Posted by Straw Boss on March 18, 2018 at 20:20:20 from (66.35.104.120):
In Reply to: Lawrence Welk 1955 posted by Dean on March 18, 2018 at 08:20:44:
Still watch Lawrence Welk on Saturday evenings on South Dakota Public Broadcasting tv channel. I too, had to watch as a kid because that was just the way it was when your parents decide the channel. I didn't always like the singing when I was at that age but did appreciate the instrumental talent. I recently read Lawrence Welk's autobiography. I recommend it highly not only for the story of his life but also for the historical history of the early Dakotas and the hard-scrabble pioneer life. At the risk of this being too long winded, here are some condensed points of interest for you Lawrence Welk fans.
History lesson:
The Welk family were Germanic Catholics who came originally from the Alsace-Lorraine. In 1878, after the Franco-Prussian wars, Alsatian families went to Odessa, in the Ukrainian section of southern Russia, in order to escape religious persecution. Lawrence's parents, who were children at the time, went along with that original band of settlers, and later on were married there. As time went on LWs (Lawrence Welk's) father became increasingly dissatisfied with the conditions in Odessa, and in 1892 he and LW's mother decided to emigrate to America. They had no money, no material possessions of any kind, except for an accordion and some leather-bound Catholic missals. LW's uncle who was married to his father's sister, had already settled in the Strasburg area of North Dakota, and he advanced LW's parents the money to make the trip. They traveled by steerage to New York, and then by train and horse cart to Strasburg, with LW's father carrying the accordion every foot of the way. It had been in the family for generations and belonged originally by an ancestor who was a blind strolling player.
Lawrence's first accordion:
Lawrence was born in 1903. He learned to play on his fathers accordion that was brought from the old country, but eventually wanted his own. He got his first accordion as a teenager by trapping and hunting. The government also had a bounty on squirrels at the time. He got .02 / tail sent in to the government office, packed in small Bull Durham tobacco bags. He finally managed to save up fifteen dollars and sent away for an accordion. It fell apart in only a few weeks and he was heartbroken but determined to have another, so he went back to his trap lines and rifle. After what seemed an eternity, he saved twenty dollars and sent away for another, not realizing that a twenty dollar accordion wasn't much better than a fifteen dollar accordion. The same thing happened and he learned a hard lesson on the value of quality and craftsmanship.
Sometime later, at about 17 years of age, a traveling musician came to Strasburg to play a series of accordion concerts and dances. The event changed LW's life. It was the first piano-type accordion he had ever seen, and he was overcome with admiration for its beauty and the clarity and brilliance of its tone. For days after, he could think of nothing else. He felt he had to have one just like it. But it cost four hundred dollars! At a time when most farmers earned less than that in a full year's work. He eventually hatched out a plan but it would take his father's help. "Father, if you would give me four hundred dollars to buy an accordion like Tom Gutenburg's I'll work for you for four years on the farm and give you every cent I make playing for weddings and festivals and barn dances...and name days...and ...everything."
Fast forward four years......:
As my twenty-first birthday approached I was filled with excitement. I sent away for a new suit. I packed and repacked my small valise a dozen times - a change of underclothing, two shirts, some hand-knit socks, a sweater, my missal, my rosary, my prayer book. I shined and reshined my shoes and I marked the days off on the calendar. On March 11, 1924, I woke very early in the morning. I was twenty-one years old. I got dressed in my unfamiliar new finery, inspected the contents of my valise one more time, and counted my small hoard of money. I had enough for my train fare plus three one-dollar bills, which I pinned in my inside coat pocket, and a little loose change. After breakfast I said my farewells. We said goodbye quickly and then I turned to my father. "So you're going," he said with that level look of his. "Well, you'll be back. You'll be back just as soon as you get hungry. He'll be back in six weeks," he added, turning to the rest of the family, "looking for a good meal!" They all laughed and I did too, but I knew I would never return for help. I would never come back till I had proved myself. My father and I had made a bargain, and we had each kept his word to the letter and spirit of the agreement. He had kept his word and I was free to go. Now it was up to me to prove that my dreams were more than dreams. I jumped into the buggy and made the three mile trip to Strasburg.
The next few weeks:
I learned almost immediately that my father was right when he predicted that I wouldn't earn a lot of money every night. In fact, I was hard put to earn anything at all at first. I had gone to Aberdeen, South Dakota, the day I left the farm, partly because we had friends living there, and partly because I had only enough money to buy a ticket that far. I stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Faith and their two sons who played the violin and piano, and they helped me get engagements around town. I barely made enough to pay my room and board. In desperation I joined a children's band. I was two feet taller and ten years older than anybody else in the group, but I didn't care. I was earning money and gaining experience, and I just beamed and smiled right along with the other members of the Jazzy Junior Five.
............
The reason I wanted to share these few sentences from the first few chapters of his book is because of the posts below that have links to a few snippets from 1955 during his earlier television career. Many people think of LW as that older man on TV who had a big band with champagne bubbles floating in the background and think it was always that way. We all know him from the last 30 years of his career on television but what most people don't think about is the first 30 years from 1924 to 1954 that he spent on the road, traveling from town to town, playing for nickels and dimes, building his name and learning the business. He also raised a family during this time and moved them often, never really having a permanent address until sometime after the television programs took hold. Something else to think of is with all the hard work, determination and sheer guts it took to do what he did, one has to keep in mind he spoke mostly German and very little English when he left home. He was very self conscious of his heavy accent his whole life and worked very hard to say the right words the right way and embarrassed himself constantly both off and on stage. Also he had to compete with the other big bands like Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Glen Miller to play the best dance halls and hotel ballrooms. He credits his success to the opportunities still available in this country, his own determination, and his faith in God.
If you can find this book, it's titled: Wunnerful, Wunnerful! The autobiography of Lawrence Welk It's a very interesting read and I recommend it to anyone who has an appreciation for his background and his type of music.
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