# Jerry Burke

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{{Short description|American musician (1911–1965)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| background        = person
| image             = 
| image_upright     = 
| image_size        = 
| landscape         = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| alt               = 
| caption           = 
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1911|07|26}}
| birth_place       = [Marshalltown, Iowa](/source/Marshalltown%2C_Iowa)
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1965|02|13|1911|07|26}}
| occupation        = Musician
| instrument        = [Organ](/source/Organ_(music)), [piano](/source/piano)
| years_active      = 1934–1965
| past_member_of    = [Lawrence Welk](/source/Lawrence_Welk) orchestra
}}
'''Jerry Burke''' (July 26, 1911 – February 13, 1965)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3921213/bio|title=Jerry Burke|website=IMDb|accessdate=10 February 2019}}</ref> was a musician who played the [organ](/source/Organ_(music)) and [piano](/source/piano) for the [Lawrence Welk](/source/Lawrence_Welk) orchestra from 1934 to 1965.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.welkmusicalfamily.com/welkbios8.html|title=MUSICAL FAMILY BIOS 8|website=www.welkmusicalfamily.com|accessdate=10 February 2019}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Born in [Marshalltown](/source/Marshalltown%2C_Iowa), [Iowa](/source/Iowa); he spent most of his youth in [South Dakota](/source/South_Dakota); first in [Aberdeen](/source/Aberdeen%2C_South_Dakota), where he took up the pipe organ and taught piano. After playing with several other local bands, he joined Lawrence Welk's band in 1934 when the band consisted of only six people 
and was headquartered in [Yankton](/source/Yankton%2C_South_Dakota).

Jerry's career with the band spanned more than thirty years, from the one-nighters throughout the [Midwest](/source/Midwest), at radio station [WNAX](/source/WNAX_(AM)), later in [Chicago](/source/Chicago) at the [Aragon Ballroom](/source/Aragon_Ballroom_(Chicago)) and in [Southern California](/source/Southern_California) on television, first locally and later nationwide on the [Lawrence Welk Show](/source/Lawrence_Welk_Show) on the [ABC](/source/American_Broadcasting_Company) network, from 1934 to 1965, where he played [Hammond organ](/source/Hammond_organ), [accordion](/source/accordion), [celeste](/source/Celesta) and piano. His talents with the [keyboard](/source/Keyboard_instrument) instruments, such as the [Novachord](/source/Novachord) were a perfect fit to Welk's champagne music. He also recorded several solo albums of his work as well.

In his later years, Jerry was absent from the show for nearly a year (1963–1964) due to ill health and would die in 1965 from [cancer](/source/cancer). Burke's replacement, [Bob Ralston](/source/Bob_Ralston), would remain with the show for the remainder of its run.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{youtube|nE6ay6u96n4|The Lawrence Welk Show: An Organ Medley, 1957}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Jerry}}
Category:1911 births
Category:1965 deaths
Category:People from Marshalltown, Iowa
Category:People from Aberdeen, South Dakota
Category:Musicians from South Dakota
Category:20th-century American keyboardists
Category:Lawrence Welk
Category:20th-century American pianists
Category:20th-century American male pianists
{{US-pianist-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jerry Burke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Burke) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Burke?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.