3, when the Public Broadcasting Service will begin weekly reruns of the old shows. One of Feeney's greatest rounds of applause came when he announced that he and Welk would be back on the air again starting Oct. "I believe I have a ministry toward older people since they can identify with the songs and relate to my style of music," Feeney said. He also appears on an annual Christmas reunion television show with 84-year-old Welk, who is retired in California.įeeney said senior citizens appreciate him because they are familiar with the tunes, can understand the words and like the memories the songs bring back.įeeney has been performing for older audiences since 1962 when he started a chain of 85 nursing homes in Nebraska. Since the show went off the air in 1983, Feeney has been performing about 100 shows a year at nightclubs, concert halls, state fairs, conventions, dinner theaters and retirement communities. "If it weren't for the songs and the show, people wouldn't know me today," Feeney said. While the Irish songs he sang tended to stereotype his style, Feeney said he never minds meeting the requests for old favorites, such as "Danny Boy" and "When Irish Eyes are Smiling." He made the mistake of questioning Welk's authority after only one month on the show and was fired for refusing to sing "Be My Love" to a dance beat.įeeney said he learned a valuable lesson, that Welk "was the general and we were his troops." He apologized and returned to the show with the attitude that he was there to take orders.
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During his tenure on television's longest-running musical variety show, Feeney was told what to wear and how to sing each of the songs he was assigned. "I felt like I knew them better than my own family because we spent 10 or 12 hours a day rehearsing and performing."įeeney said he enjoys the freedom of doing his own show after years of regimentation and taking orders from Welk. Lawrence Welk originally did If You Talk in Your Sleep, Don't Mention My Name, Gunsmoke, Flapperette, Doll Dance and other songs. "It truly was like one big family," Feeney said. Lawrence Welk covered If You Talk in Your Sleep, Don't Mention My Name, Gunsmoke, Flapperette, Dancing Tambourine and other songs. He worked on that show, Welk's Dodge Dancing Show, six radio shows a week and auditioned new talent.
Feeney won a full- time slot with Welk after his first guest appearance on Top Tunes and New Talent in 1956, a year after the show began. A station manager sent one of Feeney's tapes to Welk.
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