My wife and I recently got back from a trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The area is simply beautiful. Lake Superior is magical and the serenity of visiting the Porcupine Mountains and the Copper Country will stay with us for years to come.
An unexpected surprise was running into Marilyn Monsivais who along with her husband runs the Centennial Cabins in Calumet. She had her accordion set up in the resort office. When we arrived and checked in, we heard her extolling the wonders of accordion music.
To fill you in, I took accordion lessons in the 1970s and for years played songs like "Beer Barrel Polka" and who can forget the classic "Too Fat For Me" Polka?! What do you expect with parents who came from Germany? I still remember my repertoire by heart, even though I rarely get to play anymore. The poor accordion and accordion players just don't get any respect in the United States. In Europe they are still seen/heard quite often, even in pop music.
The 40s and 50s had lots of accordion music here to calm the masses (Dick Contino anyone?) ....or get them up to dance the polka! Of course, my idols Lawrence Welk and Myron Floren (pictured above with early Champagne Lady Alice Lon) kept the accordion sounds alive on tv into the 1980s.
Anyhow, once Marilyn found out I played, she hauled out her spare squeezebox and we had an impromptu jam session. Nice to see that this music is still alive in the Midwest and that folks like Marilyn are keeping the happy sounds alive. That was fun!
Click on this link to see a great clip of Myron Floren as he plays his accordion in Frankenmuth, Michigan during a German TV special of the "Lustige Musikanten" several years back. We also have some video of my playing with Marilyn that I would love to show you but I don't know how to post it here! I must find out how to upload some old videotapes to Youtube as I even got to interview Myron for a tv show years ago.
(pic above of Marilyn and me in the Centennial Cabins office!)
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