Mahlon Clark (March 7, 1923 – September 20, 2007) was an American musician who was a member of 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 ...

orchestra from 1962 to 1968. His primary instrument was the

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

. Born and raised in

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...

, Clark started out in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

as a child. Later as a teenager, he became a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

musician playing for the

Ray McKinley Ray McKinley (June 18, 1910 – May 7, 1995) was an American jazz drummer, singer, and bandleader. He played drums and later led the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra in Europe. He also led the new Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1956. ...

and

Will Bradley Wilbur Schwichtenberg (July 12, 1912 – July 15, 1989), known professionally as Will Bradley, was an American trombonist and bandleader during the 1930s and 1940s. He performed swing, dance music, and boogie-woogie songs, many of them written b ...

bands, among others. Relocating to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

during

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 ...

, after serving in the armed forces, found employment at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

where he performed music on many movie soundtracks. He was hired by Welk in 1962 to join his orchestra and his

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

. For six years, he played both the clarinet and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

for a weekly national television audience and on stage when the Musical Family went out on tour. He was replaced by reedman Dave Edwards before the new TV taping sessions in 1968. After leaving the Welk organization, Clark continued to perform on many more movie soundtracks and with numerous artists such as

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Personal life

He was married twice, first to big band vocalist

Imogene Lynn Imogene Lynn (1922 – 2003) was a 20th-century American jazz and pop singer. Biography Lynn was born September 9, 1922 in Trenton, Missouri. She began singing professionally in 1940, singing with Emerson Gill and other bands on a national tou ...

, whom he met while with Ray McKinley's band and later to Kathy Lennon of the

Lennon Sisters The Lennon Sisters are an American vocal group made up of four sisters. The quartet originally consisted of Dianne (aka DeeDee; born Dianne Barbara, December 1, 1939), Peggy (born Margaret Anne, April 8, 1941), Kathy (born Kathleen Mary, Augu ...

Discography

With

Louis Bellson Louie Bellson (born Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni, July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), often seen in sources as Louis Bellson, although he himself preferred the spelling Louie, was an American jazz drummer. He was a composer, ...

*''

Louis Bellson Swings Jule Styne ''Louis Bellson Swings Jule Styne'' is an album by American jazz drummer Louis Bellson featuring performances of tunes written by Jule Styne recorded in 1960 for the Verve label.

'' (Verve, 1960) * Clarinetist for "Members of the Benny Goodman Orchestra" recordings for Crown Records 1960s-late 1970s.

References

External links

Mahlon Clark on allmusic.com
*
Chicago Tribune obituary
1923 births 2007 deaths American clarinetists Musicians from Portsmouth, Virginia Woodrow Wilson High School (Portsmouth, Virginia) alumni Vaudeville performers 20th-century American musicians Lawrence Welk {{US-clarinetist-stub