A Lawrence Welk Special - SWEET and LOVELY

A Lawrence Welk Special
SWEET and LOVELY

Featured Soloists

Flute - Luella Howard
Oboe and English Horn - Champ Webb
Trumpet - Shorty Sherock
Trombones - Ed Kusby, Tommy Pederson, Joe Howard, Si Zenter (courtesy Liberty Records)
Alto Sax - Wilbur "Willy" schwartz, Skeets Herfurt
Piano - Bobby Van Eps

Arranged and conducted by Bob Ballard


Orchestra leaders like Lawrence Welk know a lot of things about dancers. And one of the things they know is that as the night progresses the dancers get younger and more romantic. It really happens. The older folks go on home and the younger ones keep on dancing, closer and closer.

By "younger" Lawrence means the dancers who grew up in the Forties and Fifties liking the sound of the "big bands," the full rich swinging sound that made dancing and romancing a happy combination.

Dancing and romancing haven't gone out of style at all, so Lawrence has developed a late-in-the-evening type of orchestra with just the right instrumentation and repertoire. Unlike Lawrence's early-evening "Champagne music-makers," this group is made up of four horns, four trombones, four trmpets, six reeds and a rhythm section. The songs played are for the most part ones that emerged and became popular during the big band era, sentimental songs that are ideally suited to cheek-to-cheek dancing.

For a period of ten years, early in his career, Lawrence Welk had a six-piece orchestra. It was good experience, it was a living, and he built quite a reputation with it. But it was frustrating. He always dreamed of the day when he could have all themusicians and singers he wanted, when he could produce any and every kind of musical presentation.

With the coming of televisiona nd his skyrocketing rise to national popularity, Lawrence had the opportunity and the need to see his dream come true. He could do all the things he had long wanted to, indeed, felt compelled to do them by the demands of a weekly show that he hoped would appeal to all kinds of people all over the country.

By now it is obvious that Lawrence has more than succeeded. His remarkably versatile orchestra, whether on TV or playing in ballrooms, is capable of all kinds of music-classics-polkas, jazz and all manner of current pop tunes. Most famous of his orchestral styles, of course, has been his "Champagne Music," a gay and bouncy approach to the dancefloor which has never been equalled in public acceptance.

The younger dancers, however, wanted something more solid and sentimental, and Lawrence was happy to give it to them. Now, here is the result - big new sound, the swinging sweet and lovely sound of Lawrence Welk. Here is an album designed, as Lawrence himself puts it, "for late in the evening when folks feel like romancing."



Side 1

1. Sweet and Lovely
(Arnheim-Tobios-Lemare)

2. Beyond The Sea
(Lawrence-Trenet)

3. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
(Watson-Best)

4. Once In Awhile
(Green-Edwards)

5. Laura
(Roksin)

6. (There Is) No Greater Love
(Symes-Jones)

Arranged and Conducted By Bob Ballard


Side 2

1. In A Sentimental Mood
(Ellington-Mills-Kurtz)

2. Autumn Leaves
(Mercer-Kosma-Prevert)

3. Flemingo
(Anderson-Grouye)

4. Fools Rush In
(Mercer-Bloom)

5. April In Paris
(Marburg-Duke)

6. The Love Of Mine
(Sinatra-Parker-Sonicola)

Arranged and Conducted By Bob Ballard