Ray Linn, Trumpet (1968 - 1969)

Ray Linn played the trumpet on the Lawrence Welk Show from 1968 to 1969.

Linn was born October 20, 1920 in Chicago, Illinois. Linn's first major engagements came in the late 1930s, playing with Tommy Dorsey (1938-41) and Woody Herman (1941-42). He returned to play with Herman again several times, in 1945, 1947, and 1955-59. In the 1940s he spent time with Jimmy Dorsey (1942-45), Benny Goodman (1943, 1947), Artie Shaw (1944-46), and Boyd Raeburn (1946). He moved to Los Angeles in 1945, where he worked extensively as a studio musician, in addition to playing with Bob Crosby (1950-51), Les Brown and his extended final tenure with Herman. 

After leaving the Welk Show in 1969, Linn continued performing with other notable musicians including Maynard Ferguson as well as joining up with fellow Welk Show alumni such as Al Hirt and Bob Havens on Dixieland jazz efforts. Linn passed away in 1996.