Buddy Merrill
Leslie Merrill Behunin, Jr., known professionally as Buddy Merrill, was an American guitar player and steel guitar player, best known as a regular on The Lawrence Welk Show.
Early life
Leslie Merrill Behunin, Jr. was the oldest of four children, born to Leslie Merrill Behunin, Sr. and Juanita Marie Ortego Behunin, in Torrey, Utah. Nicknamed "Buddy", at age eight he got his first guitar and soon began performing live with his father's band, The Fremont River Rangers. Three years later, he appeared with his father live on local television station KDYL in Salt Lake City. When the family moved to Los Angeles, California in the early 1950s, he continued to perfect his musical skills, playing both the acoustic guitar and the steel guitar. He also began to do home recordings of himself playing rhythm guitar to a song.''The Lawrence Welk Show''
Buddy Merrill joined The Lawrence Welk Show in 1955, the same year it first went national on ABC. On the Welk Show, he performed his guitar version of "Blue Suede Shoes," a massive hit for Carl Perkins in 1956. He briefly left the show from 1959 to 1962 when he was drafted by the Army. On his return to the Music Makers he was joined in the band's rhythm section with fellow guitarist Neil LeVang. For the next twelve years the two would perform together on television. Merrill used a Fender Stratocaster guitar for many of his TV appearances, and in 1959 was featured in a print advertisement for the instrument.Life after Welk
In 1974, Merrill left the Welk orchestra to devote more time to writing music and recording for Accent Records. He continued to perform live, either as a solo artist or with a band, until 1988 when he retired from the road. He continued to perform as a studio musician. He penned a symphonic work, "Living Sea", as well as original compositions for tape programmers and television commercials. He latterly lived in Shingle Springs, California, with his friend and band mate, Brandy Lane, and her husband.He died on December 5, 2021, at the age of 85.