Bill Page (September 11, 1925 – April 26, 2017) was an American

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...

player, band leader, and entrepreneur who was best known for his work in the

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, tele ...

Band.

Early life

Page is a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

veteran of the European theater, serving in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He attended Wright Junior College (now known as

Wilbur Wright College Wilbur Wright College, formerly known as Wright Junior College, is a public community college in Chicago. Part of the City Colleges of Chicago system, it offers two-year associate's degrees, as well as occupational training in IT, manufacturing, ...

Early musical career

Page played with Del Courtney and Boyd Raeburn before joining the ''

Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 1955 ...

'' in 1951.

Lawrence Welk Show

1950s newspapers give differing total numbers of woodwind instruments he could play, but among them were six saxophones, four clarinets, flute, piccolo, oboe, English horn and bassoon. He was often featured in numbers in which he played several instruments accompanied by Welk's orchestra. On the 26 October 1957 broadcast, Welk boasted that Page could play "sixteen" instruments, with Page then playing the 1951 song "Am I In Love?" on eleven of them.

After the Lawrence Welk Show

Page left the Lawrence Welk Show in 1965 and went on to perform with Barry Manilow, Ted Mack, Frank Gorshin, Judy Garland, and on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Personal life

Page would eventually settle permanently in

Studio City, California Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...

. He is the father of musician and entrepreneur

Scott Page Scott Page is an American musician, technologist, and entrepreneur known for his saxophone and rhythm guitar work with Pink Floyd, Supertramp, and Toto. Career Page is CEO of Think:EXP, a Los Angeles-based media company focused on live imm ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

Supertramp Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending pro ...

, and Toto fame and host on syndicated radio show Business Rockstars, as well as Tanya Page, an executive at

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

. Page died on April 26, 2017, at the age of 91.Musical Family Bios 5
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Bill 1925 births 2017 deaths American bandleaders United States Army personnel of World War II Lawrence Welk Musicians from Chicago Musicians from Los Angeles People from Studio City, Los Angeles Wilbur Wright College alumni United States Army soldiers