Peanuts Hucko,
Clarinet (1970 - 1972)
Played with Louis Armstrong and Lawrence Welk Peanuts Hucko performed on the Lawrence Welk Show from 1970 to 1972, having built up an impressive background playing with Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, Eddie Condon, Benny Goodman, Al Hirt, Ray McKinley and Jack Teagarden. Michael Andrew Hucko was born April, 7, 1918, in Syracuse, N.Y. He picked up the nickname Peanuts because of his size when he started playing saxophone at age 11. In 1942, he went into the infantry, but Glenn Miller wanted him in his Air Force band and got congressional approval to transfer him. It was Miller who suggested that Mr. Hucko change from tenor saxophone to first clarinet. After the war, from 1950 to 1955, he worked as a studio musician for CBS and ABC. From 1958 to 1960, he played with the Louis Armstrong All-Stars and also led his own group at Eddie Condon's Club from 1964-66. Shortly before moving to Denver in June 1967, Mr. Hucko called a female singer and offered her a job performing with him six nights a week in the Navarre at 1727 Tremont Place. The singer was Louise Tobin, and by opening night, they were already married. Hucko and his wife opened the Navarre, a popular jazz club and restaurant in Denver in 1967 but decided to sell it in 1969.
Hucko was then hired by Lawrence Welk in 1970 to
replace
Mahlon Clark,
who had left in 1968. After leaving the show in
1972, he was replaced by
Henry Cuesta.
Hucko then moved to Denton, TX, his wife's
hometown. In the 1980's, he toured with his
band the Pied Pipers. Late in 1991 he toured
Europe and the UK, leading a small band which
included Glenn Zottola and Roy Williams in its
Anglo-American ranks. Hucko died of pneumonia
in 2003 at the age of 85 in Forth Worth, Texas.
Peanuts Hucko Performs "St. Louis Blues" |