an "inside rib". A feature of the original was Bauduc's drumming on the strings of Haggart's bass. In this version Jack also indulges in similar instrumental trespass. He states the melody on his tuned drums first, however, followed by Pete's clarinet with the melody line of the whistling in the older version. Morty Corb has his innings on bass; and the final score is 3-0 in favor of the trio.
If you haven't already been listening to the album, get with it. I'm sure you'll find, as I have, that the wiry meticulousness of Jack Sperling, the man, that is apparent to the eye is reflected in Jack Sperling, the drummer, as apparent to ear. In fact, if you'll forgive me, I'll say that this Sperling is marked "Sterling" - and let it go at that.
Liner Notes:
A Lawrence Welk Showcase
Many of today's most outstanding musical talents are members or alumni of the famous Lawrence Welk organization. Through the medium of Welk's popular television shows the American viewing and listening public discovered the artistry of Pete Fountain, today the celebrated "Mr. New Orleans Jazz"; the violin virtuosity of Dick Kesner; the captivating keyboard styling of "Big" Tiny Little.
Here is a glistening showcase of Welk-launched talent, some still part of his organization, others having moved on to unprecedented success and popularity on their own.
In A Lawrence Welk Showcase, we hear Pete Fountain's fabulous clarinet interpretations of When My Baby Smiles At Me and the Gershwin classic Summertime; Dick Kesner and his magic Stradivarius in exciting arrangements of Schubert's Serenade and Londonderry Air ("Danny Boy"); "Big" Tiny Little, master of the honky tonk piano, playing a rousing version of Yes Sir, That's My Baby and Peg 0' My Heart. We hear a lilting rendition of What Is This Thing Called Love, sung by former champagne lady Alice Lon; the lovely Lennon sisters singing You Always Hurt The One You Love; Myron Floren's wonderful accordion interpretation of Over The Waves Waltz; Jerry Burke's organ styling of Kiss Me Again; and the entire Welk orchestra playing Whispering and Alexander's Ragtime Band.
A Lawrence Welk Showcase is not only great entertainment, it represents a colorful cross-section of American popular music today.
