Here are two of the finest musicians from the Welk orchestra circa 1964....Bill Page and Orie Amodeo from the reed section.
Bill was with the band from 1951 to 1965, he played the saxophone, clarinet and flute among his arsenal of music. He's a World War II veteran and in addition to the maestro...he's played for such diverse artists such as Barry Manilow (wonder if he played on the original sessions for "At The Copa?")
Orie of Mechanicsville, NY....was a Welk band member from 1945 to 1970, in addition to playing the sax, flute, piccolo and clarinet....he was also the band's official photographer and a mainstay of their recording sessions for labels Coral, Dot and Ranwood. He left to start his own Count Basie influenced band, The Orie J Orchestra, perhaps some of you have may have seen and heard them in person.
Orie sadly passed on in 1998, but his musical legacy is sure to live on among Welk fans!
7 comments:
Where is the great Bill Page, and where can I write to him?
What ever happened to this great reed man? Our family when to see him perform in Tampa Florida back in the "60's". We sure would like to know if he is still performing and what part of the country he lives in?
You can find a good deal of info on Bill Page's bio on the Welk bios page .......
www.welkmusicfamily.com
scroll down to the bottom. He sure was a great one!
Bill Page lives in Studio City,Ca
His bio is on page 5 of the Welk Family Bio pages.
Orie was a truly great musician though often in the background, his flute work was amazing and his history with the band and on his own was amazing. He came from a musical family and has been missed.
Orie was my mother's first cousin. He was a real gentleman, loved his time with Welk, and never forgot his hometown of Mechanicville, NY. I was fortunate to have Orie visit our home several times to give me some alto sax tips while he sat at the keyboards. I knew his Mom very well.
Robert F.
it seemed to me that i read someplace that he played two clarinets and water skied simultaneously. here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXM1IWizeDg
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