Red Nichols On Lawrence Welk, 1956

Red Nichols and his Five Pennies, featured on Lawrence Welk's New Year's Eve show, on Saturday, Dec 29, 1956. Tune trifecta: Louisiana, Fidgety Feet, Maple Leaf Rag. Band members: Al Stevenson(p), Joe Rushton(bsx), Bill Wood(c), Rollie Culver(d), King Jackson(tbn), Red Nichols(cor). Red was enjoying renewed popularity during the 1950s with this six piece band. They traveled extensively, played many venues, and if you didn't catch them at a nightclub near you, this was a rare look at them at work on nationwide television. You wouldn't think it based on his general music format, but Welk loved Dixieland and had many guys like these on his show over the years — Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, just to name a couple. I thank the huge generosity of Steve Cooper for providing this clip. Check out his other offerings and tributes to jazz greats on YouTube also. Check out his Louisiana rendition of the above Nichols take at — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KwbQk-dmlw . Other offerings — http://www.nbea.com/SCO.htm

Added 9 Apr 2026