It's yodeling day here at Disneyland Nomenclature. I am quite a fan of yodeling, perhaps because it's tied to two places that I love--the Alps and the American West. Cowboy songs often feature yodeling; in Disneyland's Frontierland, you can hear a bit of this in the "Pecos Bill" recording done by Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers. Of course, you can also find recordings of yodeling in the Matterhorn Bobsleds queue and at the Village Haus restaurant. But in the golden days of yore, you used to be able to hear live yodeling at Disneyland!
When Walt brought the Matterhorn to Disneyland, he brought in some other elements to lend authenticity to the experience. There were the well-known mountain climbers (and the Sierra Club members, first to scale the mountain for its televised debut), the Tyrolean Band, and... Disneyland's very own yodeler, Fred Burri, who uniquely entertanied Guests for about eighteen years.
I don't have too much to say about him right now. I found a blog post about Fred that mentions an album he recorded: Fred Burri, Disneyland Yodler with Alphorn and Swiss-Accordion, Swiss Folkmusic and Yodeling. It wasn't recorded at or by Disneyland, but if anybody has a copy, I'd love to listen!
Also, you'll really have to forgive my tardiness in passing this information along (I've had this post as a draft for about a month!), but Fred is performing this week in Portland, Oregon, at the Swissfest 2008. If you're in the area, that starts tomorrow!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
16 comments:
Do Yetis yodel? I know they make wonderful lemon snow cones from Monster's Inc.
I predict that yodeling will make a huge comeback and replace hip-hop, Britney, and boy bands.
Wow, a fellow yodeling fan! I thought we were a rare group (and still do). Thanks for the link to the Fred Burri album info. Too bad I'm in Southern California, or I'd try to make the show up in Portland!
Mike
He's also in the (really bad) movie, A Walk in the Clouds, for about a minute.
Yes, but when Fred went to Switzerland and wanted to perform they told him his costume was wrong... it is Appenzeller and he is Berner.. and his material also was not authentic they said it was made up. But Portland brought in the 'real' thing ... check out the group 'Choer.li' and 'Willi Valotti'
Say what you want about Fred's talent, but he has been a good friend of mine for about 12 years. In addition to his Swiss repetoire, he has a wealth of bawdy songs and barroom ballads. Not only that, he's a heck of a good guy. Jerry
Yes, Fred did jodel at our sangerfest in portland in 2008 (my dad was in charge of the whole event)...i have been listening to fred sing for my entire life and have wonderful memories of him entertaining at parties at my grandparents house and here at my own house. Yes, his costume is from the wrong part of CH, but it is the most colorful swiss costume, the ones from Bern where he is from are not what tourist want to see. and as for "anonymous" from july 2008...your wrong, fred rocks...so do the choerli and valotti, but fred will always be #1 in my book...C.Ulrich
Fred Burri is my Great Uncle
Fred Burri was also a very good wrestling coach at Mt. San Antonio jr. College in Walnut, CA.
Yes, Fred Burri was a very good coach at MSAC. In fact, he was my coach for two years. He was also an all-around great role model as well. I visited Switzerland last year and heard yodelers there who made me think of Coach Burri. Grapler167 9-19-16
RIP Fred! He passed away 8/24/2017.Fred was a very good friend of my mom and uncle Max. Their parents were good swiss friends in Portland Oregon.
K.Emanuel, Sonora, CA
Just in, thank God, Fred is still alive. Bad Swiss rumor, sorry. Hope you are feeling better soon Fred.
No. Fred is still alive and well.
Fred did not pass 2017. Unfortunately he passed March 20, 2023. My dad grew up with Fred and his family. My Dad, Herman Marti is 96 and Fred was a few months younger than my dad. They played together and the families hung out at Swiss events in Portland, OR. Longest friendship ever. 90 plus years. He visited just a couple of years ago. What a sweet and kind man his wife Margie is loving too. Fred came from a very talented family, from the old country, Switzerland as did my father’s family. I just found out through a cousin that he passed, dad has taken it pretty hard.
Fred Burri is my Uncle. For the record, he passed away shortly after midnight on March 18, 2023. He last yodeled on February 13, 2023 from a chair in the hospital when he sang me happy birthday. Uncle Fred was a generous man who never met a stranger. His magnetic personality made him him seem larger than life. I am grateful to have had him in my life.
I have many fabulos memories of Fred, having been a member of the Vancouver swiss society smd
meeting Fred when we had the big west coast concerts. I treasure those memories and photos I took when he was yodelling with Lisa Ward.
Lotti
Post a Comment