From: "Colin Kilgour" Date: Thu Jan 13, 2005 3:50 pm Subject: Scan Do - Ral Donner The Ral Donner Story - by Adam Komorowski as published in New Kommotion Issue 21, 1979 as ‘You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Until You Lose It’ “In 1958 I was living with my sister and her family in Orlando, Florida. I became restless and ran away to Memphis (I was 15 years old) to audition for Sun Records." No it's no good checking out the Sun Session Files to discover the identity of the author of this statement, for Ral Donner's audition was not successful. However the venture did lead to his being befriended by the writers of Thomas Wayne's hit Tragedy, Burch and Nelson. They fixed up a session at the local Pepper Recording Studio and, with session musicians that included Charlie Rich on piano and Bill Black on bass, recorded Tell Me Why and That's All Right With Me. Despite rumours to the contrary this was Donner's first single. Released on the Scottie label, it failed to set the world alight and later appeared on a Crown album - "an unauthorised one, I might add that had my picture on the cover and name in bold lettering when actually eight of the ten tunes on the album were by other guys." Ralph Stuart Emanuel Donner was born the youngest of four children to painter and decorator Ralph Walter Donner and his wife Jewel Katherine, on 10th February 1943 in Chicago, Illinois. His sister Joyce, seventeen years his senior, was the one with whom he would go to stay with in Florida, and brothers William Harry (23 years his senior) and Ronald Ralph (ten years his senior) completed "a family with a keen appreciation for good music and performers which influenced me at an early age." Brother Ron was, and still is an avid Bing Crosby collector and it is in part due to the Old Groaner that Ral attributes his determination to become a singer; "I really feel it was when my mother took me as a small boy to the movie theatre to see Al Jolson and Bing Crosby that I really made up my mind I wanted to sing." Jolson also obviously made a visual impact on the youthful Donner, for he was soon perfecting his party piece imitation of Jolson complete with "blackface, floppy bowtie, white gloves and all." As he grew up Ral's ambitions spanned a wide spectrum; from becoming a preacher, baseball player, entertainer to being a barber, all of which were inspired by people he knew and admired. However the musical influences continued unabated, and the crooners of the post-war era, Perry Como Eddie Fisher, Dean Martin and others continued to resound in the Donner household. Ral, himself sang in the church choir going on to become a soloist. This culminated in an appearance at Orchestra Hall in Chicago on a radio broadcast. "I naturally remember the song I did, ‘It Is No Secret’ written and recorded by Stuart Hamblen, the country and western artist who had performed the song at Orchestra Hall the week previous to my doing it. Once again mimicry played a major part as they had me wearing cowboy boots, pants, shirt, necktie and no less than a Hopalong Cassidy hat. Some kind soul saved the day after he noticed the accompanist had twice begun the tune with no response from me. He swiftly provided me with a crate so I could reach the pulpit microphone. At that tender age, and in front of about 3 or 4 thousand people, it's enough to shake you up, baby." Time passed, and young Ralph progressed through Taft school - "At age 12 it was school assemblies, artists such as Perry Como, Eddie Fisher and Kay Starr were selling records then and we did tunes like Dungaree Doll and Rock ‘n’ Roll Waltz." And then it happened; rock'n'roll exploded on the scene. "I was consumed by its boundless energy and emotional energy. It was the tremendous influence of Elvis Presley that made me want to go into music. Not just his accomplishments in music but what he did for his people. I admired this and wanted to do it also. I at once sought to put together a rock'n'roll band, which I did, and it was only a matter of weeks before we were performing at high school dances." The band was all drawn from fellow pupils at Taft; Alan Sears on guitar, Jim Szott, Jack Burke, Phil Foss and Doug Cyrex collectively formed "The Rockin' Five". To say that they played high school hops would be stating the obvious and would have equated them with countless other eager youngsters whose aspirations would founder on the rocks of reality once they tried to break out of the high school dance syndrome. Not so with Ral Donner and The Rockin' Five; after several months they were booked to play Sunday matinees at a dinner club, the Club Hollywood on the northwest side of Chicago. Their surprise and delight at this encouraging start was heightened when a couple of TV producers spotted them just a few days before Christmas '57 and invited them to appear at the now defunct Chicago night club, the Chez Paree, to once again play matinees starting on Sunday 8th February 1958. This they did for a period of 13 weeks to an all teen audience. "This is where I suppose you would say the career really begins as we had the opportunity to meet and work with artists such as Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis and Sammy Davis Jnr. All these per formers who were playing the chez during their regular engagements were good enough to drop in for 'a song or two' at the Sunday matinees. This led to myself and the band appearing on the evening floor show of Sammy Davis Jnr and also an appearance with him, Redd Foxx and Steve Allen at the Apollo Theatre in New York." This milestone occurred on 11th April 1958 and Ral had the momentous task of following Sammy and Steve on stage, coming through the ordeal with, this accolade from Davis; "Kid you just fought World War III and won!" On April 26th he appeared on the Alan Freed Big Beat Show at the Chicago Opera House which "put us on stage with the biggest selling record acts of rock'n'roll at that time." In an article entitled "This Boy Wows 'Em!", the local press reporter, Mary Morgan revealed that Ralph's likes included; "Down to earth friendly types of people, hamburgers and malts, bright coloured clothes, and girls", whilst "Fancy restaurants, giggly girls and people who put on airs", came at the other end of the spectrum. Apart from listing his favourite records (Elvis' ‘Hard Headed Woman, ‘Don’t Ask Me Why’, Ricky Nelson's ‘Poor Little Fool’, there were the mandatory vital statistics (5'-9” and 135lb), reference to his brown eyes and long eyelashes. This eulogy culminated with; "Watch this boy! Not only is his singing outstanding, but he has a good personality without a spark of conceit. Easy going, polite and intelligent describe him." Also mentioned in the article was the TV show entitled "Time For Teens". This was a TV show direct from Chicago with ideas for the programme mainly from its own teen audience. It was hosted by "The Country's Oldest Teen", Stan Howard and was totally teen orientated. This in fact was the show that screened Donner's appearances at the Chez Paree for 13 consecutive weeks. Named as being one of the numbers performed on these shows was Wear My Ring Around Your Neck. Ral was serving his apprenticeship; gaining exposure. It was a year after his unsuccessful escapade in Memphis that Ral found himself down again with his sister in Florida doing personal appearances in the area. A friend of his in Orlando suggested he come down and record for a man who professed interest in him. When he arrived at the studio, the man had lost interest in Ral. Undeterred Ral proceeded to record some tapes on his own at the local Talent Studio. Backing was provided by a group known as the Tornados and a vocal harmony group, the Starfires emulated the Jordanaires. The session was produced by Gloria M.Fox and four titles were recorded; Girl of My Best Friend, It's Been A Long Long Time, Loneliness of A Star, + And Then the latter being written by the co-producer on the session, the former being co-written by Ral with the aforementioned producer, by name Hutchins. It was through the auspices of the producers that the tapes came to the attention of George Goldner in New York. He liked what he heard and signed Ral to a five year contract. Girl of My Best Friend, (taken from Presley's first post-army album) and It’ s Been A Long Long Time were issued on Goldner's Gone label 151021. The record's success must have exceeded even Donner's own expectations, and as he put it, "there were hundreds of appearances at record hops and various other shows " for several D-J's in Chicago and surrounding area, just trying to get all the exposure possible for the time when records would be put out. That time came shortly thereafter and all the appearances for no, or next to no pay suddenly seemed worth it all." The record took off like a supercharged rocket in the Chicago area, outselling all rivals at least fivefold, and such was its impetus that it was shortly winging its way up the national charts progressing in four weeks from #82 to reach #26 on 14th May 1961 in the Billboard charts. The success of the record Immediately galvanised others into scouring Presley albums for hit material and resulted in the likes of Joe McDowell (Wooden Heart, Dean Hawley (Pocketful Of Rainbows) and Terry Stafford (Suspicion). Donner's voice bore an uncanny resemblance to Presley's, so much so that after this initial plagiarism of a Presley tune there was no need for him to repeat the formula with subsequent releases; they were Donner originals that compared more than favourably with the then current Presley schmaltz. Despite the obvious Presley influence, the billing on the early Donner singles gives a clue to his other influences; Ral Donner & the Starfires. "The early black groups had a lasting influence on me, starting with I'd say the Ink Spots and later the Platters, Lee Andrews & the Hearts, the Five Satins, Harvey & the Moonglows, the Flamingos, and Shep & the Limelighters. I wore out the vinyl on Dion & the Belmonts Where Or When and That's My Desire, and the Diamonds' Church Bells May Ring. Listening to their records always made me wish I was part of a group. It was sort of that way on my early records when they read "Ral Donner & the Starfires". The chart success heralded a cross-country tour and appearances on the top TV programmes. A guy by the name of Sal Ferrara acted as Ral's lead guitarist on live dates from around '59 through to about '62, although he never actually played on any of the recording sessions. The follow-up single (And Then / To Love ) was quickly withdrawn by Goldner end substituted by You Don't Know What You've Got b/w So Close To Heaven and issued under the same number (5108). The topside, penned by Paul Hampton no mean Presley imitator himself (Slam Bang Thank You M'am), was a monster. Recorded once again in Florida, this time at the Criteria Studio in Miami, along with the Tornados and Starfires, it reached #4 in the Billboard charts on 10th September 1961. Ironically enough one of the three titles above it was Joe McDowell's Wooden Heart. It was also Ral's debut in the UK (Parlophone R4820) and it received this review in the British music press; "Ral Donner's making good headway in the States and 1'm not surprised after hearing him on You Don't Know What You've Got. I'd say this gliding beater could be a successful sleeper over here. Donner's voice is rich in personality and deeply suited to the song." The reviewer was wrong in one aspect, the record was no sleeper, and quickly made an impact on the UK charts reaching #21 in the NME in early November. It is perhaps worth noting this comment of Donner's on the flipside, So Close To Heaven; "I was very fortunate to have these three fellows with me (the Starfires) and although their sound came off very mellow, they could do all those group things and we always tried to come as close as we could to a group feel. The song So Close To Heaven I think is a good example. One British reviewer at that time likened its appeal to that of the Ink Spots in their heyday. To me this was quite a compliment." When taken in the context of the then prevailing charts, Ral's hits were like a breath of fresh air, for the hit parade of the early 60's was not exactly inspiring. Rock'n'roll had been killed off by a process of insidious dilution and Presley, the King of Rock'n'Roll, was gradually fading into a protracted series of inferior film songs. Donner's output was so close to immediate post army Presley that many fans took his recordings to be Presley recording under a pseudonym! It was only when pictures were published of Donner that the theory was dispelled, and a kind of dull despair set in at being given incontrovertible proof of just what Presley could have been doing, as opposed to what he was actually doing. Whilst many tried desperately hard to copy Presley, indeed just about every '50's rocker initially set out to copy the verbal pyrotechnics of the ex-Memphis truck driver, few if any managed to effectively equal nor yet improve on the powerhouse ballad Presley style; Donner did. Please Don't Go was a third consecutive hit; this a number recorded in New York's Bell Studio with session musicians reached #30 in Cashbox on 18th November 1961. Personal appearances on the Dick Clark Show in May and July had followed on the heels of chart success. The strength of these singles was enough to persuade the record company to record an album, which was produced by Steve Alaimo, who in a recent interview with Cliff White enlarged on the plot; 'See what happened, Artie Ripp, who was working for Goldner, he was sent down to Florida to make an album with Ral Donner. But they couldn't get along. Ripp was at the movies, he was here he was there, anywhere but in the studio, so George called me on the phone, '1 want you to get in there and do the session.' So I produced the album but Artie Ripp got the credit. But I got Artie. They had a big convention and as he was walking around telling everybody how he'd produced the record when George Goldner got up there right in front of everybody, pointed at me and said, 'This is the kid that made the record, this other kid was at the movies all day.' So it was my day in court. I got no money for it but I got experience doing that.' The result was Takin' Care Of Business (Gone LP 5012) released in September 1961. A fine album, It was well stocked with an impressive array of writers, (Otis Blackwell, Barry Mann, Paul Hampton, Pomus & Schuman and Dave Lapham) and contained some compelling vocal performances from Donner. The hit potential of Nine Times Out Of Ten was spotted by Cliff Richard who took the number into the UK charts in October 1960. A few more numbers were recorded at three further sessions in late 1961 and early 1962. However all the chart success came to an abrupt end in 1962, when, after 12 months of a 5 year contract Donner sued Goldner over royalty payments. The case was transferred from the Chicago courts, where Donner instigated the action, to New York, Goldner's home territory. Donner lost the case. He picked up with local Chicago management and succeeded in getting a deal with Sinatra's Reprise label, which also had on it's roster Sammy. Davis Jnr. This move should have ensured his continued success, for Reprise was a company with the ability to handle an artist who had just sold 2.5 million records in a year. A Christmas disc coupling Second Miracle b/w Christmas Day, produced by Jimmy Bowen at the Universal Studio in Chicago, was Donner's first offering for the label. Gone responded with material that they had in the can and Sweetheart b/w To Love scrapped in at #74, giving Ral his last Top Hundred entry to date and at the same time killing off the Reprise single. I Got Burned b/w A Tear In My Eye, another magnificent Presley-styled opus sold well in Chicago but only managed #124 nationally, a close miss that deserved a better fate. The subsequent two releases achieved even less. The 'British Invasion', deadlier than the Plague and executioner of so many Stateside artists, contributed to Donner's chart demise. "Like so many American artist during the British invasion, I found air-play became very hard to come by as the American radio people were pre-occupied with the imports." Despite his lack of success at Reprise, Ral retains fond memories of his association with the company; "Although we came very close, but didn't have a fully fledged hit I'm nevertheless very glad I had the opportunity to be with Reprise, a first class organisation. To me it remains a highlight." Released on 8th June 1963 but recorded in Florida in 1960 as part of his pre-Gone session, came And Then b/w Loneliness Of A Star on the Palm Beach label Tau (105). And Then has a different backing to the Gone version and it is probable that the Tau version is the original recording and Donner effectively confirms this; "The Tau single was recorded with Girl Of My Best Friend and It's Been A Long Long Time. They were either recorded in one or two sessions. I don't recall. One of the producers wrote And Then and I co-wrote Loneliness Of A Star with him. I don't really know who was involved with Tau." But quite obviously it was the producers of the tracks who leased them to this locally based label. It is worth noting that Loneliness Of A Star (written by Donner and Hutchins) is not the same as the Gone L.P track Lonely Star (written by Ross and Bobrick). "From 1964 on it has been a lot of 'one and two shot' production deals with several different labels." The first of these was Fontana for whom Donner laid down four tracks in Nashville with the distinguished musical assistance of Scotty Moore, Jerry Kennedy and Ray Stevens. Poison Ivy League amply demonstrated Donner's ability to handle an uptempo number. A single on Red Bird, '"was a result of a Chicago producer's attempt to re-unite me with George Goldner who had been President of Gone records and now had Red Bird. He took Love Isn't Like That which I had written and produced and coupled it with It Will Only Make Me Love You More, a side he had produced on me." Next came a single on Mid Eagle which "was the result of a long time friend's request for me to record a song he had written. The flipside Lost was written by me and I think clearly tells how I was feeling at that particular time." Jerry Reed wrote and played lead guitar on If I Promise which was Ral's next single on Rising Sons (714). After that a handful of singles on MJ, Sunlight, Chicago Fire, Mid Eagle and most recently Thunder represent the sum total of Donner's issued material, although six titles recorded in Chicago in 1972 remain unissued. The Sunlight single has recently been re-issued on Starfire through the auspices of Rip Lay; "My association with Rip goes back to 197? when he contacted me by phone inquiring about a current record release. We have never met but have developed a fine friendship through our many phone conversations. He has been most helpful to me and is probably one of the biggest promoters of my recordings in the States. The Starfire single is the result of Rip Lay advising me that he had acquired tapes of the tunes involved and if I would approve of his releasing the record." Ral's musical activities have not been solely confined to singing (and he's carried on doing that for over 20 years); "In the recent past I have been involved with some production work (one that involved the current Platters), doing some songwriting (Joey Madrid has recorded Ral's songs on USA), co-designed and created a couple of discotheques, and am currently involved in a fledgling radio-TV commercial company." He has also found time to get married and he and his wife Linda have a five year old son Ral. As to his future career- and ambitions, Ral replies thus; To be quite honest with you this question has me guessing more than anyone, for you see as far as I was concerned I had made the last record I was going to make in 1976. My career had not served the purposes I had originally intended it to and the death of-my mother in December 1976 rang down a cold curtain of reality that some of my ambitions could now never be fulfilled. Material things suddenly meant nothing to me and I felt comfortable with my decision. Then August 16, 1977 came to pass and because of my four year old son's love for Elvis, a few weeks later I sat down and wrote a song about Elvis, his influence on me, and how it transcended our generation and captured the heart of a four year old boy. It was like pouring out twenty years of my life into one song. Jim Mydlach heard the song and said 'You must record it. You owe it to the memories of your mother and Elvis.' I could only agree. So over the Christmas holiday weekend 1977 on the 1st anniversary of my mother's death we recorded The Day The Beat Stopped It is the most emotional recording I have ever done or ever will do. So as you see I'm not sure if this is a new beginning or an end for me. If it would be the former my ambition would be to take the God given talents I might have and use them to try to do some good in this world." There's not much one can say to cap that other than to point out that part of the proceeds from The Day The Beat Stopped are being donated to the Elvis Presley Memorial in Memphis (the track is included on the To Elvis: Love Still Burning) and to echo Bill Millar's words from the sleeve notes of the forthcoming Pye LP of Gone material (NSPL 28269) -"Jim Jacobs, author of the comedy-musical, Grease, attended Taft High between 1956 and 1960 and based the scenario on Taft and its environs. Johnny Casino, the teen rock'n'roll idol, is really a portrayal of Ral Donner whose career deserves a boost now that Grease is transmogrified into film." I'll drink to that. (My thanks to Ral Donner for his assistance and acknowledgements to the late Margaret Martin, also Chuck Baker and Bill Millar.) ================= posted by Colin Kilgour: