Ava Barber
Encyclopedia
Ava Barber is an American country music singer
and performer. She is best remembered for having performed on The Lawrence Welk Show
throughout much of the 1970s
and early 1980s
.
She is also known as a recording artist, her best-known hit being the song, "Bucket to the South", which peaked at #13 on the Hot Country Songs
list in 1978. She has done many reunion specials on PBS for The Lawrence Welk Show over the past number of years.
, Tennessee
. She grew up singing in her oldest brother's rock & roll band. Barber soon began listening to country music
from listening to her father turning on the radio to a country music station every morning. Soon, every Saturday night, Barber would got to the radio station's "WNOX" auditorium, where the music show was performed. When she was 10 years old, Barber began singing professionally. By the time she was 14 she joined a country music television
show, located in Knoxville. She soon began performing around the Knoxville area, and even recorded records for some local labels. Her mother was an avid fan of the popular television show at the time, The Lawrence Welk Show, and suggested that her daughter should write to him, because he always helped out young acts. Barber wrote to Welk in 1973, and he responded suggesting that if she ever was on the West Coast, she should perform on the show. About this same time, she married singer and musician Roger Sullivan.
Soon her husband made the call to the Lawrence Welk offices. Welk was actually in the office that day and suggested that they should meet him at a golf
tournament. They met on the golf course, and in a small tent off the golf course Barber auditioned for his show (singing "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden", a hit by another Welk show alum, Lynn Anderson
), and she was soon on the show by February 1974.
list in 1978, and reached #12 in Canada. Being a country singer brought her instant fame, and she soon appeared on many of its television shows, like Nashville Now, Crook & Chase, and made two appearances on the Grand Ole Opry
as well.
Barber's success on the country charts lingered off after the success of "Bucket to the South". She never even had another Top 40 country hit. One song did come close though called "You're Gonna Love Love", which missed the Top 40, peaking at #44. She was soon off the country charts, until 1981, when she made a comeback with the single "I Think I Could Love You Better Than She Did". When The Lawrence Welk Show ended in 1982, Barber and her husband Roger returned to Knoxville, where they purchased their own bus and formed their own band, Sweet Apple. They toured the United States and Canada singing and performing.
and lease their own theater located in Pigeon Forge
, Tennessee. They operated the theater until 1996. From 1997-2000, Barber worked at the Welk Theatre in Branson
, Missouri
. Since 2000, she has toured with members of [The Lawrence Welk Show and performs on her own. She does reunion specials with previous members of the show on PBS. She is working on a new show in Branson called The Grand Ladies of Country Music. Her husband acts as her agent.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and performer. She is best remembered for having performed on The Lawrence Welk Show
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years , then nationally for another 27 years via the ABC network and first-run syndication .In the years since first-run syndication...
throughout much of the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
and early 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
.
She is also known as a recording artist, her best-known hit being the song, "Bucket to the South", which peaked at #13 on the Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
list in 1978. She has done many reunion specials on PBS for The Lawrence Welk Show over the past number of years.
Early life and rise to fame
Ava Barber was born and reared in KnoxvilleKnoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. She grew up singing in her oldest brother's rock & roll band. Barber soon began listening to country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
from listening to her father turning on the radio to a country music station every morning. Soon, every Saturday night, Barber would got to the radio station's "WNOX" auditorium, where the music show was performed. When she was 10 years old, Barber began singing professionally. By the time she was 14 she joined a country music television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
show, located in Knoxville. She soon began performing around the Knoxville area, and even recorded records for some local labels. Her mother was an avid fan of the popular television show at the time, The Lawrence Welk Show, and suggested that her daughter should write to him, because he always helped out young acts. Barber wrote to Welk in 1973, and he responded suggesting that if she ever was on the West Coast, she should perform on the show. About this same time, she married singer and musician Roger Sullivan.
Soon her husband made the call to the Lawrence Welk offices. Welk was actually in the office that day and suggested that they should meet him at a golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
tournament. They met on the golf course, and in a small tent off the golf course Barber auditioned for his show (singing "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden", a hit by another Welk show alum, Lynn Anderson
Lynn Anderson
Lynn Rene Anderson is an American country music singer and equestrian known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, most notably her Grammy Award-winning, worldwide mega-hit, " Rose Garden." Helped by her regular exposure on national television, Anderson was one of the most...
), and she was soon on the show by February 1974.
The Lawrence Welk Show and success as a country singer
Soon, Barber was hired as a regular on The Lawrence Welk Show, and found herself performing on his television series on the West Coast. At the same time, Barber was trying to get her country music career off the ground. Chart success didn't come initially, but she released her first charting single in 1977 with the song, "Waitin' At the End of Your Run", a truck-driving song. The song was only moderately successful, though, reaching only #70 on the country singles charts that year. Barber's 1978 release, "Bucket to the South", turned into a big country hit, peaking at #13 on the Hot Country SongsHot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
list in 1978, and reached #12 in Canada. Being a country singer brought her instant fame, and she soon appeared on many of its television shows, like Nashville Now, Crook & Chase, and made two appearances on the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
as well.
Barber's success on the country charts lingered off after the success of "Bucket to the South". She never even had another Top 40 country hit. One song did come close though called "You're Gonna Love Love", which missed the Top 40, peaking at #44. She was soon off the country charts, until 1981, when she made a comeback with the single "I Think I Could Love You Better Than She Did". When The Lawrence Welk Show ended in 1982, Barber and her husband Roger returned to Knoxville, where they purchased their own bus and formed their own band, Sweet Apple. They toured the United States and Canada singing and performing.
Career in the '90s and life today
In 1990, Barber and Sullivan went into business with Dick DaleDick Dale
Dick Dale is an American surf rock guitarist, known as The King of the Surf Guitar. He experimented with reverberation and made use of custom made Fender amplifiers, including the first-ever 100-watt guitar amplifier.-Early life:Dale was born in South Boston, Massachusetts and lived in nearby...
and lease their own theater located in Pigeon Forge
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Pigeon Forge is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 5,875....
, Tennessee. They operated the theater until 1996. From 1997-2000, Barber worked at the Welk Theatre in Branson
Branson, Missouri
Branson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s....
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. Since 2000, she has toured with members of [The Lawrence Welk Show and performs on her own. She does reunion specials with previous members of the show on PBS. She is working on a new show in Branson called The Grand Ladies of Country Music. Her husband acts as her agent.
Albums
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1977 | Country as Grits |
| 1978 | You're Gonna Love Love |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
CAN Country | |||
| 1977 | "Waitin' at the End of Your Run" | 70 | — | Country as Grits |
| "Your Love Is My Refuge" | 92 | — | You're Gonna Love Love | |
| "Don't Take My Sunshine Away" | 69 | — | ||
| 1978 | "Bucket to the South" | 13 | 12 | |
| "You're Gonna Love Love" | 44 | — | ||
| "Healin'" | 75 | — | singles only | |
| 1981 | "I Think I Could Love You Better Than She Did" | 70 | — | |