Interviewing California's TV Celebrity Lawrence Welk

By C. MacDonald

One of California's most famous celebrities is bandleader Lawrence Welk. Although he passed away nearly 25 years ago, his band has been seen on television since 1951. I had the pleasure of interviewing Lawrence for a newspaper article on his 75th Birthday in 1978.

The North Dakota farm boy taught himself how to play the accordion. When he wasn't working on his family's wheat farm, Lawrence started performing for other farmers and their families. He eventually was able to get together some other musicians and they began touring by car.

His band gained in popularity and became known for its polkas, waltzes and "champagne music." He came to California and in 1951, began producing "The Lawrence Welk Show" from the Aragon Ballroom in Santa Monica for KTLA-TV. His band would later become a long-running hit before a national audience on the ABC TV Network; then syndication. Now, more than 66 years after it's TV debut, The Lawrence Welk Show is still seen on television.

For the 75th Birthday article, I interviewed Lawrence by phone. He was performing in Biloxi, Mississippi. He was very humble, gracious, friendly and talked to me as if I was a member of his family. He loved what he was doing and had a terrific sense of humor. He always danced with women from the audience and once exchanged places with a cameraman, who danced with the ladies, while he shot the performance.

What most people probably don't know is that he also mastered the banjo, guitar and piano. Many famous musicians came from his band, including jazz clarinet legend Pete Fountain. I really enjoyed talking with Lawrence; it was as if I'd known him all my life. He had a passion for what he did and he brought so much joy to those who regularly watched him.

A couple weeks after the article ran, I answered the phone and was surprised to hear Lawrence telling me how the birthday story was one of the best articles ever written on him. He invited me to have a private dinner with he and his wife at their Lawrence Welk Country Club Village in Escondido.

I arrived and sat down across from his wife, Fern, when Lawrence emerged from the kitchen with his accordion. He said, "What would you like to hear?" I said, "Greensleeves," which he proceeded to play with vigor, while flashing his famous smile and twinkling eyes.

After dinner, he invited me to join his band at the auditorium, where they were practicing for a performance at Harrah's Tahoe.

While I sat watching the practice from the back of the auditorium, Lawrence asked me to come up on stage and sing with the band. I did and it was an experience I'll never forget.

You can read more about this amazingly talented man in his best-selling books. Lawrence's farewell performance with the band was at Concord Pavilion in 1982 but many of his band members still perform together and, thanks to television, the fantastic Welk Band shows from seven decades can still be enjoyed to this day. As the California legend used to say, "A Wunnerful, A Wunnerful!"