Sunday, 12 June 2011

KB-162 - SOMA 1047

FRITZIE LITTLE - Frankie Chermak Trio
56
KB-162A - After You’re Gone   (Joe Davis Inc)
KB-162B - Banjo Boogie Blues   (No Publ.)
SOMA 1047
119 North 9th St, Minneapolis, MN   (Amos Heilicher)

"Below are two photos of Fritzie Little. Below is an email I received from one of her daughters, Stef ….


I did not know that Frankie was a Polka band?  I'll bet some of my sisters will get a chuckle out of that!  She was typically Jazz and we thought the only other music she did then was for television commercials, soap ads, etc. back in the 50's and 60's, "Jingle's" she would call them.  
The photo attached is my Mother "Fritzie Little" with her band "Roy King's Komi-Kings".  Not quite sure what in the World Komi-Kings meant or was about but Roy is the one on the left.   I believe this was 1952.
Thank you for your assistance, greatly appreciated.  We have found her on eBay.  Advertising fliers that used to be mailed out, for the old Magic Bar South Minneapolis where Roy King's band, and my Mom, performed regularly.  So we do check around from time to time and we all wish we wouldn't have ruined her old 78's... Darn kids anyway!  

Thanks again and feel free to use the band photo if you wish.  Immortalize our Mom... that would be nice!  I would have to ask my sisters if they recall Real Information, details, on her music career because I had no idea about Polka records, I just remember Roy King's group."








Saturday, 11 June 2011

KB-161 - SOMA 1046

FRANKIE CHERMAK TRIO
55/56
KB-161A - Livet I Finnskogarna Waltz   (No Publ.)
KB-161B - Dill Pickles Rag   (Mills Music)
SOMA 1046
119 North 9th St, Minneapolis, MN   (Amos Heilicher)





Thursday, 9 June 2011

KB-159 - SOMA 1045

Izora Iverson (MInnesota’s Favorite Folk-Songstress)

55

KB-159A – He Kept Her From The Foggy, Foggy Dew               (No Publ.)

KB-159B – A Tale Of Careless Love                                          (No Publ.)

SOMA 1045

119 9th Street (N), Minneapolis, MN  (Amos Heilicher)






Friday, 3 June 2011

KB-153 - SOMA 1044

SLIM JIM and the Westerners
55/56
KB-153A – Two Shif’less Skonks (with Tennessee Randy)
KB-153B – Ring of Gold (En Luten Julen Ring)   (No Publ.)
SOMA 1044
119 North 9th St, Minneapolis, MN   (Amos Heilicher)




Ernest "Slim Jim" and Clarence "the Vagabond Kid" Iverson




Thursday, 2 June 2011

KB-152 - SOMA 1043

SLIM JIM and the Westerners with the Honeytones
55/56
KB-152A - The Drifting, Vistling Snow  (sic)   (Gallatin Music)
KB-152B - Belmont Street (Belmon’s Roe)  (No Publ.)
SOMA 1043
119 North 9th St, Minneapolis, MN   (Amos Heilicher)

Birth: Oct. 14, 1903
Binford
Griggs County
North Dakota, USA
Death: Sep. 24, 1958
Minneapolis
Hennepin County
Minnesota, USA

Radio personality and Singer.Ernest L "Slim Jim" Iverson ,Was Born 14 Oct 1903 in Binford, Griggs, North Dakota . The Son of Nels Ernest Iverson and Eliza Regine " Elise' "Thorson" Iverson. At the young age of 6, Ernest's Mother died in 1910, their father hired a Norwegian immigrant housekeeper named Molly Rood. She not only taught the boys how to play the guitar but also a significant part of their Norwegian-language.Ernest's Grandparents all came from Norway. Ernest Iverson left the Midwest as a young man.Injured while working in the Texas oil fields in 1925, Ernest turned to Music.By the early 1930s Ernest and his younger brother Clarence had reunited and formed an act as Slim Jim and the Vagabond Kid.During their heyday in the 1930s and 1940s the Iversons not only had a daily radio show but also performed live with their own band. Their half-hour radio broadcasts usually ended with some words of inspiration and a song of faith. Listeners might hear "It is No Secret", "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" or "The Old Rugged Cross".
The brothers were fixtures on Twin Cities radio until Clarence entered the army in 1943. His noontime program was a favorite throughout the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s on several Twin Cities and regional stations, including WDGY, KSTP, WLOL, and KEYD. He also appeared on experimental WDGY telecasts in the 1930s, and hosted the hour-long "Slim Jim's Westerners" on what is now KMSP TV Minneapolis/Saint Paul in the 1950s.Their half-hour radio broadcasts usually ended with some words of inspiration and a song of faith. Listeners might hear "It is No Secret", "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" or "The Old Rugged Cross". And Country music and Scandinavian songs like "Nikolina" and "The Drifting Vistling Snow. He was much in demand for live performances and made a number of records. His death in 1958 was mourned by thousands of fans. Ernest Iverson was inducted into the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting's Hall of Fame in 2003. Ernest L "Slim Jim" Iverson married DeLoris Adell Ruschmeyer.( by Mary Childers)

"Where is my Ja-Lo-Pee?"  This is one of my favourites. Funny and entertaining. 












Monday, 30 May 2011

KB-150 - SOMA 1073

NORM WILKES and the Little Fishermen Orchestra
55
KB-150A - The State Waltz   (North Star Publ.)
KB-150B - Merry Melody Polka   (North Star Publ.)
SOMA 1073
119 North 9th St, Minneapolis, MN   (Amos Heilicher)

Originally on NORTH STAR 2021. (There are two releases listed as 2021)

According to the Matrix info, this was pressed in 1955, but the Soma release date suggests it was released in 1957. More polka from Norm Wilkes.

Source: Derik Olsen



KB-150 - NORTH STAR 2021

LITTLE FISHERMAN ORCHESTRA
55
KB-150A – The State Waltz   (North Star Publ.)
KB-150B – Melody Melody (Polka)   (North Star Publ.)
NORTH STAR 2021
1936 University Ave, St Paul, MN




Sunday, 29 May 2011

KB-149 - HAROLD LYNCH 149

THE EVAN CHARLES TRIO
55
KB-149A - Ebb Tide   (No Publ.)
KB-149B - Sister Kate   (No Publ.)
HAROLD LYNCH 149
5530 Wayzata Blvd, Minneapolis, MN





Saturday, 28 May 2011

KB-148 - POTTER 1005 (Updated 1 Jan 2020)

LAWRENCE DUCHOW and his Red Raven Orchestra
LES WALDROOP and his Carolinians
55
KB-148A - Swiss Boy   (No Publ.)
KB-148B - Moonlight's A-Wastin   (No Publ.)
POTTER 1005
Potter, WI

For some reason, maybe local airplay, "Moonlight's A-Wastin" was reissued on this - previously issued as KB-81


Lawrence Duchow started his musical career in 1932 playing with Hal’s Bluebirds out of Chilton, Wisconsin.  Their first job was for a dance at Kleist’s Hall in Potter, Wisconsin.  Lawrence took over the operation reins in 1933 and called it the Lawrence Duchow and his Red Raven Inn Orchestra as the band was performing at the Red Raven Inn in Hilbert, Wisconsin.  The band grew and began to record for Decca and later for RCA Victor in which they had some of the biggest hits of any band playing polka and waltz music.  The orchestra introduced Windy City Polka, Milwaukee Polka written for the Milwaukee Centennial newspaper, Vagabond Waltz, The Swiss Boy and their theme, Red Raven Polka.  With recording success, came road work, all the way from coast to coast and border to border.  They played weekly at Trianon Ballroom in Chicago and had a weekly coast-to-coast radio broadcast on WGN.  During the war, many servicemen carried Red Raven records with them overseas.

Lawrence Duchow served in the Army until a medical discharge sent him back to the band and his public.  After the dissolution of his orchestra in 1953, the traveling music library was sold to Don Peachy of Burnette, Wisconsin.  Jay Wells of Appleton and Andy Anderson received the rights of the Red Raven Orchestra name and the rest of the library in 1960.

Duchow settled in California, where he developed a store coupon brokerage firm called the Lawrence Duchow Markets.  He also was a booking agent for West Coast orchestras.


His death at the age of 58 in 1972 at Hamlet, California, was the result of a stroke.  He will be remembered for what Franklyn MacCormack of WGN Radio said was “The best damned Old-Tyme band there ever was.”  They recorded some 300 singles.  During the peak of his career, Lawrence Duchow was considered second only to Lawrence Welk in the area of dance music.

(L Duchow info taken from International Polka Association.)
Link: http://www.ipapolkas.com/blog/otw-portfolio/lawrence-duchow-deceased-category-inducted-1983/





Friday, 27 May 2011

KB-147 - SOMA 1042

BOB PHILIPP at the Organ
55
KB-147A - Colonel Bogey March   (No Publ.)
KB-147B - Sweet georgia Brown   (No Publ.)
SOMA 1042
119 North 9th St, Minneapolis, MN   (Amos Heilicher)