Lawrence Welk should be known to anybody that has listened to music from the 1960’s, 1970’s or even the 1980’s.  PBS still airs reruns of his show on Saturday nights.  That’s not to say that everyone who is familiar with the name is a fan of the music.  Lawrence Welk could easily be classified as “music your grandparents listened to”.  He has carried that reputation throughout his career even though he continued to make music well into the 1980’s.

Lawrence Welk was born in 1903 in Strasburg, North Dakota, into a family that emigrated from what is now Ukraine.  His family was surrounded by other German immigrants and German was the language that everybody in Strasburg spoke.  Lawrence Welk himself did not learn to speak English until he was 21.

At 21 years old, Lawrence Welk left the family farm to pursue a career in music.  He remained close by and had touring bands that played in North and South Dakota.  It was on the radio that he made it big.  He had a local radio show in South Dakota, and he was an instant success.

By 1951, he had moved to Los Angeles and started his TV show that same year.  Lawrence Welk kept his TV show on the air for 31 years and it was a ratings success throughout its lifetime.  Lawrence Welk developed his “Champagne Music” style early on.  He used it to define his music, even while playing the currents hits on the Pop chart along with older standards.

In addition to music, Lawrence Welk was a savvy businessman, investing in Los Angeles real estate early on.  At one point, I read that he was the wealthiest person in Hollywood due primarily to his real estate investments.

Lawrence Welk retired from his TV show in 1982 and retired from music altogether in the late 1980’s.  He passed away in 1992 at the age of 89.

Lawrence Welk His Orchestra And Chorus – 22 Merry Christmas Favorites From Our House To Your House! is a compilation CD of Christmas songs performed by Lawrence Welk And His Champaign Music and features solos by his regular performers, many of which stayed with him many, many years.  The CD comes to us from Ranwood Records, which is a record label Lawrence Welk formed in 1962 with another partner, Randy Wood from Dot Records.

The front cover is pleasant with the title Lawrence Welk His Orchestra And Chorus 22 Merry Christmas Favorites From Our House To Your House! in red and green letters on a yellow background.  Holiday decorations are included in the design.  The back of the CD has the title followed by a numerical track listing with time signatures.

The front cover opens to a single fold-out that has a little more detail that takes up both sides.  At the top is “Lawrence Welk His Orchestra And Chorus play” followed by a testament to the annual Lawrence Welk Christmas Shows.

Below the heading is a numerical track listing featuring writer / arranger credits along with publishing credits.  Time signatures are included, but what is missing for me are recording dates and featured singers.  Those are two things that are always good to have.  The back of the cover has a list of compilation CDs available from Ranwood Records.

If you are not familiar with Lawrence Welk And His Champagne Music, it is best described as good, wholesome music that caters to an older audience.  In the Pop hits arena of the 1960’s, that would be a dividing line for a younger audience, but when it comes to Christmas music, most songs, even today, have an orchestral feel to them.  It is not unusual for Christmas music to have a good, wholesome sound.

The CD begins with the title song, an original from George Cates, Lawrence Welk’s arranger for many years.  It has all the Champagne Singers in full voice wishing you a Merry Christmas.  They sound very much like the Percy Faith Chorus.  Through some investigating and cross references, I was able to put years to about half the songs on here.  This one is from 1957.

Also from 1957, Silver Bells is a duet shared by Norma Zimmer and Jim Roberts.  Norma Zimmer is probably the “Champagne Girl” people are most familiar with.  She spent 22 years on the Lawrence Welk TV show, and by listening to her, you can tell she has a classically trained voice.

Most of the 22 songs on here are Christmas carols and hymns.  No Frosty, Rudolph or Jingle Bells.  Lawrence Welk did indeed cover these songs; they’re just not represented here.  Most of the ones that are not traditional carols are original songs written by George Cates in partnership with other performing members.

Thanks for Christmas is another one of those originals.  I was able to put a year of 1961 on it, but not sure of the male vocalist.  You could spend a lifetime studying Lawrence Welk and all the soloists he featured.  (I do need to spend a little more time with his music to get to know the voices better).  It’s a wonderful Christmas song written in a classic Christmas arrangement that describes all the wonderful feelings Christmas brings.

Another non-traditional Christmas carol has the Lennon Sisters singing I Wanna Do More Than Whistle (Under The Mistletoe).  The Lennon Sisters were a group of four sisters that got started when the oldest was only in her teens.  They started performing on the Lawrence Welk show in 1955 and continued appearing on the show until 1968.  In addition, they had their own career with records and concerts outside of their work with Lawrence Welk.  (Look for a review of their Christmas album in this blog’s future).

I Wanna Do More Than Whistle (Under The Mistletoe) is another George Cates original.  It speaks of a typical teenage girl that wants to kiss under the mistletoe.  It has an upbeat arrangement and is very typical of the teen melodies popular at the time.  Because it is so unique, it is a classic.  I like it very much.  So much, that it appears in my Top 500 Classic Christmas Recordings.

This CD is filled with solos and group ensembles.  The music is performed by a full orchestra.  There are no true instrumentals.  The ones that may not feature the true words sung, are vocal harmonies “ooing” and “ahing” the melody.  Many songs have that Lawrence Welk sound, featured by an organ played in higher octaves and all feature big arrangements.

One of my favorite Christmas carols is What Child Is This and here Ralna English gives it a wonderful somber treatment.

Another original, this time written by the Sherman Brothers upon request from Lawrence Welk for his 1980 Christmas Special, is Christmas In Los Angeles.  It features a soft arrangement of light orchestrations with chimes and the Champagne Singers harmonizing about all the virtues of a warm Christmas in Los Angeles.  It is the last commercial recording Lawrence Welk made.

There is not a bad song on here and the quality of the remastering is excellent.  I don’t like comparing orchestras and choruses as similar, but this sounds very much like Percy Faith.  If you are familiar with Percy Faith and his Christmas music, and you like it, you will like this just as much.

The arrangements are classic arrangements of many carols you will be familiar with.  The Champagne Singers appear on every song, whether as featured singers or providing harmonies with a soloist, giving them the “Champagne Sound”.  Lawrence Welk was popular on TV and on records for many years for many people and his Christmas music is no different.  If you seek Christmas music from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, performed by full orchestras with large choruses, then you should include this in your collection.

There are many Lawrence Welk Christmas compilations out there.  I have a total of three and I need to look into getting copies of all the original albums, so I have all the songs.  I can highly recommend this particular one.  It was a popular compilation, and the remastering is very good.  (One of the compilations I have was re-produced poorly and sounds terrible.  Stay away from the LaserLight CD A Wunnerful, Wunnerful Christmas With Lawrence Welk).  There are 22 great sounding Christmas songs here that should be in everyone’s collection.

I give this CD :

****1/2*