Certainly, the signature Welk sound - "light and sparkling, smooth and bubbling" is how he himself described it - tended to sameness, and Welk and his cohorts could make any song sound, if not timeless, at least old. It's as if the Welk Orchestra was a great blender and they were simply another bland ingredient. The sisters sweetly chime on "Scarlet Ribbons," "Greensleeves," "In This Very Room" and "How Great Thou Art." Among other familiar sounds: Larry Hooper's profound bass on "My Grandfather's Clock," JoAnn Castle's rollicking honky-tonk piano on "Baby Face," Pete Fountain's serpentine clarinet on "Pete's Tail Fly" and the somber narration of Aladdin on the inspirational "One Solitary Life."įew of Welk's vocalists had distinctive personalities - they tended to attack a song head on, with little ornamentation or emotion.
1 request, and the late-blooming gold records "Calcutta," "Winchester Cathedral," "Yellow Bird" and the novelty number "Baby Elephant Walk."Īnd of course there is the supporting cast, headed by those Midwestern harmony specialists, the Lennon Sisters, and the accordion virtuoso Myron Floren. It opens, as did Welk's television show, with a trumpet fanfare and the perpetual theme, "Bubbles in the Wine," and closes, 66 cuts later, with another signature tune, "Adios, Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehen." Hardly a familiar corner remains unturned in between: There are the polkas (from "Beer Barrel" and "Clarinet" to "Pennsylvania") and waltzes ("Fascination," "Blue Danube" and "Over the Waves") "Tea for Two," Welk's perennial No. Obviously, this three-CD "Musical Anthology" is not for everybody.
Welk was, of course, an acquired taste, his "champagne music" held in some quarters to be the epitome of bland, homogenized pop without the fizz - closer to Champale. And he was a tremendously popular figure through his long-running weekly television show, still in syndication in many parts of the country. WHY SHOULDN'T Lawrence Welk be honored with a box set? After all, Welk's career lasted longer - decades longer - than that of many folks awarded this new badge of credibility.