• Pipeline transport, a conduit made from pipes connected end-to-end for long-distance fluid transport
• Plastic Pressure Pipe Systems, for fluid handling
• Milking pipeline, used on a dairy farm to transport fluid milk
• Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on
  • Classic RISC pipeline, a five stage hardware based computer instruction set.
  • Pipeline (software), a chain of data-processing processes or other software entities
  • Graphics pipeline, the method of rasterization-based rendering as supported by graphics hardware
  • Pipeline (Unix), a set of process chained by their standard streams
  • XML pipeline, a connection of XML transformations
• Telestream pipeline, a video capture and playout hardware device
• Sales pipeline, a visualisation of the sales process of a company
• The Pipeline, a former internet service provider

Places[link]

• Banzai Pipeline, a surfing spot on the North Shore of Oahu
  • Mister Pipeline, an Oahu surfer title
• Tolt pipeline trail, an equestrian and biking trail in Redmond, Washington, USA and Canada

Entertainment[link]

• "Pipeline" (song), a 1963 song by surf rock band The Chantays, also recorded by Johnny Thunders, Hank Marvin, The Ventures and Dick Dale, the Del-Tones, Agent Orange, and Anthrax
• Pipeline (game), a 1989 computer game for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron
• Pipeline Instrumental Review, a music magazine dedicated to instrumental music
• CNN Pipeline, a streaming video service by CNN
• "Pipeline" (instrumental), a song by The Alan Parsons Project from the album Ammonia Avenue
• Pipeline Music, a record label
• Pipeline (comics), a character from Marvel Comics with the ability to teleport himself and others
• Pipeline (board game), winner of Games Magazine's 1992 Game of the Year award
• Radio Scotland programme of music on the bagpipes

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan performing on Austin City Limits in 1989
Background information
Birth name	Stephen Ray Vaughan
Also known as	SRV
Born	(1954-10-03)October 3, 1954 Dallas, Texas
Died	August 27, 1990(1990-08-27) (aged 35) East Troy, Wisconsin
Genres	Blues rock, electric blues, Texas blues, instrumental rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1965 (1965)–1990 (1990)
Labels	Epic, Legacy, Sony
Associated acts	Double Trouble, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Roomful of Blues, Jeff Beck, Joe Cocker
Website	srvofficial.com
Notable instruments
Fender Stratocaster

Stephen Ray "Stevie" Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and a notable recording artist. Often referred to by his initials, SRV, he is best known as the leader of the blues rock band Double Trouble, with whom he recorded four studio albums. Influenced by guitarists of various genres, Vaughan emphasized intensity and emotion in his guitar playing, and favored vintage guitars and amplifiers. He became one of the leading blues rock musicians, encompassing multiple styles, including jazz and ballads.

Born and raised in Dallas as the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan, he moved to Austin at the age of 17, and formed the band, Triple Threat Revue, that evolved into a band called Double Trouble, in 1978. Accompanied by drummer Chris Layton, bassist Tommy Shannon, and later, keyboardist Reese Wynans, Vaughan became an important figure in Texas blues, a loud, swing-driven fusion of blues and rock. Despite the breakthrough success of Double Trouble's debut Epic album, Texas Flood (1983), Vaughan entered a period of alcohol and drug addiction. In 1986, he successfully completed rehabilitation and released the album In Step in (1989). On August 27, 1990, while departing a concert venue by helicopter in East Troy, Wisconsin, Vaughan was killed when the helicopter crashed into the side of a ski hill. His death triggered a global outpouring of grief, and as many as 3,000 people reportedly attended his public memorial service in Dallas.

Vaughan was highly rated and is considered to be one of the greatest guitarists of all time. He has received critical recognition for his guitar playing, ranked at #7 on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists" in 2003. He ranked #3 on Classic Rock magazine's list of "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes" in 2007. Vaughan won six Grammy Awards, including Best Contemporary Blues Performance for In Step. Vaughan was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000 and won five W.C. Handy Awards. As of 2012, Vaughan has sold over 11.5 million albums with Double Trouble.

Life and career[link]

Early life (1954–1964)[link]

Stephen Ray Vaughan was born on October 3, 1954, the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan, at Methodist Hospital in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, a community southwest of the central business district. His mother, Martha Jean Cook, was a secretary,^[1] and his father, Jimmie Lee "Big Jim" Vaughan, was an asbestos worker,^[2] who was a US Navy veteran of World War II.^[3] Throughout his childhood, Vaughan lived in several different cities. Martha acknowledged that the family traveled when Big Jim didn't find work in Dallas.^[2] In July 1997, Jimmie recalled their early childhood:

It wasn't really a comfortable 'Leave It to Beaver' kind of a deal, you know. There was a lot of tension, and there was moving all the time, and never really getting to know people ... on the highway all the time and going to school for two weeks here and three weeks here ... It was the absolute perfect training for us to do what we did ... They were great parents, and my mother's the sweetest mother in the world. And I love my dad. There was a lot of happy times and it wasn't all weird and crazy, but there was a lot of that too. We didn't ever know what our old man was gonna do, you know. He'd go off like a rocket. [But] we had the absolute best parents in the world for being the guitar players that we are, when I look back on it now.^[2][4]

After watching Jimmie begin playing guitar, Vaughan became fascinated with the instrument, and when he turned seven, Big Jim bought him a toy guitar from Sears.^[5] Among the first songs he learned to play were "Wine, Wine, Wine" and "Thunderbird" by the Nightcaps,^[6] a Texan garage rock band formed in the 1950s.^[7] He also learned to play songs by Jimmy Reed, which ignited Vaughan's love for blues music.^[6] Vaughan would spend hours playing along to records note for note and soon became consumed with playing the instrument;^[6] he would often practice to records that Jimmie brought home, which exposed him to guitarists such as Lonnie Mack, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, and B.B. King.^[8] One of the first to take notice was musician Doyle Bramhall, who said that Vaughan "had it from the get-go", and collaborated with Vaughan extensively in later years.^[9]

Vaughan attended Justin F. Kimball High School and was described by Vaughan as "beserk". He often would receive a note from the principal every day stating that his appearance was unacceptable to attend school.^[10] After failing music theory, Vaughan briefly attended Southern Methodist University after winning a scholarship to an evening experimental art class.^[11] He later fondly spoke of the class, saying: "It was a night class and it was a few kids from all over the city. It was completely wide open. We brought records and talked and worked. If you were working on a piece of sculpture and you decided to come in and smash it, you did it. If you wanted to look at it, you did that. The class was great, I learned a lot in it, but it was on the nights when I was supposed to be rehearsing."^[12]

Music career and Double Trouble (1965–1982)[link]

Vaughan began performing with bands at age 10,^[13] playing bass guitar in Jimmie's band, Texas Storm,^[11] and forming his own group, Blackbird.^[14] He made his first recordings with Cast of Thousands, a group that featured future actor, Stephen Tobolowsky, on vocals.^[15] By the time he entered high school, Vaughan began getting paid for late-night performances in local bars and clubs, leaving him exhausted for class the next morning.^[16] After Jimmie moved out of the home at age 15, Vaughan's parents were starting to express apprehension on his career choice. He took a job washing dishes at a local dairy mart for $0.70 an hour, later falling into a barrel of grease.^[17] He ultimately quit and devoted his life to being a professional musician:

When I was about twelve, I had been a dishwasher for a while, and part of my job was to clean out the trash bin. That involved standing on these big 55-gallon barrels with wooden lids on them, where they'd put all the hot grease.

One day I was out there cleaning out the bin, having a blast, and the top broke and I fell in. Just as I finally got out—I'd been up to my chest in grease—they came with two fresh hot vats of boiling grease and I got out just in time. If I'd taken a break later, I would have been a fried guy! The woman fired me because I broke the lids on the barrel, and right then and there I decided, 'Wait a minute. This is not what I want to do. I want to play guitar like Albert King!' And that's the last job I've had other than playing guitar. So, thank you, Albert, for helping me there.^[18]

Vaughan left school after seven weeks of his senior year and moved with Blackbird to Austin, Texas.^[19] Upon arrival, Vaughan recalls that he lived in a club called Rolling Hills—which later became the Soap Creek Saloon—and slept on either the pool table, stage, or floor, though he also said that it was one of his favorite times.^[18] In December 1972, Blackbird reformed as Krackerjack and included bassist, Tommy Shannon.^[20] After two months Vaughan parted with the band to join Marc Benno and the Nightcrawlers, which included singer, Doyle Bramhall. With the help of producer, David Anderle, the Nightcrawlers recorded an album at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood for A&M Records.^[21] Vaughan co-wrote two of the songs from the album including "Crawlin'" and "Dirty Pool". When co-founder, Jerry Moss, suggested adding horns to the album, Benno refused. As a result A&M shelved the project, and the Nightcrawlers returned to Texas without Benno.^[22] The group continued to perform in venues like the Armadillo World Headquarters only to break up a year later.^[23] In 2006, the recordings were later released by Blue Skunk Music.^[24]

In 1975 Vaughan joined guitarist, Denny Freeman, in Paul Ray and the Cobras, a group that appeared weekly at the Soap Creek Saloon.^[25] After two years of performances, Paul Ray was diagnosed with nodes on his throat, leaving the vocal duties to Vaughan during his absence.^[26] This prompted Vaughan to quit the Cobras and form a group called Triple Threat Revue, which included vocalist Lou Ann Barton, bassist W. C. Clark, and drummer Fredde "Pharoah" Walden.^[27] After Clark left to form his own band, he was replaced by Jackie Newhouse, and the group was renamed Double Trouble after a song by Otis Rush.^[28] Chris Layton replaced Walden after he quit the band in July 1978.^[29] Barton was later fired due to a drunken incident following a performance,^[30] and Double Trouble became a power trio. Tommy Shannon, who played with Vaughan in Krackerjack, replaced Newhouse after attending a Double Trouble performance in Houston.^[32][33]

[edit] Texas Flood, Couldn't Stand the Weather and Carnegie Hall (1983–1984)

In 1983 Vaughan contributed to David Bowie's album, Let's Dance; the album sold over three times as many copies as Bowie's previous best-seller.^[34] Vaughan was invited to join Bowie's band for the Serious Moonlight Tour, but Vaughan declined at the urging of his management.^[17] Double Trouble's reputation began to build, and a July 1982 appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival brought them to the attention of record producer John H. Hammond.^[35] In March 1983, Double Trouble signed with Epic Records, a subsidiary of CBS Records.^[35] In June of the same year Epic remixed and released Texas Flood.^[36] The album had spawned several singles, including "Pride and Joy", "Love Struck Baby", and "Mary Had a Little Lamb".^[37]

In the fall of 1983 Double Trouble opened 17 shows for The Moody Blues; the band received $5,000 per show, plus a bonus for successful ticket sales.^[38] In December of '83, Stevie Ray recorded a CD and DVD session with Albert King and also that same December 1983, Double Trouble performed for a taping of Austin City Limits;^[39] the show aired on February 28, 1984, and featured Jimmie's band, The Fabulous Thunderbirds.^[40] Producer, Terry Lickona, agreed that Vaughan's performance was "a combination of nervous, paranoid, and so insecure", saying that he had "zero self-confidence" and was "sweating big-time the whole night".^[41] Double Trouble also performed a sold-out show in New York City's Beacon Theatre, with Rolling Stones vocalist Mick Jagger in attendance.^[40] By the end of 1983, Texas Flood received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Traditional Blues Recording. "Rude Mood" was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.^[42]

Couldn't Stand the Weather, Double Trouble's second album, was released in 1984 to generally favorable reviews. Allmusic gave positive, although reserved, feedback, saying that there aren't "many weaknesses on the record, aside from the suspicion that Vaughan didn't really push himself as hard as he could have".^[43] Music critic Robert Christgau called it "a roadhouse album with gargantuan sonic imagination".^[44] The album was commercially successful, and while it did not receive better accolades, it peaked at number 31 on the US Billboard 200 chart.^[43]

On October 4, 1984, Double Trouble performed a sold-out benefit concert at New York City's Carnegie Hall. In celebration of Vaughan's thirtieth birthday, the show featured many special guests including the Roomful of Blues horn section, keyboardist Dr. John, Jimmie Vaughan, vocalist Angela Strehli, and drummer George Rains. The band wore custom velvet "mariachi" suits and designed a stage set of blue and gold.^[45] Vaughan originally planned to film the performance for future video release, though CBS Records declined. Strehli recalls: "...it was supposed to be videoed and at the last minute they pulled some kind of union thing: 'Well, this show is going to run past eleven, so that means we get double time.' So they had to cancel the video part, which is just a shame."^[46]

The concert was sold-out with Vaughan's closest friends, and family in the audience;^[45] the proceeds benefited the T.J. Martell Foundation's work in leukemia and cancer research.^[47] Vaughan was extremely excited and nervous, saying: "The last time I was that nervous is when I got married, but I couldn't show that to anybody ... I calmed down about halfway through 'Voodoo Chile.' I looked over at Tommy [Shannon], and he was just sort of staring at me, and that's when I knew it was gonna be all right."^[48] An afterparty was thrown by MTV for the band, record company, and other VIPs.^[49] According to the Dallas Times Herald, it took Vaughan an hour just to walk from the bar to the table across the room where his parents were sitting; the article also said, "Stevie Ray found his father, a retired asbestos worker who hadn't taken a plane ride since the Korean War, and hugged him until they both cried." After the show, Jimmie recalled that he was worried that the crowd would have been "a little stiff", saying "[It] turned out they're just like any other beer joint."^[50]

Following the Carnegie Hall performance, Double Trouble toured Australia and New Zealand, performing two shows at the Sydney Opera House.^[51] With increasing exposure, Vaughan's talent earned him two W. C. Handy Awards. He was the first white musician to receive Entertainer of the Year and Instrumentalist of the Year.^[52] Vaughan also co-produced and played on Lonnie Mack's album Strike Like Lightning. Released in April 1985, the album become Alligator Records' best seller.^[53]

[edit] Soul to Soul and substance abuse (1985–1986)

In April 1985, Vaughan appeared on opening day at the Houston Astrodome to perform "The Star Spangled Banner". Although he was the first guitarist to have opened a major league baseball game with the national anthem, Vaughan supposedly did not receive a positive reception for the rendition;^[54] one reporter said, "I was sure he'd be dead by the time he hit 30."^[4] Double Trouble's third studio album, titled Soul to Soul, was released on September 30, 1985, and featured new keyboardist Reese Wynans. Vaughan suggested that the album was named Soul to Soul because the band "learned a lot" and "grew a lot closer".^[55] Two singles from the album—"Change It" and "Look at Little Sister"—both peaked at number 17 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.^[56]

In March 1986, Double Trouble shared the bill with The Fabulous Thunderbirds during a tour of Australia and New Zealand.^[57] The band recorded live concerts across three nights of a subsequent US tour in Austin and Dallas.^[58] These recordings, along with a 1985 appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, were released as Live Alive on November 17, 1986. The album included a previously unreleased cover of Stevie Wonder's song "Superstition".^[59] Vaughan later admitted that the album wasn't his best, saying, "I wasn't in very good shape when we recorded Live Alive. At the time, I didn't realize how bad a shape I was in. There were more fix-it jobs done on the album than I would have liked. Some of the work sounds like [it was] the work of half-dead people. There were some great notes that came out, but I just wasn't in control; nobody was."^[60]

Vaughan developed a serious alcohol and cocaine habit while touring with Double Trouble; his performance contract called for two fifths of Crown Royal and one fifth of Smirnoff.^[61] His cocaine use increased to a quarter-ounce a day (about seven grams) and spiraled into a life-threatening dependency. Doyle Bramhall recalls that there were "mounds of cocaine laying on top of the organ", saying, "Where I was doing a lot, Stevie was doing five times, ten times more than I was doing."^[4] Vaughan's stomach became fiercely scarred from dissolving half a gram of cocaine in alcohol,^[62] leaving hundreds of small cuts in the stomach lining.^[63] During a tour of Europe a month later, Vaughan was hospitalized in Ludwigshafen for suffering from near-death dehydration after years of alcohol and substance abuse. Tommy Shannon said that as Vaughan tried to get up from his hotel bed, he vomited all over his chest and was covered with a puddle of blood. Layton recalled:

We called an ambulance, and these German medics showed up in long white coats, shouting German to one another. They pulled out I.V.'s and we were screaming, 'Hey! Wait a minute! What the hell's going on?' They spoke not a word of English, and we spoke no German. They put I.V.'s in him, and they wanted to take him to the hospital. We were yelling, 'Where are you taking him? What's happening? How will we find him?' They were giving him saline solution because they'd determined, by looking at his eyes and checking his vital signs, that he was suffering from near-death dehydration. They were trying to hydrate him. While he was laying on the bed, I looked into his eyes, and it was like looking into the eyes of a dead deer on the side of the road. They were almost dry, with no life in them. I got scared shitless.

All of a sudden, the life came back into his eyes, and he said, 'I need help,' real weakly. I took that as the moment where he realized this has got to change. Not like, 'I need to get better so I can go back to doing what I've been doing,' but 'everything has to change.'^[64]

Rehabilitation and final years (1986–1990)[link]

Vaughan was urged by a doctor to check into Peachford Hospital, a drug rehabilitation clinic in Atlanta, to begin a full recovery.^[65] About a month later, he checked out of Peachford and went back to touring.^[66] Fully recovered and healthy, Vaughan began living a more spiritual, ascetic lifestyle. He became more health-conscious and quit smoking cigarettes.^[59] To maintain his sobriety and prevent a relapse, Vaughan removed a stipulation for being provided with alcohol backstage.^[67]

In October 1988, Vaughan began recording his fourth studio album with Double Trouble, In Step (1989);^[68] he enjoyed the chance the album gave him to express his experience with sobriety.^[69] Vaughan brought with him his deep devotion to music and sobriety, which had an impact on the band's positive attitude during the album. His goal to improve his guitar playing on the album was largely driven by a desire to make better music, or as drummer Chris Layton put it, more "essential music".^[70] Many of the songs written for In Step were composed during the Live Alive Tour.^[71] The album was stylistically unlike their previous albums, with less blues and more original, groove-oriented material.

In January 1990, Vaughan gave a speech at an AA meeting; a recording and transcript of the speech have been widely circulated on the internet.^[72] On January 30, Vaughan made a guest appearance on MTV Unplugged in New York City, performing "Rude Mood", "Pride and Joy", and "Testify".^[73] In March, Vaughan collaborated with his brother, Jimmie, to record Family Style, produced by Nile Rodgers^[74] which was released on September 25, 1990.^[75] Containing ten songs, the album was a long-awaited project for both brothers; Jimmie said that the sessions "seemed natural" and "almost like we were back home".^[76] Vaughan said, "We've probably gotten closer making this record than we have been since we were little kids at home, and I can honestly say I needed it."^[4]

In August 1990, Double Trouble opened for Eric Clapton during two concerts held at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin. The second of the two shows took place on August 26 and featured a jam session, including Vaughan, with Clapton, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, and Jimmie Vaughan, who performed "Sweet Home Chicago" as the finale to Clapton's set;^[77] Clapton introduced them as "the best guitar players in the entire world".^[78] Drummer Chris Layton recalled the conversation he had with Vaughan backstage after the show:

The conversation was actually very light; there was nothing heavy in it. It was just like, 'this is a great coupla nights and wasn't it great to be here,' and talked about the record that he and Jimmie just made, how they had a lot of fun and that was exciting. He was looking forward to that coming out and looking forward to us making another record. He was in great spirits. I mean, we just had two great nights and we talked about all kinds of stuff, talked about the son that my wife and I were getting ready to have–we didn't know it was a boy–but just anything and everything. We talked for, I guess, almost 30 minutes.

Then he got up and said, 'I'm gonna go back down to the dressing room for a minute.' I don't know, maybe five minutes or so later, he came back up and he had his jacket on, he had his bags. He was making this turn, and I said, 'Hey, what are you doin'?' And he said, 'I'm gonna go back to Chicago.' I said 'Well, now?' And he said, 'Yeah, I gotta get back. I want to call Janna,' his girlfriend, in New York. I thought, 'Jeez, you could actually call her anywhere and then call her later,' but he turned around and said, 'Call me when you get back. I love you,' and kinda gave me that wink of the eye he would do. And then he was gone. He just disappeared into the night.^[79]

Death[link]

On August 27, 1990, all of the musicians boarded four helicopters bound for Chicago, which were waiting on a nearby golf course. According to a witness, there was reportedly haze and fog of varying intensity with patches of low clouds. Despite the conditions, the pilots were instructed to fly over a 1000-foot ski hill. Vaughan, along with three members of Clapton's entourage, boarded the third of the four helicopters–a Bell 206B Jet Ranger–flying to Meigs Field. At about 12:50 am (CDT),^[80] the helicopter departed from an elevation of about 850 feet, veered to the left and crashed into the hill. All of the passengers, including the pilot, Jeff Brown, were killed instantly.^[81]

At 4:30 am, Civil Air Patrol was notified of the accident, ultimately locating the crash site almost three hours later.^[80] Both Clapton and Jimmie were told to identify the bodies; a Coptic cross necklace, worn by Vaughan, was given to Jimmie. The Walworth County coroner conducted an autopsy and found that Vaughan suffered from multiple internal and skull injuries.^[82] The cause of death was officially stated as "exsanguination due to transverse laceration of the aorta".^[81] According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a veteran pilot for Alpine Valley suspected that Brown attempted to fly around the ski hill, but misjudged the location.^[83] Clapton issued a statement the next day, saying that the victims "were my companions, my associates and my friends. This is a tragic loss of some very special people. I will miss all of them very much."^[84]

Vaughan's memorial was held on August 30, 1990, at Laurel Land Cemetery in Dallas, where he was buried next to his father,^[85] and was preceded by a private chapel service for close friends and family. Reverend Barry Bailey of the United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, who was Vaughan's AA sponsor, opened the service with personal thoughts: "We're here to thank God for this man's life. He was a genius, a superstar, a musician's musician. He captured the hearts of thousands and thousands of people. I am thankful for the impact of this man's influence on thousands of people in getting his own life together in the name of God." Kim Wilson, Jeff Healey, Charlie Sexton, ZZ Top, Colin James, and Buddy Guy attended the event. Stevie Wonder, Jackson Browne, and Bonnie Raitt sang "Amazing Grace" at the event.^[86] Nile Rodgers gave a eulogy,^[87] while a member of the Nightcrawlers read chapters five and eleven from The Big Book, a self-help book by Alcoholics Anonymous.^[88] In 1995, the Vaughan family received an undisclosed settlement for wrongful death.^[89]

Aftermath[link]

The Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Statue in Austin.

In the months that followed his death, Vaughan sold over 5.5 million albums in the United States.^[90] On September 25, 1990, Epic released Family Style, with several promotional singles and videos.^[75] In November 1990, CMV Enterprises released Pride and Joy, a collection of eight Double Trouble music videos.^[91] Sony signed a deal with the Vaughan estate to obtain control of his back catalog, as well as permission to release albums with previously unreleased material and new collections of released work.^[92] On October 29, 1991, The Sky Is Crying was released as Vaughan's first posthumous album with Double Trouble, and featured studio recordings from 1984–1985.^[93] Other compilations, live albums, and films have also been released since his death.

On October 3, 1991, former Texas governor Ann Richards proclaimed "Stevie Ray Vaughan Commemoration Day", during which a memorial concert was held at the Texas Theatre.^[93] In 1993, a memorial statue of Vaughan was unveiled on Auditorium Shores and is the first public monument of a musician in Austin.^[94] In September 1994, a Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial Run for Recovery was held in Dallas; the event was a benefit for the Ethel Daniels Foundation, established to help those in recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction who cannot afford treatment.^[95] In 2005, Martha Vaughan established the Stevie Ray Vaughan Scholarship, awarded by W.E. Greiner Middle School to students who intend to attend college and pursue the arts as a profession.^[96]

Personal life[link]

Vaughan and Lenora "Lenny" Bailey met in 1973 after one of Vaughan's performances with the Nightcrawlers at La Cucaracha, a nightclub in east Austin.^[97][98] Although moved by Vaughan's musical prowess, she was attracted to his charmingly modest personality.^[99] Double Trouble's song "Love Struck Baby", he said, was written about her, after claiming July 5 as their "love struck day".^[100] The couple were married on December 23, 1979, between sets at the Rome Inn in Austin, using pieces of wire for rings. Drummer, Chris Layton, described the ceremony as "spontaneous",^[4] saying, "It wasn't like there was invitations sent out or a certain group of people attended—it was just whoever was there was hanging around." Layton also said their marriage was "pretty excitable and passionate".^[101]

Upon return to their home in Austin from touring, Vaughan found the house padlocked, electricity shut off, and Lenny nowhere to be found. Biographers, Joe Nick Patoski and Bill Crawford, wrote that she, "squandered his road earnings on dope while running around with other men that one acquaintance glibly described as 'police characters.'"^[100] After she declined to visit Vaughan in treatment for substance abuse, he filed for divorce three months later. The case was settled out of court, with Lenny receiving alimony, plus $50,000 in cash and twenty-five percent of net royalties (excluding albums after Live Alive).^[102] Vaughan's manager attributes the demise of their marriage to "jealousy" and "unfaithfulness", and as a result, they were both brokenhearted.^[103]

On March 12, 1986, Double Trouble arrived in New Zealand for a performance at the Wellington Town Hall, where Vaughan was sitting outside his hotel room. Janna Lapidus, who was born in Russia, ran into Vaughan on the street and immediately struck up a friendship. In October 1986, while Vaughan was in the London Clinic for substance abuse, Lapidus visited him;^[104] they both decided to be together after seeing an older couple in front of them during a walk in Hyde Park.^[105]

During Vaughan's last two years before his death, he referred to Lapidus as his fiancée. They often made public appearances together including a commercial for Europa, a New Zealand-owned oil company.^[106] Janna also appeared in the video for 'The House is a Rockin' They first lived at Vaughan's childhood home in Dallas,^[107] then moved to a house on Travis Street on May 3, 1987.^[108] Lapidus found modeling work in New York City, and they relocated to a Manhattan apartment at Park Avenue and 24th Street in May 1990, splitting their time between Dallas and New York City.^[109]

Guitar virtuosity[link]

Influences[link]

Vaughan's music took root in blues, rock, and jazz. He was influenced by the work of blues artists such as Albert King, B.B. King, Freddie King, Albert Collins, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Buddy Guy, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Guitar Slim, Chuck Berry, and Muddy Waters. According to nightclub owner Clifford Antone, who opened Antone's in 1975, Vaughan jammed with Albert King at Antone's in July 1977 and almost "scared him to death", saying that "it was the best I've ever saw Albert or the best I ever saw Stevie".^[110] He was influenced by rock artists including Jimi Hendrix and Lonnie Mack, along with jazz guitarists like Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, and George Benson.^[111] While Albert King had a substantial influence on Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix was Vaughan's greatest inspiration. Vaughan declared: "I love Hendrix for so many reasons. He was so much more than just a blues guitarist–he played damn well any kind of guitar he wanted. In fact I'm not sure if he even played the guitar–he played music."^[112]

Vaughan owed his guitar technique in large part to Lonnie Mack, who Vaughan observed in live performance as "ahead of his time".^[112] Mack later recalled his first meeting with Vaughan in 1978: "We was in Texas looking for pickers, and we went out to see the Thunderbirds. Jimmie was saying, 'Man, you gotta hear my little brother. He plays all your [songs].' He was playing a little place called the Rome Inn, and we went over there and checked him out. As it would be, when I walked in the door, he was playing 'Wham!' And I said, 'Dadgum.' He was playing it right. I'd been playing it wrong for a long time and needed to go back and listen to my original record. That was in '78, I believe."^[57] Vaughan owed part of his enduring style—especially his use of tremolo picking and vibrato—to Mack. He acknowledged that Mack taught him to "play guitar from the heart".^[113]

Guitars[link]

Vaughan owned and used a variety of guitars during his career. His guitar of choice, and the instrument that he became most associated with, was the Fender Stratocaster, his favorite being a 1963 model acquired in a trade in 1974.^[114] He started using the model during high school and used them exclusively in his live performances and recordings. Vaughan bought many Stratocasters and gave some away as gifts. A sunburst Diplomat Strat-style guitar was purchased by Vaughan and given to his late girlfriend Janna Lapidus to learn to play on.^[115] Vaughan used heavy strings, tuned a half-step below standard tuning. Heavy use of the vibrato bar necessitated frequent replacements; Vaughan often had his roadie, Byron Barr, obtain custom stainless steel bars made by Barr's father.^[116] Vaughan was also photographed playing a National Duolian, Epiphone Riviera, Gibson Flying V, as well as several other models.^[117] Vaughan used a Gibson Johnny Smith to record "Stang's Swang", and a Guild 12-string acoustic for his performance on MTV Unplugged in January 1990.^[115] On June 24, 2004, one of Vaughan's Stratocasters, dubbed "Lenny", was sold at an auction to benefit Eric Clapton's Crossroads Centre in Antigua; the instrument was bought by Guitar Center for $623,500.^[118]

Amplifiers and effects[link]

Vaughan was a catalyst in the revival of vintage amplifiers and effects during the 1980s. His loud volume and use of heavy strings required powerful and robust amplifiers. Vaughan used two black-face Fender Vibroverbs, which were crucial in shaping his clear overdriven sound. He would often blend other amps with the Vibroverbs including black-face Fender Super Reverbs,^[115] and brands such as Dumble, and Marshall.^[119] While his mainstay effects were the Ibanez Tube Screamer and a Vox wah-wah pedal,^[120] Vaughan experimented with a range of effects. He used a Fender Vibratone,^[115] designed as a Leslie speaker for electric guitars, and provided a warbling chorus effect, which can be heard on the track "Cold Shot". He used a vintage Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face that can be heard on In Step, as well as an Octavia.^[120]

Legacy and influence[link]

Vaughan throughout his career revived blues rock and paved the way for many other artists. Vaughan's work continues to influence numerous blues, rock and alternative artists, including John Mayer,^[121] Kenny Wayne Shepherd,^[122] Mike McCready,^[123] Albert Cummings,^[124] and Los Lonely Boys,^[125] among others. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described Vaughan as "the leading light in American blues" and developed "a uniquely eclectic and fiery style that sounded like no other guitarist, regardless of genre".^[126] In 1983, Variety magazine called Vaughan the "guitar hero of the present era".^[127]

Awards and honors[link]

Vaughan won five W. C. Handy Awards^[128] and was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2000.^[129] In 1985, he was named an honorary admiral in the Texas Navy.^[130] Vaughan had a single number one hit on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for the song "Crossfire".^[131] His album sales in the US stand at over 15 million units. Family Style, released shortly after his death, won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album and became his best-selling, non-Double Trouble studio album with over a million shipments in the US.^[90] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked him seventh among the "100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time".^[132] He also became eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.^[133]

Discography[link]

• Texas Flood (1983)
• Couldn't Stand the Weather (1984)
• Soul to Soul (1985)
• Live Alive (1986)
• In Step (1989)
• Family Style (with Jimmie Vaughan) (1990), produced by Nile Rodgers
• The Sky Is Crying (1991)
• In the Beginning (1992)
• Greatest Hits (1995)
• Live at Carnegie Hall (1997)
• The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Volume 2 (1999)
• In Session (with Albert King) (1999)
• Blues at Sunrise (2000)
• SRV: Box Set (2000)
• Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985 (2001)
• The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (2002)
• Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Stevie Ray Vaughan (2003)
• The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Volume 1 (2006)
• Solos, Sessions & Encores (2007)
• Couldn't Stand the Weather (Legacy Edition) (2010)

See also[link]

• 1980s in music
• List of blues rock performers
• List of electric blues musicians
• List of guitarists
• List of Texas blues musicians
• Music of Austin
• Music of Texas

Texas portal

Citations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Stevie Ray Vaughan

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stevie Ray Vaughan

• Official website
• Stevie Ray Vaughan at Allmusic
• Stevie Ray Vaughan discography at Discogs
• Stevie Ray Vaughan's channel on YouTube

v t e Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble Stevie Ray Vaughan Tommy Shannon Chris Layton Reese Wynans Studio albums Texas Flood Couldn't Stand the Weather Soul to Soul In Step Family Style (w/ Jimmie Vaughan) Live albums Live Alive In the Beginning Live at Carnegie Hall Live At Montreux 1982 and 1985 Live in Tokyo Compilations The Sky Is Crying The Real Deal: Greatest Hits Volume 2 Blues at Sunrise The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble Films Pride and Joy Live at the El Mocambo Live from Austin, Texas Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985 Concert tours Texas Flood Tour Couldn't Stand the Weather Tour Japan Tour 1985 Soul to Soul Tour European Tour 1986 Live Alive Tour In Step Tour Related articles Discography Songs John H. Hammond Category:Stevie Ray Vaughan

Dick Dale
Dick Dale performing at the Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 28, 2005.
Background information
Also known as	Richard Anthony Monsour
Born	(1937-05-04) May 4, 1937 (age 75) Boston, Massachusetts
Genres	Surf rock, rock and roll, instrumental rock
Occupations	Musician, guitarist
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1959—present
Labels	Capitol, GNP Crescendo, Deltone
Associated acts	Del-Tones
Website	www.dickdale.com
Notable instruments
Dick Dale Stratocaster Fender Showman

Dick Dale (born Richard Anthony Monsour on May 4, 1937) is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.^[1]

Early life[link]

Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby Quincy until the eleventh grade. He is of Lebanese, Polish and Belarusian descent (however, his father was not born in Lebanon).^[2] He and his family moved to Orange County, California in 1954. He learned to surf and became interested in music.^[3] He soon learned to play the drums, the ukulele, the trumpet, and finally the guitar.^[4]

Career[link]

Among his early musical influences was his uncle. Dale is often credited as one of the first electric guitarists to employ fast playing scales in his playing. Dale himself was a surfer and wanted his music to reflect the sounds he heard in his mind while surfing. While he is primarily known for introducing the use of guitar reverb that would give the guitar a "wet" sound, which has since become a staple of surf music, it was Dale's staccato picking that was his trademark. Since Dale is left-handed, he was initially forced to play a right-handed model but then went to a left handed model. ^[5] However, he did so without restringing the guitar, leading him to effectively play the guitar upside-down (while Hendrix would restring his guitar), and he often played by reaching over the fretboard rather than wrapping his fingers up from underneath. Dale is also noted for playing his percussive, heavy bending style while using what are, for most guitarists, extremely heavy gauge string sets (16p, 18p, 20p. 38w, 48w, 58w;^[6] guitar string manufacturers do not make string sets for standard tuned electric guitars heavier than 13 to 56).

His desire to create a certain sound led him to push the limits of equipment:

During a six month period that began July 1, 1961, Dale's performances at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa are credited with the creation of the surf music phenomenon. Dale asked for and gained permission to use the 3,000 person capacity ballroom for surfer dances after overcrowding at a local ice cream parlor, where he performed, caused him to seek other venues.^[8] The Rendezvous ownership and city of Newport Beach only agreed to Dale's request under the condition that alcohol sales would be prohibited and a dress code followed. Dale's events at the ballrooms, called "stomps", quickly became legendary and the ballroom was routinely sold out.^[8] Paul Johnson, guitarist for the contemporary group The Bel-Airs, recalled the electric atmosphere of the shows:

"Let's Go Trippin'" is often regarded as the first surf rock song.^[9] This was followed by more locally released songs, including "Jungle Fever" and "Surf Beat" on his own Deltone label. His first full-length album was Surfers' Choice in 1962. The album was picked up by Capitol Records and distributed nationally, and Dale soon began appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show, and in films where he played his signature single "Misirlou". He later stated, "I still remember the first night we played it ("Misirlou"). I changed the tempo, and just started cranking on that mother. And...it was eerie. The people came rising up off the floor, and they were chanting and stomping. I guess that was the beginning of the surfer's stomp."^[10] His second album was named after his performing nickname, King of the Surf Guitar.

Though surf rock became nationally popular in the United States briefly, the British Invasion began to overtake the American charts in 1964. Though he continued performing live, Dale was soon set back by rectal cancer. In the liner notes of Better Shred Than Dead: The Dick Dale Anthology, the line "Then you'll never hear surf music again" was Hendrix's reaction upon hearing that Dale was battling a possibly terminal case of colon cancer, intended to encourage his comrade to recuperate. Dale, in gratitude to his late friend, later covered "Third Stone from the Sun" as a tribute to Hendrix.^[11] Though he recovered, he retired from music for several years. In 1979, he almost lost a leg after being injured while swimming and a pollution-related infection made the mild injury much worse. As a result, Dale became an environmental activist and soon began performing again. He recorded a new album in 1986 and was nominated for a Grammy. In 1987 he appeared in the movie Back to the Beach, playing surf music and performing "Pipeline" with Stevie Ray Vaughan. In 1993 he recorded a guitar solo on the track "Should Have Known" by Southern California indie band The Pagodas which was released as a vinyl single. The use of "Misirlou" in the 1994 Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction gained him a new audience.

In 1995, he recorded a surf-rock version of Camille Saint-Saëns's "Aquarium" from The Carnival of the Animals for the musical score of the enclosed roller coaster, Space Mountain at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. In 1997, Dale appeared in the campy cult film An American Vampire Story performing a rousing guitar solo on the beach with his son on drums. In 2002, Dale appeared in The True Meaning of Christmas Specials. He played several original songs for the program.

The National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche use Dale's song "Scalped" as their theme song. The Black Eyed Peas' song "Pump It" (from the 2005 album Monkey Business) heavily samples Dale's "Misirlou". "Misirlou" is also featured in the PlayStation 2/Xbox 360 video game, Guitar Hero II, as well as the Wii video game Rayman Raving Rabbids. In the feature film Space Jam, as Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam shoot out teeth from one of the Monstars, a clip from "Misirlou" is played.

Dale is a 2011 inductee into the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach, California in the Surf Culture category.^[12]

Personal life[link]

Dale said that he never used alcohol nor drugs and discouraged their use by band members and road crew. Health was a priority for him. In 1972, he stopped eating red meat. He studied martial arts for over 30-years.^[7][13] At age 74 he was still putting on physically energetic live shows.^[4][14] In early 2008, he experienced a recurrence of rectal cancer and finished a surgical, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment regimen.^[15] In June, 2009 Dick Dale began a West Coast tour from Southern California to British Columbia, with approximately 20 concert dates. "Forever Came Calling" (or FCC) featured Dale's then-17-year-old son, Jimmy Dale on drums, who opened for him. Dick continued to perform at venues across the U.S. into 2011. He was scheduled to play the Australian One Great Night On Earth festival to raise funds to benefit those affected by the Black Saturday bushfires and other natural disasters.^[16]

Equipment[link]

As well as the Fender amplifiers already mentioned, Dale is associated with the Fender Stratocaster guitar. Fender makes a signature model, the Dick Dale Custom Shop Stratocaster, fitted with "Custom Shop '54" pickups, which are supposed to recreate the sound of the first "Strats". Dick used a reverb unit with the signal split between two Fender Dual Showman amps. As of 2010, Dale continued to play with his original reverb unit and Showman amps dating from the early 1960s. Dale continued his practice of stringing his left-handed guitar upside down. The unique features of this guitar include a toggle switch that bypasses the three position blade switch to activate neck and middle pickups only.

Recordings[link]

Albums[link]

• Surfers' Choice (Deltone 1962)
• King of the Surf Guitar (Capitol 1963)
• Checkered Flag (Capitol 1963)
• Mr. Eliminator (Capitol 1964)
• Summer Surf (Capitol 1964)
• Rock out with Dick Dale and his Del-Tones: Live at Ciro's (Capitol 1965)
• Greatest Hits (GNP Crescendo 1975)
• The Tiger's Loose (Balboa 1983) [live album]
• Tribal Thunder (HighTone 1993)
• Unknown Territory (HighTone 1994)
• Calling Up Spirits (Beggars Banquet 1996)
• Spacial Disorientation (Dick Dale Records / The Orchard 2001)

Singles[link]

• Ooh-Whee Marie (Deltone 1959)
• Stop Teasing (Deltone 1959)
• Jesse Pearl (Deltone 1960)
• Let's Go Trippin' / Del-Tone Rock (Deltone 1961)
• Jungle Fever / Shake-N-Stomp (Deltone 1961)
• Misirlou / Eight 'Til Midnight (Deltone 1962)
• Mr. Peppermint Man / Surf Beat (Capitol 1962)
• Secret Surfin Spot / Surfin' and Swingin' (Capitol 1963)
• The Wedge / Night Rider (Capitol 1963)
• Mr. Eliminator (Capitol 1964)
• Let's Go Trippin' '65 / Watusi Jo (Capitol 1965)
• Let's Go Trippin' / Those Memories Of You (GNP Crescendo 1975)
• "Pipeline" with Stevie Ray Vaughan, nominated for a Grammy

Compilations[link]

• Hot Rod Music on Capitol (Capitol 1963)
• The Big Surfin' Sounds on Capitol (Capitol 1964)
• Golden Summer (United Artists 1976)
• King of the Surf Guitar: The Best of Dick Dale & The Del-Tones (Rhino 1989)
• Cowabunga Surf Box Set (Rhino 1996)
• Rocket Jockey (Rocket Science Games/SegaSoft 1996)
• Better Shred Than Dead: The Dick Dale Anthology (Rhino 1997)
• MOM II Music for our Mother Ocean (Surf Dog Records 1997)
• Guitar Legend: The Very Best of Dick Dale (Shout! Factory 2010)

Soundtracks[link]

• Pulp Fiction Soundtrack (MCA 1994)

Peel Sessions[link]

Dick Dale made four recordings for John Peel's Peel Sessions:

1. March 30, 1995 (Maida Vale 4)
2. July 10, 1995 (3 Mcr.)
3. August 28, 2002 (Maida Vale 4)
4. March 24, 2004 (Maida Vale 4)

Peel later selected Let's Go Trippin' as the theme tune for his BBC Radio 4 series Home Truths.^[17]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Burt, Rob (1986). Surf City, Drag City. Blandford Press. ISBN 0-7137-1890-0 
• Szatmary, David (1987). Rockin' in Time: A Social History of Rock-and-Roll. Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-188790-4 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dick Dale

• Official website
• Interview at Roctober, includes biographical information
• A 1995 interview
• 2004 Interview with Guitar Nine Records
• 2006 Video Interview - Dick talks about his musical origins and offers advice for musicians
• Dick Dale's advice for musicians by Tommy Liberto
• Audio discography
• Dick Dale's Guitar Screams With Pain And Pleasure, National Public Radio, 26 September 2010 mp3
• Dick Dale: Still King of Surf Guitar, National Public Radio, 31 December 2000

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011)

Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk and Norma Zimmer, 1961.
Born	(1903-03-11)March 11, 1903 Strasburg, North Dakota
Died	May 17, 1992(1992-05-17) (aged 89) Santa Monica, California
Occupation	Musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario
Religion	Roman Catholic
Spouse	Fern Renner (m.1931-1992; his death)
Children	Shirley Welk, Donna Welk, Lawrence "Larry" Welk, Jr.
Website
Welk Musical Family

Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982. His style came to be known to his large number of radio, television, and live-performance fans (and critics) as "champagne music".

In 1996, Welk was ranked #43 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.^[1]

Early life[link]

Welk was born in the German-speaking community of Strasburg, North Dakota. He was sixth of the eight children of Ludwig and Christiana (Schwahn) Welk, ethnic Germans who emigrated to America in 1892 from Selz, Kutschurgan District, in the German-speaking area north of Odessa (now Odessa, Ukraine, but then in southwestern Russia).

The family lived on a homestead that today is a tourist attraction. They spent the cold North Dakota winter of their first year under an upturned wagon covered in sod.^{[citation needed]}

Welk decided on a career in music and persuaded his father to buy a mail-order accordion for $400 (equivalent to $4,641 as of 2012)^[2][3]. He promised his father that he would work on the farm until he was 21, in repayment for the accordion. Any money he made elsewhere during that time, doing farmwork or performing, would go to his family.

A common misconception is that Welk did not learn English until he was 21. In fact, he began learning English as soon as he started school. The part of North Dakota where he lived had been settled largely by Germans from Russia; even his teachers spoke English as a second language. Welk thus acquired his trademark accent, a combination of the Russian and German accents. He took elocution lessons in the 1950s and could speak almost accent-free, but he realized his public expected to hear him say: "A-one, an-a-two" and "Wunnerful, Wunnerful!" When he was asked about his ancestry, he would always reply "Alsace-Lorraine, Germany," from where his forebears had emigrated to Russia (and which, at the time of Welk's birth in 1903, had become part of the German Empire).

Early career[link]

On his 21st birthday, having fulfilled his promise to his father, Welk left the family farm to pursue a career in music, which he loved. During the 1920s, he performed with the Luke Witkowski, Lincoln Boulds, and George T. Kelly bands before starting his own orchestra. He led big bands in North Dakota and eastern South Dakota. These included the Hotsy Totsy Boys and later the Honolulu Fruit Gum Orchestra.^[4] His band was also the station band for popular radio station WNAX in Yankton, South Dakota. In 1927, he graduated from the MacPhail School of Music in Minneapolis, Minnesota.^[5]

Photo of Welk in Chicago, 1944.

Although many associate Welk's music with a style quite separate from jazz, he did record one notable song in a ragtime style in November 1928 for Indiana-based Gennett Records. "Spiked Beer" featured Welk and his Novelty Orchestra.

During the 1930s, Welk led a traveling big band that specialized in dance tunes and "sweet" music. Initially, the band traveled around the country by car. They were too poor to rent rooms, so they usually slept and changed clothes in their cars. The term "Champagne Music" was derived from an engagement at the William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, when a dancer referred to his band's sound as "light and bubbly as champagne." The hotel also lays claim to the original "bubble machine," a prop left over from a 1920s movie premiere. Welk described his band's sound, saying "We still play music with the champagne style, which means light and rhythmic. We place the stress on melody; the chords are played pretty much the way the composer wrote them. We play with a steady beat so that dancers can follow it."^[6]

Welk's big band performed across the country but particularly in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas. In the early 1940s, the band began a 10-year stint at the Trianon Ballroom in Chicago, regularly drawing crowds of nearly 7,000. His orchestra also performed frequently at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City during the late 1940s. In 1944 and 1945, Welk led his orchestra in many motion picture "Soundies," considered to be the early pioneers of music videos.^{[citation needed]} Welk collaborated with Western artist Red Foley to record a version of Spade Cooley's "Shame on You" in 1945. The record (Decca 18698) was #4 to Cooley's #5 on Billboard's September 15 "Most Played Juke Box Folk Records" listing.^[7] From 1949 through 1951, the band had its own national radio program on ABC, sponsored by "The Champagne of Bottle Beer" Miller High Life.

Recordings[link]

In addition to the above mentioned "Spiked Beer", Welk's territory band made occasional trips to Richmond, Indiana and to Grafton, Wisconsin to record a handful of sessions for the Gennett and Paramount companies. In November, 1928, he recorded 4 sides for Gennett spread over two days (1 side was rejected) and in 1931, he recorded 8 sides for Paramount (during two sessions) that were issued on the Broadway and Lyric labels. These records are quite rare and highly valued.

From 1938 to 1940, he recorded frequently in New York and Chicago for the Vocalion label. He signed with Decca in 1941, recorded for Mercury and Coral before moving to Dot in the early 1950s.

[edit] The Lawrence Welk Show

In 1951, Welk settled in Los Angeles. The same year, he began producing The Lawrence Welk Show on KTLA in Los Angeles, where it was broadcast from the Aragon Ballroom in Venice Beach. The show became a local hit and was picked up by ABC in June 1955.

During its first year on the air, the Welk hour instituted several regular features. To make Welk's "Champagne Music" tagline visual, the production crew engineered a "bubble machine" that spouted streams of large soap bubbles across the bandstand. Whenever the orchestra played a polka or waltz, Welk himself would dance with the band's female vocalist, the "Champagne Lady." His first Champagne Lady was Jayne Walton Rosen (real name: Dorothy Jayne Flanagan). Jayne left Welk's show after her marriage and later pregnancy. After Welk and his band went on television, she appeared as a guest on the show, where she sang Latin American songs and favorites that were popular when she was traveling with the Welk band. Novelty numbers would usually be sung by Rocky Rockwell. Welk also reserved one number for himself to solo on his accordion.

Since Welk's show targeted an audience of mature, middle-aged viewers, the band would rarely play tunes from the current charts except strictly as novelty numbers. On December 8, 1956, two examples on the same broadcast were "Nuttin' for Christmas," which became a vehicle for Rocky Rockwell dressed in a child's outfit, and Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel," which was sung by violinist Bob Lido, wearing fake Presley-style sideburns. This stood in comparison to the contemporary American Bandstand, which catered to a youth audience and played new music.

Welk never lost his affection for the jazz numbers he had played in the 1920s, and when a Dixieland tune was scheduled, he enthusiastically led the band.

Befitting the target audience, the type of music on The Lawrence Welk Show was almost always conservative, concentrating on popular music standards, polkas, and novelty songs, delivered in a smooth, calm, good-humored easy listening style and "family-oriented" manner. Although described by one critic as "the squarest music this side of Euclid,"^{[cite this quote]}, this strategy proved commercially successful and the show remained on the air for 31 years.

Much of the show's appeal was Welk himself. His unusual accent appealed to the audience. While Welk's English was passable, he never did grasp the English "idiom" completely and was thus famous for his "Welk-isms," such as "George, I want to see you when you have a minute, right now" and "Now for my accordion solo; Myron, will you join me?" His TV show was recorded as if it were a live performance, and it was sometimes quite free-wheeling. Another famous "Welk-ism" was his trademark count-off, "A one and a two . . . ," which was immortalized on his California automobile license plate that read "A1ANA2." This plate is visible on the front of a Model A Ford in one of the shows from 1980.

Musical satirist Stan Freberg and his frequent collaborator, arranger Billy May, recorded a scathing 1957 parody of the Welk TV show titled "Wun'erful! Wun'erful!" featuring Freberg, voice actor Daws Butler and members of Jud Conlon's Rhythmairs, mocking the show's corny nature, the band's more predictable arrangements and Welk's own mediocre accordion work. Studio musicians on the session included top Hollywood jazz players, many of whom scorned Welk's music and eagerly participated in the parody. After several "performances" and frequent asides from Freberg of "turn off the bubble machine," the machine spun out of control, sending the Aragon Ballroom floating out to sea. Welk was not pleased with Freberg's parody (a hit single that year) and denied he ever used the phrase "Wunnerful! Wunnerful!" though it later became the title of his autobiography.

He often took women from the audience for a turn around the dance floor. During one show, Welk brought a cameraman out to dance with one of the women and took over the camera himself.

Welk's musicians were always top quality, including accordionist Myron Floren, concert violinist Dick Kesner, guitarist Buddy Merrill, and New Orleans Dixieland clarinetist Pete Fountain. Though Welk was occasionally rumored to be very tight with a dollar, he paid his regular band members top scale - a very good living for a working musician. Long tenure was very common among the regulars. For example, Floren was the band's assistant conductor throughout the show's run. He was noted for spotlighting individual members of his band and show. His band was well disciplined and had excellent arrangements in all styles.^{[citation needed]} One notable showcase was his album with the noted jazz saxophonist Johnny Hodges.

Welk had a number of instrumental hits, including a cover of the song "Yellow Bird." His highest charting record was "Calcutta", which achieved hit status in 1961.^[8] Welk himself was indifferent to the tune, but his musical director, George Cates, said that if Welk did not wish to record the song, he (Cates) would. Welk replied, "Well, if it's good enough for you, George, I guess it's good enough for me."^{[cite this quote]} Despite the emergence of rock and roll, "Calcutta" reached number 1 on the U.S. pop charts in 1961; it was recorded in only one take.^{[citation needed]} The tune knocked the Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" out of the #1 position, and it kept the Miracles' "Shop Around" from becoming the group's first #1 hit, holding their recording at #2. It sold more than one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.^[9] The album "Calcutta" also achieved number-one status. The albums "Last Date," "Yellow Bird," "Moon River," "Young World" and "Baby Elephant Walk and Theme from the Brothers Grimm," produced in the early 60s, were in Billboard's top ten; nine more albums produced between 1956 and 1963 were in the top twenty. His albums continued to chart through 1973.^[8]

Welk's insistence on wholesome entertainment led him to be a somewhat stern taskmaster at times. For example, he fired Alice Lon, at the time the show's "Champagne Lady," because he believed she was showing too much leg.^[10] Welk told the audience that he would not tolerate such "cheesecake" performances on his show; he later tried unsuccessfully to rehire the singer after fan mail indicated overwhelmingly that viewers disagreed with her dismissal. He then had a series of short-term "Champagne Ladies" before Norma Zimmer filled that spot on a permanent basis. Highly involved with his stars' personal lives, he often arbitrated their marriage disputes.^[10]

Despite its staid reputation, The Lawrence Welk Show nonetheless did keep up with the times and never limited itself strictly to big-band era music. During the 1960s and 1970s, for instance, the show incorporated material by the contemporary sources The Beatles, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, The Everly Brothers and Paul Williams and so on, all redone in a format that was digestible to older viewers. Originally produced in black and white, in 1957 the show began being recorded on videotape, and it switched to color for the fall 1965 season. In time, it featured synthesized music and, toward the end of its run, early chroma key technology added a new dimension to the story settings sometimes used for the musical numbers. Welk referred to his blue-screen effect in one episode as "the magic of television."^{[citation needed]}

During its network run, The Lawrence Welk Show aired on ABC on Saturday nights at 9 p.m. (Eastern Time), moving up a half-hour to 8:30 p.m. in the fall of 1963. In fact, Welk headlined two weekly prime-time shows on ABC for three years. From 1956 to 1958, he hosted a show titled Top Tunes and New Talent, which aired on Monday nights. The series moved to Wednesdays in Fall 1958 and was renamed The Plymouth Show, which ended in May 1959. During that time, the Saturday show was also known as The Dodge Dancing Party. ABC dropped the show in 1971 on the grounds that its audience was mostly over the age of 45 and they couldn't advertise products targeted at youth on it. Welk thanked ABC and the sponsors at the end of the last network show. The Lawrence Welk Show continued on as a first-run syndicated show on 250 stations across the country until the final original show was produced in 1982.

Personal life[link]

Welk was married for 61 years, until his death, to Fern Renner (August 26, 1903 - February 13, 2002), with whom he had three children. One of his sons, Lawrence Welk Jr., married fellow Lawrence Welk Show performer Tanya Falan; they later divorced. Welk had many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One of them, grandson Lawrence Welk III, who usually goes by "Larry Welk," is a reporter and helicopter traffic pilot for KCAL-TV and KCBS-TV in Los Angeles. One of the great-grandchildren, Nate Fredricks, reportedly enjoys the same love for music as his great-grandfather did and plays guitar in a band.

Known as an excellent businessman, Welk had investments in real estate and music publishing. Welk was the general partner in a commercial real estate development located at 100 Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica, California. The 21-story tall white tower is the tallest building in Santa Monica and is located on the bluffs overlooking Santa Monica Bay. It was informally named "The Lawrence Welk Champagne Tower."

Welk enjoyed playing golf, which he first took up in the late 1950s, and was often a regular at many celebrity pro-ams such as the Bob Hope Desert Classic.

A devout, life-long Roman Catholic, Welk was a daily communicant, which is corroborated in numerous biographies, by his autobiography and by his family and his many staff, friends and associates throughout the years^[11]