Side One
1. Sidewalks Of New York
2. Hindustan
3. Till We Meet Again
4. Shine
Side Two
1. Jazz Me Blues
2. South Rampart St. Parade
3. Sensation Rag
4. Bugle Call Rag
Liner Notes:
Pete Fountain is the licorice stick man. The licorice stick, as any child well knows, is long, thin and black and full of aroma and flavor. That description also happens to fit Pete's clarinet, the tastiest reed exported from Louisiana since the discovery of cane sugar.
Pete's earliest idol was Irving Fazola, one of the great dixieland artists who swarmed around New Orleans a few decades ago. Since the age of 10, when he began studying music, Pete Fountain earnestly set about developing the deep feeling and the velvet sounds which float out of the french horn. Pete learned his lessons well and matured into a superlative instrumentalist with a style that both swings and sings.
As a young man, Pete played in all the top spots in the New Orleans French Quarter. The turning point in his career came in 1957 when he traveled to Los Angeles for a concert date and was heard by Lawrence Welk, Jr., a devotee of dixieland music. Pete was persuaded to join Welk's entertainment troupe in which his clarinet emerged as one of the most popular features.
Pete's soul, however, stayed on Bourbon Street. After two years with Welk, Pete returned to Dixieland's native habitat, New Orleans, where he has remained ever since. In New Orleans, Pete is to the clarinet what Al Hirt is to the trumpet. Both have beards, both have their own musical combos and both have their own night clubs in town; and Pete, like Al and all the other great jazzmen who have made New Orleans the capital of dixieland, brings great joy and spirit to the vast chorus of American music.
HERMAN SCHOENFELD
Music Editor of Variety
