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HELMUT ZACHARIAS AND HIS MAGIC VIOLINS

“WHEN THE WHITE LILACS BLOOM AGAIN”

(Fritz Rotter, Franz Doelle)

Decca 30039

No. 12     September 22, 1956

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Helmut Zacharias (b. Jan. 27, 1920, Germany) was handed his first violin at the age of three.  The

family was most encouraging; his father was a professional violinist.   At 17, Helmut’s virtuosity

won him the Fritz Kreisler Award.  Before his teen years were played out the lad was fronting his

own orchestra.  By his mid’ 20s, Helmut was hooked on jazz and soon acclaimed “Ger­many’s top

jazz violinist–Europe’s hottest fiddler.”

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This, too, would pass, as Helmut moved through his developmental stages and discovered “mood

music.” “By the mid-’50s, Zacharias and His Magic Violins were quite popular throughout Europe.

A representative from Decca Records brought some of Zach’s zingers over to the U.S., and the

label’s Milt Gabler approved their stateside release.  “China Boogie” shook no one but Zach’s

“Lilacs” number, a tune written in 1928, played on the emotions of many post-teens.  Leroy

Holmes, Billy Vaughn, Lawrence Welk, and Florian Zabach all rushed their string men into the

studios to record their own renditions.  Helmut’s hummer, how­ever, was the hit.

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Well into the ’60s, additional singles, EPs, and LPs by Helmut Zacharias were sporadically issued

by Philips, RCA, and Capitol.