CoronaVinyl Day 189 (Y): Polka Time by Frankie Yankovic and His Yanks

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "Y," and I say why not play some polka?  I'm going with the 1966 album Polka Time from Frankie Yankovic and His Yanks.

As anyone who's hitched a ride from Scranton to Chicago in a rental truck with the Kenosha Kickers, polka musicians are generally jovial, nice people.  Yankovic was not merely considered polka royalty, but rather America's Polka King and the most well-known purveyor of Slovenian-style polka (or any style, for that matter).  From an early age, he learned the accordion and became a professional musician in the Cleveland area.  In World War II, he was a flamethrower operator in the U.S. Army.  He received a Purple Heart due to frostbite and the resulting gangrene suffered during the Battle of the Bulge, and he nearly had to have his fingers and feet amputated, but he refused, as he knew having no fingers would inhibit his ability to play the accordion.  Thankfully, he recovered and avoided amputation.

After the war ended, Yankovic enjoyed musical success for decades.  In 1986, he won the inaugural Grammy in the Best Polka Recording category, and although he and Weird Al Yankovic are not related, they did collaborate on some of each other's songs.

Polka Time is exactly what you'd expect from a polka album.  It makes you wish you were sitting in a beer garden or a giant tent, hammering down beers while you sway happily to accordion-based music.  The album isn't on Spotify, and I couldn't find it on YouTube either, so I'm just going to embed Frankie Yankovic and His Yanks' Greatest Hits, also released in 1966 -- even though none of the songs on the Greatest Hits are on Polka Time.  For those polka fans out there, here is the track listing for Polka Time.

Side 1
1. Clarinet Polka
2. Ferryboat Serenade
3. The Woodpecker Song
4.  Tinker Polka
5.  When You Wore A Tulip (And I Wore A Big Red Rose)

Side 2
1.  Barbara Polka
2.  Linger Polka
3.  June Night
4.  When It's Springtime In The Rockies
5.  Three O'Clock In The Morning

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Woodpecker Song"

It's a polka about woodpeckers!

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Barbara Polka"
It's a polka about Barbara!