Qtn about "I Love Lucy"

Got home tonight and turned on the tube. ILL was just ending and as I
got the dog ready for his walk, I happened to watched the credits. I
noticed that one of the credits was "Some Guy conducting the Dezi Arnez
orchestra". (I forget the actual guy's name...)

sdlitvin...

Wilbur Hatch.

Did Dezi actually have his own orchestra? And if so, why didn't he
conduct it himself? Granted, he had a lot of other duties on that show,
but can the orchestra rightly be called the "Dezi Arnez orchestra" if
he's not the one conducting?

Stan Brown...

The Philadelphia Orchestra is not conducted by someone named
Philadelphia.
-;)

Anim8rFSK...

Ah, but what about the Boston Pops?

Dylan Winslow...

It can if he's the one signing their checks.

Desi Arnaz was a man of some influence in his day.

sdlitvin...

The Desi Arnaz Orchestra preceded the I Love Lucy Show by several
years. Arnaz had started the orchestra himself so it continued to bear
his name. When I Love Lucy went into production, Arnaz turned over
conducting of the orchestra to Wilbur Hatch. They performed musical
numbers mostly offstage; the "Ricky Ricardo Band" we saw during the
show was mostly actors going thru the motions while the Desi Arnaz
Orchestra performed the music offstage. Only a few of the "Ricky
Ricardo Band" members were genuine members of the Desi Arnaz Orchestra.

Thanks in advance.

LidsvilleNine...

For one thing, it's Desi Arnaz.
Here's an excellent example of how good he and his band were. Try a few
sound clips, espcially "Babalu" :)

LidsvilleNine...

Amen to that. I went so far as to track down a 45 of it. It's great to
blast out of the car at McDonald's drive-thru, etc. Probably get a fine
from the NSA.

-L....

That's one of my favorite TV memories from childhood - watching Desi
sing Babalu. :)