Posted by Mike Slater on September 20, 2016, 10:02 pm
Recently, I discovered a video on you tube of a Lennon Sisters TV show called "A Lovely Evening With The Lennon Sisters", and it was very enjoyable. I always thought they were good, but after seeing this show, I couldn't get enough of their music. I became an instant fan of theirs. They did beautiful versions of songs like "September Song", "Among My Soveniers", "The Heather On The Hill", "A Taste Of Honey" and many more. They also told some humourous stories about when they grew up. It looks to me like it was taped in the early '70's. The show is presented by Jimmy Durante and it looks like it was probably a summer replacement show. Anyway, I was thinking that it would be great to see a Voicemasters CD on them with beautiful new overdubs. There doesn't seem to be much of their music available today. I found a few greatest hits CD's on line, but that's about it. They had a lot of LP's, but most of them are out of print. Larry, I was wondering if you happen to like them and if you think a future Voicemasters CD on them would be a good idea. I heard that they still do shows and have quite a following. Maybe a new CD by them could be a big seller. What do you think, Larry? If you can't do a CD, I still highly recommend watching this TV show. The picture is a bit fuzzy, but it's watchable, and the sound is very good.
Re: The Lennon Sisters...
Posted by Tom Croteau on September 23, 2016, 1:41 pm, in reply to "The Lennon Sisters..."
I have thought the same thing about most of the recordings Dean Martin made in the 1970's for the Reprise label. His voice is in typically top form, and the songs are great ones, but the music is horrendously dated!! I know there is a lot of behind the scenes politics and financial red tape, but I know Larry and his team would bring a beautiful new life to these recordings as well!
Dean would be a good choice for an overdub CD as well, but at least his original recordings are still widely available.There is very little available on the Lennon Sisters at all, so I thought a really good overdub CD of their best songs would be a great idea, and of course, Larry and the Voicemasters people would do a great job on it, as always. The Lennons were very popular and still do live shows, last I heard, so I thought that a Voicemasters CD on them might be a good seller.
I've been a fan of the Lennon Sisters since I was a child, and once had a crush on Diane, the oldest.
When I launched the weekly radio show that's tied in with the magazine Julie and I publish, the Lennons were the first guests. It was at Christmas, a special half hour broadcast, carried on 52 stations across 10 states. I also interviewed them for our magazine, and they were so happy with the article, they shared it with the Catholic Digest, which ran a pic of them on the cover and used my article on the inside. It's a magazine with a circulation of 600,000!
People who know about the Lennons may know that Mr. Welk was home sick, sitting in a bath robe, when his son Larry, Jr. pestered his dad to listen to four young girls whom he had heard at a local concert. Lawrence reluctantly agreed, but was so astonished by the talent these young girls displayed, he immediately invited them to perform on his show. They captured the hearts of America.
We watched them grow up on the show.
Tragedy struck this large family (which included other brothers and sisters, besides the quartet), when a deranged stalker shot and killed their father on the golf course. He had fantasized about being in love with one of the girls and had been a pest for quite awhile. Finally he acted on his impulses and murdered their dad in cold blood, as witnessed by one the Lennon boys (who is a friend of Julie's and mine).
In recent years, they have performed in Branson, Missouri at the Welk theater there.
On the radio show I produce, they performed "What Child Is This?", which is based on the same melody as "Greensleeves." Click below to see and hear them perform as young girls live on the Welk show, singing this song.
Larry, I was really happy to hear that you have been a fan of the Lennon Sisters for years, and even had them as guests on your radio show! How exciting! When I started really taking an interest in their music, I went to wikipedia to read about them, and was shocked to learn about their father's murder. Very tragic. I enjoyed the video you posted the link to. It's one I hadn't seen yet, and as always, their vocals were just beautiful. Again, I enjoyed reading everything you had to say about the Lennons, but you didn't comment on whether you would be interested in doing a Voicemasters CD on them. Would this be possible? By the way, I think all the girls are beautiful, but I always had a crush on Janet...
Glad to hear that you're considering a Voicemasters release on the Lennon Sisters, Larry. They've recorded great versions of songs like "Till", "Among My Souvenirs" and "A Little Street Where Old Friends Meet". These would be a few good choices for the CD, should you decide to do it. They also did a beautiful version of "May You Always" on "The Lawrence Welk Show", which you can see on you tube, but I don't know if they ever recorded this one in the studio...
on September 20, 2016, 10:02 pm