I can still recall the wonder and delight I felt when he let me press my fingers on the keys and squeeze out a few wavering notes." When he was 17 years old, Welk made a deal with his father that committed him to continue working on the family farm until his 21st birthday in exchange for a $400 accordion. As Welk recalled in his autobiography Wunnerful, Wunnerful, "My earliest clear memory is crawling toward my father who was holding his accordion. The elder Welk earned extra money by performing at local barn dances, and his son soon followed in his footsteps. The prolonged recovery from the resulting appendectomy and subsequent peritonitis allowed Welk to abandon school and focus on farm work, fur trapping, and teaching himself to play his father's accordion. Welk's education was cut short when he suffered acute appendicitis when he was ten years old. The Welk family spoke only German, schooling their children in a parochial school staffed by German-speaking nuns. The family lived in a wood-sided sod home and earned their livelihood through farming. Welk was born on March 11, 1903, in Strasburg, North Dakota. The Welks arrived in the United States after an exile in Russia and, after a long trip by ox-drawn cart, settled on a land claim in Emmons County, North Dakota, in 1893. Welk was the sixth of eight children born to German immigrants Ludwig and Christina Welk.
#Lawrence welk accent series
Reruns of the popular series continued to be broadcast weekly on Public Broadcasting as late as 2000, a testimony to the enduring appetite of a large portion of the American television-viewing public for wholesome entertainment. Welk rebounded with a syndicated program following the same format as his network telecasts and recognized even greater financial success. The network subsequently canceled the show when executives determined that Welk's program was not attracting a younger demographic viewing audience coveted by advertisers. Four years later, Welk's local Los Angeles program was picked up by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), bringing his particular brand of music into millions of American homes twice a week for 15 years. Lawrence Welk had been performing music professionally for more than 35 years before garnering national exposure as host of his own television program in 1951. The music performed by Lawrence Welk and his Champagne Music Makers alternately has been admired and reviled for the bandleader's insistence on inoffensive subject matter emphasizing American patriotism and traditional Christian values and arrangements emphasizing melody over improvisation and technical skill.
0 kommentar(er)
