One Toke Over The Line

[@DrewTurock]

RIP Michael Brewer - a great song that also produced this hilarious moment!

[@reginaweir4777]

It's 2024 and Stephen King brought me here. Myron Floren was my grandma's favorite. Like, she had his ALBUMS

[@mcaudill42]

I was also led here by Stephen King. I didn't predict Stephen King recommending Lawrence Welk in 2024, but here we are. 😀

[@lapuchongita]

Me too!

[@michellethompson-lewis6837]

Lololol,I met him on Staten Island at a recital,yea,I played an accordion!

[@deivincit3561]

Came here wondering if the meaning for One Toke Over the Line would be elucidated. And yep King brought me here 😅

[@mrcacface]

Stephen King brought me here as well.

[@PumaTwoU]

In 1971, I was a senior in high school. Shoulder length hair, and 'experienced'. My Dad was watching this on the TV when I passed by. I stopped. Listened for a moment, and started to laugh, then suppressed it. My Dad says; "What's so funny?" Me: "Oh, nothing, it's just an odd song for that show." Dad: "I think it's a nice song." Me: "Yes, so do I, it's a cover of a popular song on the radio." It's 4/20/2024, and now it's legal to be one toke over the line in Ohio.

[@frogbraids]

it's like when I visited my Grandpa before he died, he was a big fan of the show Jag, and the commercial went "Tuesday two Jag Officers take turns..." I start laughing, he just looked at me confused

[@stephenlangsl67]

Yeah that's what I thought the song was about.

[@cjmmx44]

They followed this up with Eight Miles High and Mother's Little Helper

[@capecyn]

🏆🏆🏆

[@eddereyes2518]

I love how the accordion player choked on a huge hit off the bong before he introduced them...

[@jamiebell2164]

He looks a little puffy-eyed, too.

[@summerhaven32086]

Yeah, his throat choked up right when he was saying Dick.

[@dougpiranha3619]

He was known in the business as "Mota Myron."

[@emperortrevornorton3119]

My grandmother never understood this song

[@emperortrevornorton3119]

Got my joint ready

[@kosherspeare]

To add to the sweetness, when he introduces the song, Myron Floren starts choking and coughing.

[@lindaeasley4336]

It's possible he knew what the song was really about ,but it could've been just a coincidence. Somebody with the show probably heard it somewhere and automatically assumed it was a gospel song because of the lyrics " sweet Jesus " and " sweet Mary" because Welk called it a spiritual

[@almostfm]

@@lindaeasley4336 Possible? Trust me: Musicians-even those who worked for Welk, were a lot more "worldly" than you might think. Myron knew exactly what was happening.

[@bendover7089]

@@almostfm Not only did they KNOW what was happening, it was a conspiracy. The cast deliberately set this up. Myron was trying to hide his laughter. Welk ran the show with an iron hand and there were frequent disagreements with him about using newer material... which he ALWAYS vetoed. It's alleged that at one point there was a major argument with the Lennon Sisters when Welk refused to let them use Beatles songs. It's only human nature... they just HAD to get back at him SOMEHOW. What amazes me is that they kept the secret from Welk long enough for the raw footage to get through the videotape editing process, and thence on the air. I'd LOVE to have been a fly on the wall listening when Larry found out what a "toke" is!!!

[@stephanietip]

Because the poor guy was 3 times over the line.Shoulda stopped at 2 until he was backstage.lol

[@guruuDev]

Wild stuff indeed. He was choking on Dick.

[@ericschruers6033]

An amazing moment in American history. RIP Mr. Brewer.

[@kmh9868]

I love the very end, Lawrence Welk says "There you heard a modern spiritual"

[@tedblgtn9430]

I noticed that surprisingly cool response too :-)

[@halfsourlizard9319]

@@tedblgtn9430 Pretty sure that old geezer had literally no idea what a toke is.

[@23bnichols]

@@halfsourlizard9319 You can put your next nickel bag on it!!

[@TheGreatGrumbolio]

I love that this exists

[@emmabradford137]

same

[@jd-if2fe]

That video clip never gets old

[@MassHysteriaChannel101]

"Bless us O dealer, for this, thy bud, which we are about to inhale from thy stash. Through Jamal our homie, Amen."

[@ARIZJOE]

The "New York Times. noted the irony of this in Brewer's obit story. A few years ago I caught the number on a PBS rerun at an older friend's. I thought, "This is the goddamnest thing I ever saw." Then Lawrence says, “And there you heard a modern spiritual.”

[@davidschmude]

Ole Myron knew they were about to put one over on Larry. This is hilarious.

[@StraightTalkinFedoraChic]

please! Those 2 had absolutely no clue what they were singing about

[@danc2234]

@@StraightTalkinFedoraChic I disagree. Both of them look like they know they're gonna get yelled at if Larry finds out.

[@pancudowny]

Lawrence Welk thinking this was a "spiritual" song seems right on par with my dad thinking "Out Of Touch" by Hall & Oates is "drug music"...!😆

[@thomastarwater6035]

Wonderful, wonderful, now let's bring out our Champagne Lady Norma Zimmer and hear her do a great rendition of "Henry" by that new swinging country western band New Riders of the Purple Sage! Turn on the bubble machine! A-one and a-two!

[@davidhenderson2904]

sts a real toeAtaper

[@pancudowny]

I haven't heard that band name since a late, elder friend mentioned it to me. Got her a copy of their greatest hits... on CD! Too-bad she couldn't figure out how to play it on the machine I also gave her. She said "I wish playing it was as easy as playing a record...!"🙄 BTW: Lawrence Welk thinking this was a "spiritual" song seems right on par with my dad thinking "Out Of Touch" by Hall & Oates is "drug music"...!😆

[@NickB1967]

If you notice the sly grins of "Gayle and Dale", and the *cough* for the accordion guy introducing the song, it's pretty clear that they *knew* they were getting something past the censors.

[@charlesbyrd1957]

They were getting past Lawrence Welk not the censors...

[@patriciafoster3347]

No they weren’t. They had no clue

[@davidhenderson2904]

never gets old

[@breezyvibe]

I watch this all the time. LOVELY.

[@23bnichols]

Ever. }}:)

[@pancudowny]

Lawrence Welk thinking this was a "spiritual" song seems right on par with my dad thinking "Out Of Touch" by Hall & Oates is "drug music"...!😆

[@skivvywaver]

I was like 11 years old in 1971. I didn't know what a toke was so I figured someone toke over the railroad and nobody was going anywhere or doing anything except handing over some cash. The "Butch Cavendish" routine.🤣 3 years later I for sure knew what toking was.

[@10Steve]

I lived in New York, and we used tokens instead of coins to pay for entrance to the subway trains. I just figured 1 toke over the line was just a token to the next subway stop. I figure that they just took Jesus and Mother Mary from the bible and put it in modern terms lol.

[@michaelroberts7959]

A Righteous Gem! Amy-Leigh and Baby Billy Freeman anyone?

[@bradjohnson9986]

And at the end Lawrence praises it as a "modern spiritual." He really was clueless.

[@ShmuelWeintraub]

His cast played the best practical joke on him ever... you know Myron, Dick and Gail all knew exactly what it meant... Wunnerful!

[@pancudowny]

Lawrence Welk thinking this was a "spiritual" song seems right on par with my dad thinking "Out Of Touch" by Hall & Oates is "drug music"...!😆

[@collegeman1988]

Next week on Lawrence Welk, our rendition of White Rabbit 🐇

[@michaelgasiciel9317]

That’s a good one.

[@judmcc]

Back in college in the 1970s, we'd use the line, say "Where have you been?" Reply: "Sitting downtown at the railway station."

[@michellethompson-lewis6837]

OMG,this is hilarious!!! I think I'll fall asleep & awaken laughing.I met Myron Floren at a recital I was in.I was 8,my parents were thrilled,me?Lol,not so much.There wasn't a word for me back then,now my Psychiatrist informed me I was "on the spectrum", I've got to say tho,it explained my entire childhood. Odd,I was most definitely different from anyone I knew. A few yrs. Of intensive therapy did me great favour!

[@timothylegg]

She almost got carried away with it all at 1:34. She was about the hop up on her feet.

[@JohnMiddletonBunny]

Along with Liberace's cover of "The 59th St. Bridge Song," one of the greatest covers of all time. Makes me feel downright spiritual.

[@mrsweettater]

I remember this was the turning point in my young life. I embraced blastphemy!!!

[@barryfitzgerald9276]

Gail and Dale are clearly toasted.

[@geoffhazel2]

LOL they had NO idea

[@rickusifer4574]

Oh my goodness.

[@sslaytor]

How many inches of fabric are there between his hand and her waist?

[@HotPlatters1]

HAPPY 4/20 Gale & Dale

[@emperortrevornorton3119]

I am stoned but my good God this was the last song I heard at my grandparents before my grandmother passed away on Iowa public television or Minnesota public television I know it was Welk because it was this Norwegian jokes I inherited Ollie and Lena joke books from them

[@reginaweir4777]

Best Comment Ever!

[@johnnyalvis]

Ole Dale sure has a tight grip on Gale. Creepy AF

[@jabeauxgisclar5]

if there's one then there's two tokes that's for sure! :-)

[@kvernon1]

I'm smiling all the way through the song! (But not for the reasons intended by the producers of The Lawrence Welk Show)! My man Myron referred to this as "one of the newer songs" ... but the seniors really seemed to like it too, didn't they? :)

[@NJtoTX]

It is sort of anti-drug, in a way. Still hilarious. They have no clue what "toke" means.

[@scottbenowitz7921]

Dick Dale died in 2014. Gail Farrell was born in 1947. She's alive and well, she and her husband presently live in Tennessee. Do you think that we should tell her ..... .... .....

[@mcilwainearcher7876]

All the sixties were like this. And our parents refused to see it.

[@davewarren1000]

Just wow!

[@cerberus144]

"We can't stop here, this is bat country."

[@momo11937]

Had to give it a like cause there was 600+66 likes when I pulled in to watch and sure we couldn't have that like.

[@primetimemonkyhours743]

Happy 4/20!!!

[@cherrysdiy5005]

I love how this got on Welk lol

[@cynthiasummers8238]

Hilarious!!!!!

[@illuminatipizza7968]

You can hear the disgust in Lawrence Welk's voice when he says "...newer songs." It is like food for the soul.

[@jaysee4992]

except that wasn’t Lawrence.

[@emperortrevornorton3119]

Getting the toke ready Mr. Welk

[@tarrylrosier8443]

The people at The Lawrence Well Show must not had any idea that this was about smoking weed. 😂😂😂😂😂

[@NJtoTX]

Unless they thought it was about a pot-smoker turning to Jesus after smoking too much.

[@KennethPittman-yx6uc]

The band Knew!

[@scottbenowitz8840]

The average age of the people who watched this show was 90+. I'm still thinking that someone who worked at ABC must have done this intentionally.

[@AdrianDeVore]

Hysterical 😂

[@daleodberg6714]

Real good!

[@joeblow9931]

Oh gawd

[@anonemus2971]

I make sure I'm one toke over the line on a daily basis.

[@DJK-cq2uy]

They can't be that clueless!! That poor Myron..he bout list his shit

[@dottiemack5681]

They should have taken the extra toke, lol.

[@Mushroomstops]

Mitch and Micky!

[@AmericanMadeMud]

Oops. Wrong Dick Dale. BTW Maybelle Carter thought this was a gospel and wanted to perform it.

[@grimson]

"Weren't they great! And now here's Ted and Rosy Thompson with another new song, 'Tomorrow Never Knows'!"

[@maryhyland]

What Lawrence couldn’t have known was that the “one toke over the line” from the hit by Brewer & Shipley refers to someone who has had a little too much of the wacky weed.

[@CopperKettle]

OMG ^_^

[@MrBiscotti2011]

Brewer & Shipley Classic. This is very bizarre.

[@jonathangaffney2388]

Stephen King sent me over. This is a riot.

[@cmodzins]

Lenny Bruce bit: Hip musician "Hey man, can I get a little bread in front?" Lawrence Welk "Ya hungry? Ya want sandwich?"

[@charlesbyrd1957]

Lord did they not know

[@fosbury68]

The guys in the band sure as hell knew.

[@j.c.b6473]

WTF? No way Welk knew what that song was about.

[@blackblog]

It was quite an embarrassment.

[@gregjones9974]

Stephen King, thank you 😤

[@PatinOmaha]

Oh, Sweet Jesus!

[@bingo1232]

News Flash - this just in from The Fevered Fantasy Depot. - Lawrence Welk was a closed toker. (After all, he was a farm boy from North Dakota AND a musician.) He certainly didn’t want to overtly wreck him image (and spoil a good middle class income generator). But he was BURNIN to let the world know that “All use is medicinal”… so he included this song on the playlist as his “secret rebellion”… as a rebellion to asshole Harry J. Anslinger’s policies. After they sang it, he giggle all the way to the bong in his dressing room. God Bless and Happy 420!!!

[@FrankPoliat]

It's NOT THE Dick Dale. Kinda looks like him!

[@bingo1232]

@@FrankPoliat Maybe Dick & Chick were "closet" smokers. I'm 70 and have been toking weed since I was 18.... but so many of my friends don't know about it (and I don't look it)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rock on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@stephenlangsl67]

Isn't Easter Sunday on 4/20 next year? Let's have a Church choir sing this song that day. Because smoking pot is a good Christian thing to do.

[@jilli30318]

LOL! Jesus. "He gets us!"😅

[@tomshea8382]

"...gets us HIIIIIIIIIGH."

[@mixhaelamikovich]

I think announcer had a toke lol

[@dharmapadma]

omg this is hilarious - they thought they were singing a gospel song because it has the word "Jesus" in it 🤣

[@paulhooson6850]

Oh, sweet Jesus!

[@BradReid]

You can tell it isn't AI because it was posted 15 years ago

[@avery7001]

Praise Jesus

[@leftylou6070]

No stems no seeds that you don't need. Acapulco Gold is bad ass weed.

[@summerhaven32086]

gummies of THC or (especially) HHC are much less harsh to the throat, and very calming

[@ConfusedPolarBear-jn9ll]

Stephen King said to watch lol!

[@LK-qc3lp]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@bkstuber]

What do they think a Toke is?

[@lisamott9705]

Aren't we all one toke over the line

[@fannycraddock99]

I think that I'm going to be sick!

[@nowiknowuryder]

Why ain’t they do casey jones by grateful dead!?

[@I-am-Rose.]

Here because Stephen King, the God of Horror, sent me.

[@jilllapierre8870]

Jesus approved

[@jandoel]

What perplexes me is that this was performed after the Spiro Agnew controversy. Even if they were somehow ok with the drug reference, the "Sweet Jesus" is clearly in vain

[@lanaharris4181]

When did Lawrence figure ou what "toke" meant.

[@williamshetz9522]

Just before his heart attack

[@root409]

When Joann Castle passed the bong to him!

[@dfdhgtrss212]

Somehow still an ok cover.

[@iaclassic]

False

[@doubtfulecstasy4220]

Bathroom...bathroom! Gonna throw up!

[@2skyland]

A modern Spiritual

[@michaelgasiciel9317]

I forgot about that line. That makes it even better. One for the ages! Rock of Ages?!

[@pancudowny]

@@michaelgasiciel9317 Well, Gunter glieben glauchen globen...!😁

[@ronaldpetrin5823]

Heard they hadn't a clue.

[@octoberguy]

The guy's high as a lab rat! 😵‍💫

[@TonyWud]

If you ain't choking...

[@jeremychildress3931]

Dude said “Gail Ferrell from Durant Oklahoma.” Okies are well know for loving they weed. Medical is legal there. Ole Gail was a smiling and happy in this video boy!

[@DavidCKendall]

Doncha know that I'm a !!!!

[@Dahstin]

Weed?

[@jayjay-bz3rr]

Dale and Gale inhale

[@keijulkyl]

Musicians.

[@stevelibby6852]

If Stephen King refers your video, you are going to get some clicks.

[@iverburl]

“When we wrote 'One Toke Over the Line,' I think we were one toke over the line. I considered marijuana a sort of a sacrament… If you listen to the lyrics of that song, 'one toke' was just a metaphor. It's a song about excess. Too much of anything will probably kill you.” - Tom Shipley, Apr 18, 2023 Like too much pandering to pop culture? ABC cancelled the show after this season (though Welk kept it going another decade in syndication). The cancelation was part of a change that swept the networks, known as the rural purge. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_purge

[@lynnlpickering9076]

I do not think LW knew what "toke" eas a nickname for.

[@snarflatful]

As corny as this is, the harmonies are great. It's very difficult to do.

[@pegroth5716]

😅