To begin, let's see...my new CD acquisitions are worth mentioning. This past Friday I received six of the seven CD collection of Lawrence Duchow's orchestra, with recordings collectively dated between 1938-1952. It would probably be a good idea to explain a little about who Lawrence Duchow was, as he is also an important pioneer as far as my music collection is concerned. Duchow had an early polka orchestra that had its genesis in Wisconsin in the 1920's, although most of his available recorded work comes a few years later. He was similar in style to some other orchestras who were his contemporaries - "Whoopie John" Wilfahrt, Harold Loeffelmacher's Six Fat Dutchmen, etc. from neighboring Minnesota - in that he played primarily German-style polkas which reflected the tastes of the upper Midwest demographic (and still does today). However, he is also pivotal in dance band history too, as it was people like him that influenced and was contemporaneous with another young German Lawrence - that last name you'd know as Welk! - from the Dakotas. And, he adopted the format accordingly - his essentially was a polka big band. Another similar orchestra from the same area - Romy Gosz - was even more like a traditional dance band (I want to say Gosz played trumpet with Duchow for a short time, but I could be wrong on that, so I need to check the polka history book I have at home to verify that fact). Any rate, I got to sample the CD's I received, and he did have a fairly good-sounding group. Gosz will be my next acquisition in the summer, as there are 8 CD's of vintage material from him I want to get my hands on too. If you are interested in getting some of this vintage stuff (and it is collectible!) the place that has it is www.polkamart.com , as it is their label, PolkaLand Recordings, that reissued it. However, a word of caution about ordering from them - be prepared to wait a while! As a matter of fact, you may be waiting up to four weeks for the discs, so hopefully it isn't life-or-death to get them! On the positive though, they do have some fantastic collections, and they are definitely worth a look. If you want the CD's faster though, I want to recommend a better source I have also shopped with for many years, and that is my good friend Cy Pfannenstein at www.cysmusic.com. Located in Avon, Minnesota, Cy will hook you up with any polka recording if it is in existence, and he is good about getting them to you in a timely manner as well.
Brave Combo leader Carl Finch with Miss WestFest 2012
Polka music is one of those things that is greatly misunderstood unfortunately by many, who think it is a bunch of drunk Germans at Octoberfest playing accordions and tubas while clad in lederhosen. However, polka is a multi-faceted musical genre that is also very cross-cultural. In the US alone, there are at least 12 different types of polka music, and each is pretty much the product of its ethnic audience, geographic location, and other factors. Even the instrumentation isn't the same. Take, for instance, a group like Brave Combo. This polka band is probably the closest thing polka has ever come to a fusion with rock music, and its leader, Carl Finch, looks like the product of an explosion that fused Willy Nelson and Elton John together. They are top-notch musicians, although not my cup of tea personally. Then there are the Polka Nuts from Brighton, Colorado. Largely the creation of the Gaschler family almost 30 years ago, who are descended from Volga German immigrants from Russia who settled the Rockies, they are the most famous example of a group that plays "Dutch Hop," a style of polka that is unique to the Volga Germans and features the tsymbl, or hammered dulcimer. Next up is Richie Yurkovich and Polkarioty from Willard, Wisconsin. Yurkovich is in true Frankie Yankovic tradition a proud Slovene-American who plays the Slovene-flavored "Cleveland-style" polkas, and his is also a phenomenal band with excellent showmanship. And, if that isn't enough, you have a fusion of the styles - Eddie Korosa, Jr., from Chicago plays a very rich-sounding polka repertiore that synthesizes Slovenian and Polish flavors (Korosa's was also the polka band that John Candy led as "The Kenosha Kickers" in that first Home Alone movie back in 1989). Then you have the traditional oomp-pa-pa sound of the upper Midwest - Karl and the Country Dutchmen, Barefoot Becky and her Ivanhoe Dutchmen from Iowa, and a host of others. Texas is a unique area for polka bands that no one would have expected, yet in central Texas near the hill country there lives a substantial population of people whose ancestors spoke Czech, Slovak, or German, and they also produced some great bands too - one that comes to mind that is one of my favorites is John Karderli's Seven Dutchmen Orchestra, based near New Braunfels, as well as Roy Haag's Little Fishermen of Texas from the same area. And, these bands can be family affairs too - the Dujka Brothers from Brenham, TX, as well as the Bacas from around Fayetteville, TX, whose history goes back a hundred years. One of the most interesting groups I came across from Texas though that deserves mention is the Shiner Hobo Band. I first saw these guys on the "Big Joe Polka Show" sometime back around 2006, and they got my attention. Consisting of about almost 40 musicians, most of them old Czech farts in their 60's and 70's led by a "conductor" with a toilet plunger for a baton, they are both talented and also amusing to watch - watching them was like watching a polka festival collide with the Philadelphia Mummer's Parade.
The Shiner Hobos, circa 1957
The Shiners, like many long-established Texas polka bands among the Czech-speaking community, have a history that dates back over a century. They are an institution in themselves and are worth checking out at www.shinerhoboband.com when you get the opportunity.
Also worth mentioning is of course the Polish contribution. Polka is after all a Polish word, and my in-laws who are Polish would probably skin me alive if I didn't discuss some of that here. There are two types of American Polish polka - one originated on the East Coast in New England and New York and is essentially polka big band music, and the other is called "Chicago Push" and originated with Polish communities in the Midwest, particularly Milwaukee and Chicago. Of the two, I prefer the East Coast version, which has as its luminaries people such as 19 Grammy-holding Jimmy Sturr of Florida, NY, as well as now-departed legends such as Rich Bobinski, Larry Chesky, and Walt Solek. In addition to standard big band instrumentation, East Coast Polish polka bands feature more minor-key songs (probably from close contact with the Ukrainians to the East, which we'll be talking about momentarily too) and is also noted for it's use of the piano arpeggios. The "Chicago Push" variety, on the other hand, is more small-ensemble, adaptable, and a little more raw; to me it sounds similar to the Tejano music that the Mexicans in Texas play - its big stars include the late Eddie Blazonczyk and Lenny Gomulka. And, speaking of Ukrainians, there is a lucrative Ukrainian polka community in mid-Canada, in particular in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and I came across that back in 2006 as well. One of the groups, the Ukrainian Old-Timers of Alberta, have been around for many years and do have several good recordings. Scandinavian-Americans have also produced some good polka, although it sounds somewhat like a brassier version of the Slovenian style. Polka is a universal music, and no one can truly listen to a polka and not feel good doing it, which is why it has also found its way into the Church as well.
In the 1960's, Vatican II opened a lot of things up in the Catholic Church, many good and many bad. One thing it allowed for was more of a contextualization of the Mass, and in true folk fashion, this even included the incorporation of polka music! One of the earliest pioneers of this was Fr. Frank Perkovich (born 1928), from Eveleth in Minnesota's Iron Range, a very ethnically diverse and rich region not unlike where I grew up in Tucker County, WV (also home to the "Polka King," Frankie Yankovic!). Fr. Perkovich, along with another priest, Fr. George Belasco in Ohio, appropriated polka tunes to the Mass by giving them theologically-compatible lyrics. This started in the 1960's, and today it is fairly common to have a Polka Mass celebrated at festivals and ethnic events. Some Protestants also picked up the idea, and there is as a result a Lutheran minister called "The Polka Padre" that has appropriated the Polka Mass for a Protestant setting. It is also interesting to note here that even one of the most beloved Pentecostal gospel tunes - "Just Over In The Glory Land" - has the exact same tune as a traditional polka called "The Lappland Polka!" How did that happen?? That is something I wanted to research, and perhaps when I do I will share that with you all as well, because it is interesting how a bunch of Appalachian Pentecostals ended up singing a polka tune with Gospel lyrics at their revivals and campmeetings!
Fr. Frank Perkovich, the man who brought polka to church!
Well, it looks like you all got an education in polka music tonight, something I didn't plan on. However, I must end class for tonight and will definitely have more to share later. God bless.
