[Trombone-l] PASSING OF THE KING -- OF POLKAS

[Stan Brager]

Bill;

Funny about Li'l Wally. When I was in my 20's, a friend who played clarinet
with the LA Phil loved to get some of his friends together and play polkas.
He told me that the King of the Polka was "Whoopee" John Wilfart. He said
that the band's bus was emblazoned with a banner which read, "Whoopee John
Wilfart and His Band Will Play". When you read this out loud, be sure to
take a small breath after Wilfart.

Who anoints these "kings"?

Stan
Stan Brager and I Wilfart at any time.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Dinwiddie" <billdin at comcast.net>
To: "List Trombone" <TROMBONE-L at server5.samford.edu>
Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2006 3:34 PM
Subject: [Trombone-l] PASSING OF THE KING -- OF POLKAS


> Subject: Passing of the King
>
>
> Li'l Wally has been one of the most important and influential polka
> musicians in America. He was responsible for creating the Chicago-style
> polka, a slower, more danceable, more improvisational sound, whose core
> appeal lay with Polish-Americans.
> Wally was a cottage industry unto himself, recording at an often frantic
> pace and releasing over 150 albums on his own Jay Jay label. He played
both
> concertina and drums in concert, and performed good-humored dance tunes
and
> sentimental ballads with the same unwavering enthusiasm. So popular was he
> that he and Frankie Yankovic became the first inductees into the Polka
Hall
> of Fame.
> Walter Edward Jagiello was born in Chicago on August 1, 1930. His parents
> were both Polish immigrants, and he was exposed to polka music very early
> on -- so much so that he gave his first public performance at age eight,
> fearlessly taking the stage at a neighborhood picnic to belt out songs
with
> the band. He started sneaking out to hear polka music in the clubs along
> Division Street, and was soon getting professional bookings as a singer
with
> the bands he met. A self-taught drummer and concertina player, he started
> playing with Chicago polka godfather Eddie Zima at age ten, and was
leading
> his own band at 14, by which time he'd dropped out of school. His first
> recording session came in 1946 for his own small Amber Records label, at
> which point he was still singing entirely in Polish.
> In 1949, Wally recorded eight songs for Columbia Records.. Dissatisfied
with
> the experience, he launched Jay Jay Records in 1951, and unleashed a
torrent
> of music; during the '50s, he often managed to turn out ten or more LPs a
> year. His slowed-down style left his musicians plenty of room to improvise
> as they saw fit.
> Wally's style became so popular in Chicago that virtually every other
polka
> band in the city had to adapt their own sound to fit his blueprint. His
> burgeoning popularity crystallized into a breakout national hit in 1954,
> thanks to his first English-language recording, "I Wish I Was Single
Again."
> It sold over 150,000 copies in Chicago alone, and climbed onto the
national
> charts, where it topped out at Number 22. However, Wally was so
overwhelmed
> by the duties of recording, performing, and running the label that he
began
> to suffer from ulcers; he took some time off for a vacation in Miami, and
> liked it so much that he and his second wife Jeanette would eventually
move
> there permanently.
> In the meantime, however, Wally returned to Chicago and resumed his
prolific
> writing and recording pace. He scored numerous hits with polka audiences
> over the years, including the all-time polka standards "No Beer in
Heaven,"
> "Li'l Wally Twirl," "Johnny's Knockin'," "She Likes Kielbasa," "Seven Days
> and Seven Nights," "Take Me Baby," "Chicago Is a Polka Town,"
> "Lichtensteiner Polka," "Two Bucks Polka," "To Be in Love With Someone,"
and
> many, many, many others. He played gigs all over the Midwest whenever he
> could, touring with a core trio (concertina, trumpet, and drums) and
adding
> a clarinet, bass, and/or violin player for bigger shows; most of his
> musicians held day jobs in factories, so there was near-constant turnover
in
> his backing group. At the peak of his popularity, he had a polka radio
show
> on 50,000 watt WLS in Chicago, and played some of the city's biggest dance
> halls, including a high-profile debut at the Aragon Ballroom in 1955. He
> also bought his own record-pressing plant, which enabled him to control
more
> aspects of his one-man polka industry.
> http://www.myspace.com/jayjayrecords
> During the '60s, Li'l Wally appeared three times on The Lawrence Welk
Show.
> By the end of the decade, he and his wife had relocated to Miami, where
> Wally bought Jackie Gleason's old recording studio. In 1969, he and
Frankie
> Yankovic were selected as the two charter members of the Polka Hall of
Fame.
> http://www.internationalpolka.com/fame-ix.htm
> The following year, he opened a polka bar in Miami, which stayed in
business
> for the next six years but was eventually forced to close due to the
city's
> much smaller Polish contingent. Wally continued to tour and record from
his
> Miami home base, and managed another big polka hit with 1982's "God Bless
> Our Polish Pope." The unabashedly sentimental ode to Pope John Paul II got
> Wally the chance to perform for him in 1984. In later years, Wally teamed
up
> with the new-school punk-polka outfit the Polkaholics in concert, though
his
> own brand of polka remained defiantly traditional in the face of a wider
> country & western influence.
> He died on August 17, 2006, in Miami, Florida, at age 76. There will be a
> viewing and service on Saturday, August 26th at the Pietryka Funeral Home,
> 5734 W. Diversey Ave, Chicago, Illinois. Phone 773-889-0115
>
> Patrick Henry
> Sources: International Polka Association Website, Lil Wally interview
>
> Forwarded by Bill Dinwiddie
> billdin at comcast.net
>
>
>
>