Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Despite its title, Lawrence Welk Swings, this really wasn't a bad idea for a CD, but it seems as though Lawrence Welk and his orchestra didn't leave quite enough proper swing material behind to really do it right. Evidently compiled from several decades of recordings by Welk's band (it's all stereo, but that's still thirty-plus years of stuff to choose from), this is the cream of their renditions of big band numbers. The funny thing is, some of it is not half bad. Oh, it is swing-lite, to be sure, at best -- "Take the 'A' Train" is deadly dull compared to any version that you'd actually set out to hear, and there's no tension to speak of on "One O'Clock Jump," but they go through some effort at piano embellishment and a sax solo; "Woodchopper's Ball," is decent even if it exists in 30 hotter versions. And "Organ Grinder's Swing" answers a question about the name of a piece of music that runs throughout one of the better 1930s Popeye cartoons (the one with -- right -- an organ grinder). But "Christopher Columbus," "String of Pearls" and even worse, "Corn Silk," "Laura Jean" and "Get Me to the Church on Time," are abominable inclusions as swing numbers, played in the requisite rinky-dink, roller-rink Welk style. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "Caravan" and especially "Boogie Woogie" aren't bad, but too much of what's here is done in the style of a bad resort hotel band with little sense of taste or style. On the other hand, if you were going to listen to Welk's outfit at all, this CD might be the only current release that you could get through, even if it makes you want to throw your Ellington, Goodman, Dorsey and Shaw originals on as soon as it's over.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From £10.83/month
Billy Strayhorn, ComposerLyricist - Joya Sherrill, ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records.
Count Basie, ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records.
Unknown, Composer - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records, A Welk Music Group Company
Andy Razaf, ComposerLyricist - Leon Berry, ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records.
Jerry Gray, ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records.
Victor Schertzinger, ComposerLyricist - John Mercer, ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records.
Ferdinand Joseph Morton, Composer - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records.
Alberto Pestalozza, ComposerLyricist - Frank Scott, Arranger, Work Arranger - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records.
Carl Fischer, ComposerLyricist - Bill Carey, ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records.
Johnny Mercer, ComposerLyricist - Harold Arlen, ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Welk, Accordion, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1959 Ranwood Records.
Hal Bellis, ComposerLyricist - Irving Kahal, ComposerLyricist - Wayne King, ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records.
George Cates, ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Welk, Accordion, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1960 Ranwood Records.
Frederick Loewe, Composer - Alan Jay Lerner, Author - Lawrence Welk, Accordion, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1966 Ranwood Records.
Cole Porter, ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Welk, Accordion, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1959 Ranwood Records.
Richard Rodgers, ComposerLyricist - Oscar Hammerstein II , ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Welk, Accordion, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1962 Ranwood Records.
Jerome Kern, Composer - Otto Harbach, Author - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records.
Unknown, Composer - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records, A Welk Music Group Company
Mitchell Parish, Author - Irving Mills, Author - Will Hudson, Composer - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records.
Pinetop Smith, ComposerLyricist - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist - Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra, Ensemble
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records.
Unknown, Composer - Lawrence Welk, MainArtist
℗ 1999 Ranwood Records, A Welk Music Group Company
Album review
Despite its title, Lawrence Welk Swings, this really wasn't a bad idea for a CD, but it seems as though Lawrence Welk and his orchestra didn't leave quite enough proper swing material behind to really do it right. Evidently compiled from several decades of recordings by Welk's band (it's all stereo, but that's still thirty-plus years of stuff to choose from), this is the cream of their renditions of big band numbers. The funny thing is, some of it is not half bad. Oh, it is swing-lite, to be sure, at best -- "Take the 'A' Train" is deadly dull compared to any version that you'd actually set out to hear, and there's no tension to speak of on "One O'Clock Jump," but they go through some effort at piano embellishment and a sax solo; "Woodchopper's Ball," is decent even if it exists in 30 hotter versions. And "Organ Grinder's Swing" answers a question about the name of a piece of music that runs throughout one of the better 1930s Popeye cartoons (the one with -- right -- an organ grinder). But "Christopher Columbus," "String of Pearls" and even worse, "Corn Silk," "Laura Jean" and "Get Me to the Church on Time," are abominable inclusions as swing numbers, played in the requisite rinky-dink, roller-rink Welk style. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "Caravan" and especially "Boogie Woogie" aren't bad, but too much of what's here is done in the style of a bad resort hotel band with little sense of taste or style. On the other hand, if you were going to listen to Welk's outfit at all, this CD might be the only current release that you could get through, even if it makes you want to throw your Ellington, Goodman, Dorsey and Shaw originals on as soon as it's over.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 20 track(s)
- Total length: 00:49:37
- Main artists: Lawrence Welk
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Ranwood Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
© 1999 Ranwood Records. This Compilation ℗ 1999 Ranwood Records.
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.