- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- The Blues is Pete Fountain’s seventh album and deserves its declaratory title by featuring four classics written by W. C. Handy, “The Father of the Blues”.
Pete Fountain – The Blues (1959): Pete Fountain had been a member of the Dukes of Dixieland and later became probably the most famous New Orleans clarinet player ever due to his numerous television appearances. His fame was established after Fountain performed one or two Dixieland jazz numbers on every episode of The Lawrence Welk Show for three straight years (from 1957 to 1959). He was also a frequent guest star on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. After his Lawrence Welk days, in September 1960 Pete Fountain opened his own nightclub, the French Quarter Inn, on Bourbon Street in the heart of the French Quarter; where he carried on a friendly rivalry with trumpeter and bandleader Al Hirt, who also had a French Quarter jazz club.
Charlie and I went to each of their clubs while visiting the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition (World’s Fair) in New Orleans. The Blues is Pete Fountain’s seventh album and deserves its declaratory title by featuring four classics written by W. C. Handy, dubbed “The Father of the Blues”: “St. Louis Blues”, “Beale Street Blues”, “The Memphis Blues”, and “Aunt Hager’s Blues”.