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Archive Record

Strictly For Dancing

Lawrence Welk

Original Liner Notes

This album is “strictly for dancing.” So we decided to call it just that.

You know, we’ve been making many different kinds of albums lately—highlighting our various instrumentalists, our singers, all kinds of music from classical to popular—but this time we wanted to make an album of just good dance music, in our own familiar champagne style, of course, but also we wanted it to be something fresh and different. So we are featuring all new songs.

I called in Lew Quadling, who has been one of our favorite writers and arrangers for many years (he wrote “Sam’s Song,” “Careless” and many other hits) and he and I composed a whole batch of new tunes, tunes that would be ideally suited to our champagne music. Then Lew wrote out all the arrangements of these songs.

Naturally we had to have names for the songs, and we thought it would be nice to name them after girls, particularly girls who had never had songs written for them. Mary, Sue, Dinah, Josephine and many others had already been made famous, so we chose from among various girls we knew some of the not-so-well known names.

One of the songs is “Shirley Jean,” which is my married daughter. Another is “Joanne,” who is our popular ragtime piano player. “Anna Marie” is my sister. And “Lois Anne” is a godchild of mine; she’s the daughter of our first flute player, Orie Amodeo. All the others are special friends of ours and we are happy to have songs for them.

I am dedicating this album to the dancing schools of America, for the reason that they are the ones who really asked for it. We have had so many requests from schools all over the country wanting us to record albums of good solid dance music that they can use in their teaching. So that’s what we have tried to do.

Of course, you know how I feel about dance music. I have loved it all my life, and it has always been the thing I have tried to play. Even on our TV shows I always like to start the show with a bright dance number, and then we spot a few of them through the show. We like to have variety for the folks, whether we’re on TV or playing at the Aragon ballroom, but always the most important thing is to play good dance music.

We are very pleased with this new album of new champagne music, and we hope all of our friends will enjoy listening to it. And especially we hope they will enjoy dancing to it, for it is… STRICTLY FOR DANCING.

– Lawrence Welk

Track Listing

Side 1

  1. Loreli
  2. Joanne
  3. Evelyn
  4. Angela
  5. Connie
  6. Pauline

Side 2

  1. Shirley Jean
  2. Anna Marie
  3. Lois Anne
  4. Geraldine
  5. Carol Ann
  6. Cathy Sue
  7. Marguerite

Album Information

  • Artist: Lawrence Welk
  • Catalog Number: DLP 3274
  • Catalog Numbers: DLP 3274
  • Label: Dot Records
  • Liner Notes: Lawrence Welk
  • Source: DLP-3274
  • Format: A Long Play Ultra High Fidelity Recording
  • Subtitle: Lawrence Welk plays champagne music
  • Dance Style Featured: Fox Trot
  • Manufactured for: Teleklew Prod. Inc.
  • Distributed by: Paramount Pictures Corporation
  • Playback Note: For the finest reproduction of this Ultra High Fidelity Recording use the RIAA curve position. Other Albums by Lawrence Welk:

A Great Champagne Lady - Betty Cox DLP 3232; Songs Of The Islands DLP 3231; The Best Loved Catholic Hymns - The Lennon Sisters DLP 3230; Ragtime Piano Gal - Jo Ann Castle DLP 3249; I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles DLP 3248; The Great Overtures In Dance Time DLP 3247; Great American Composers DLP 3335; Dance With Lawrence Welk DLP 3224; The Lawrence Welk Glee Club DLP 3215; Voices And Strings Of Lawrence Welk DLP 3200; Mr. Music Maker DLP 3164