WYES to Air 1980 Documentary “PETE!” in Honor of Pete Fountain

WYES–the New Orleans area’s PBS affiliate–will pay tribute to the late Pete Fountain by rebroadcasting the biographic documentary PETE! three times in the coming weeks. Showtimes are currently scheduled 7pm on Monday, August 15, at 6pm on Saturday, August 20 and 7pm on Sunday, August 21.

Pete Fountain and grandchildrenOriginally aired on PBS stations nationwide in 1980, the one-hour program follows Fountain’s life from his youth and early music career to what was then the present (Fountain was 50 when it was filmed).

“I was 16 when I was playing on Bourbon Street,” Fountain explains in the program. “I was 15 when I played a striptease and had just got into the union. I had a ball.”

PETE! was produced and directed by the late John Beyer and narrated by one of Fountain’s longtime friends, comedian and singer Phil Harris. The documentary includes footage of Fountain and his Half-Fast Walking Club on Mardi Gras Day and more, as well as rare footage of the famed clarinetist doing something he almost never did: singing.

The film also showcases some of Fountain’s moments outside the limelight, such as time spent relaxing on the road and delightful scenes of him and his wife Beverly at home with their children and grandchildren.

As previously reported, we were saddened to hear that Fountain–a certifiable New Orleans legend–passed away on Saturday at the age of 86.