Wunnerful, Wunnerful! The Autobiography of Lawrence Welk [Hardcover]

Lawrence Welk (Author), Bernice McGeehan (Collaborator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1971

Wunnerful, Wunnerful! The Autobiography of Lawrence Welk. ASIN: 0139715150.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 294 pages
• Publisher: Prentice-Hall; 1st edition (September 1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0139715150
• ISBN-13: 978-0139715150
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #654,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wunnerful, Wunnerful! The man, his music, and this book!, June 28, 2000

By 

Betty J. Ross (Dowagiac, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wunnerful, Wunnerful! The Autobiography of Lawrence Welk (Hardcover)

Wunnerful, Wunnerful! The Autobiography of Lawrence Welk by Lawrence Welk with Bernice McGeehan

This excellent book made me a Lawrence Welk fan. Until I read his autobiography I considered Welk's music more suited to my mother's taste. I have changed my mind. I picked up my copy at a yard sale and bought it mainly because it had the signature of the author scrawled across the title page. I like biographies and autobiographies, and when I settled down to read this one, I was well rewarded for my treasure hunt. Threaded throughout this book are examples of integrity and thoughtfulness that show Lawrence Welk to be an outstanding showman, a hard worker, a devoted family man, a man of faith, and basically a decent human being. His humility in the face of success and his concern for his musical family made him someone to be admired. From the first $400 accordion that cost him four years work on his parents' farm to the fleet of Rolls Royces that graced his final years, it was a long, hard road. His thick accent became his trademark, along with his "Champagne Music" that entertained so many of his fans. But his fans were more than just fans, they were his friends. That is unusual in the world of entertainment, but then he was an unusual man, and this is an unusual book. I recommend it highly.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a find!, August 30, 2010

By 

Marie Casper - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Wunnerful, Wunnerful! The Autobiography of Lawrence Welk (Hardcover)

For the Welk-fan, this book with Welk family photos is terrific. At very least, its a conversation piece for a younger generation. If you remember saturday night watching Lawrence when Dodge or Geritol was his sponser - this is for you!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bouncing along with the Maestro, March 20, 2010

By 

Craig Rowland (Mississauga) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wunnerful, wunnerful!: The autobiography of Lawrence Welk (Paperback)

Today I finished reading Wunnerful, Wunnerful! The Autobiography of Lawrence Welk by Lawrence Welk with Bernice McGeehan. I am a huge fan of "The Lawrence Welk Show", and have been for about twenty years, when I turned on a Christmas rerun and was hooked by the bouncy music. I watch classic rerun episodes every weekend on PBS and I am proud owner of about a dozen CD's by the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, plus others by members of the Welk musical family, including the Lennon Sisters and pianist Jo Ann Castle.

Welk wrote this book at the height of his popularity in 1971. He had by then had a ten-year string of hits on the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the number one "Calcutta" in 1961. Throughout this autobio Welk bemoans his lack of proficient English as he claims to have spoken only German at home and in school. While many immigrant families spoke the language of the old country at home, and even in school where Welk's teachers themselves had English as a second language, I doubt his claim that he didn't learn English until the age of 21--this is a Welk myth that I think even he has been misled to believe. Nevertheless I doubt that Welk had much part in actually writing this autobio. It was a rapid read which carried more like a very long interview session with the coauthor McGeehan.

Lawrence Welk was a religious man who lived his life according to Catholic principles. He had profound faith and seemed almost naïve in his trust in people. He was not afraid to tell of the many times people took advantage of him as he was building his career, and even after he had "made it" in Hollywood. In spite of these run-ins with scammers and rip-off artists, Welk never lost his faith in people and he could only joke about lessons he had learned the hard way.

Welk addresses some items of show gossip (take it from me, a Welk fan would want to know the truth behind these things) such as the real reasons why Champagne Lady Alice Lon left, and why the Lennon Sisters left the show under supposedly acrimonious circumstances.

Wunnerful has plenty of history of the American midwest musical scene, and Welk has a great memory for capturing every detail of the old dance palaces of the 1930's and 40's. I can hear him right now playing the accordion as he dances around the stage. Music was Welk's first passion and his love for it is easily translated to the written page.