Bob Ralston
Encyclopedia
Robert Ralston is an American pianist
and organist
who performed on television's The Lawrence Welk Show
from 1963 to 1982.
A native of California, Bob Ralston attended Wheaton College
on a full music scholarship but later returned home to attend the University of Southern California
, where he graduated with a degree in music composition and accompaniment. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from USC in 1964. During his years in college, he played six nights a week with the Freddy Martin
orchestra (1959-1962) at Los Angeles's Coconut Grove nightclub, where in 1962, Welk
invited him on his show as a guest musician. That lasted until the summer of 1963 when he was hired on a permanent basis. The Welk TV shows feature Bob Ralston's piano and organ solos, but they frequently include his performances as a singer, dancer, and comedian. He arranged music and continued to perform for the Music Makers live and on television until 1982 when Welk retired from active performing.
Throughout his career, Ralston has recorded several hundred albums; many of them as a solo artist or with bandleaders such as Welk
, Ray Conniff
and Billy Vaughn
. He has also been active in the preservation of theater pipe organs across America and has been a guest conductor
for several symphony orchestras.
Ralston and his Dutch
-born wife Fiejte have been married since March 3, 1963, they make their home in Southern California
and are the parents of two adult children, Dianne and Randy. He still holds regular concerts in his home with various guest vocalists.
Ralph Blane
(composer of “The Boy Next Door
,” “The Trolley Song
,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
,” and many, many others),
Nat “King” Cole,
The Ray Conniff
Singers,
Phyllis Diller
,
Eddie Fisher
,
Rhonda Fleming
,
Gogi Grant
,
Robert Guillaume
,
Jerome Hines
,
Shirley Jones
,
Sheila
& Gordon MacRae
,
Gisele MacKenzie
,
Freddy Martin
,
Tom Netherton
,
Andy Williams
,
Lawrence Welk
, and
Norma Zimmer
.
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
who performed on television's 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...
from 1963 to 1982.
A native of California, Bob Ralston attended Wheaton College
Wheaton College (Illinois)
Wheaton College is a private, evangelical Protestant liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago in the United States...
on a full music scholarship but later returned home to attend the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, where he graduated with a degree in music composition and accompaniment. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from USC in 1964. During his years in college, he played six nights a week with the Freddy Martin
Freddy Martin
Frederick Alfred Martin was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist.-Early life:Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Raised largely in an orphanage and with various relatives, Martin started out playing drums, then switched to C-melody saxophone and later tenor saxophone, the latter the one...
orchestra (1959-1962) at Los Angeles's Coconut Grove nightclub, where in 1962, Welk
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
invited him on his show as a guest musician. That lasted until the summer of 1963 when he was hired on a permanent basis. The Welk TV shows feature Bob Ralston's piano and organ solos, but they frequently include his performances as a singer, dancer, and comedian. He arranged music and continued to perform for the Music Makers live and on television until 1982 when Welk retired from active performing.
Throughout his career, Ralston has recorded several hundred albums; many of them as a solo artist or with bandleaders such as Welk
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
, Ray Conniff
Ray Conniff
Joseph Raymond Conniff was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.-Biography:...
and Billy Vaughn
Billy Vaughn
Richard "Billy" Vaughn was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, orchestra leader, and A&R man for Dot Records....
. He has also been active in the preservation of theater pipe organs across America and has been a guest conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
for several symphony orchestras.
Ralston and his Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
-born wife Fiejte have been married since March 3, 1963, they make their home in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
and are the parents of two adult children, Dianne and Randy. He still holds regular concerts in his home with various guest vocalists.
Facts
- Ralston often played a Thomas Organ on The Lawrence Welk Show.
- Bob Ralston was discovered on his 15th birthday, July 2, 1953, when he appeared on a TV show called "Hollywood Opportunity". He won first prize - a brand new Dodge car - and Lawrence Welk was one of the judges.
- Bob Ralston’s mother, Marjorie Norton, was the original voice of Minnie MouseMinnie MouseMinerva "Minnie" Mouse is an animated character created by Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney. The comic strip story "The Gleam" by Merrill De Maris and Floyd Gottfredson first gave her full name as Minerva Mouse. Minnie has since been a recurring alias for her. Minnie is currently voiced by actress Russi...
; when she began work with Walt DisneyWalt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
in 1927, she was his 13th employee, supervising a team of “inkers” (artists coloring cells).
- Bob Ralston's aunt, Esther RalstonEsther RalstonEsther Ralston was an American movie actress whose greatest popularity came during the silent era.-Early life and career:...
, was a famous motion picture star in the 1920s & 1930's.
- Bob Ralston's grandson, Field CateField CateField Adreanus Cate is an American actor. He is best known to date for his series-regular role playing Young Ned on the dramedy Pushing Daisies.- Biography :...
, is a celebrity child actor of TV and film.
- Bob Ralston was the music director for the globally telecast Hollywood Bowl Easter Sunrise Service from 1989 to 2005.
- He and Bob HopeBob HopeBob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
along with Wayne NewtonWayne NewtonWayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
are the only honored lifetime members of the Fifteenth Air Force Association
- Ralston hosted the program, Gee Dad! It's a Wurlitzer! on KPCC public radio from 1996 to 2000
- During more than 40 years in show business, Bob Ralston has given his unique support as pianist/organist/arranger to a great variety of top name vocalists. He has been Musical Director and/or accompanist to scores of famous artists, including the following (in alphabetical order):
Ralph Blane
Ralph Blane
Ralph Blane was an American composer, lyricist, and performer.-Life and career:Born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Blane was the son of grocery store owners. He attended Tulsa Central High School...
(composer of “The Boy Next Door
The Boy Next Door (song)
"The Boy Next Door" is a 1944 popular song by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane.It was first introduced in the musical film Meet Me in St. Louis, where it was performed by Judy Garland....
,” “The Trolley Song
The Trolley Song
"The Trolley Song" is a song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis...
,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics, which has become more common than the original. The song was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane...
,” and many, many others),
Nat “King” Cole,
The Ray Conniff
Ray Conniff
Joseph Raymond Conniff was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.-Biography:...
Singers,
Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller is an American actress and comedian. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes jokes about a husband named "Fang" while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder...
,
Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
,
Rhonda Fleming
Rhonda Fleming
Rhonda Fleming , is an American film and television actress.She acted in more than 40 films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became renowned as one of the most beautiful and glamorous actresses of her day...
,
Gogi Grant
Gogi Grant
Gogi Grant is an American popular singer.-Life and career:Grant was born Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the age of 12, she moved to Los Angeles, California, where she attended Venice High School. In California, she won a teenage singing contest and appeared on television...
,
Robert Guillaume
Robert Guillaume
Robert "Bob" Guillaume is an American stage and television actor, best known for his role as Benson Du Bois on the TV-series Soap and the spin-off Benson, voicing the mandrill Rafiki in The Lion King and as Isaac Jaffe on Sports Night...
,
Jerome Hines
Jerome Hines
The American Jerome A. Hines was a basso opera singer who performed at the Metropolitan Opera from 1946 to 1987...
,
Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones
Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...
,
Sheila
Sheila MacRae
Sheila MacRae is an English actress and author. She was born Sheila Margaret Stephens. She appeared in such films as Pretty Baby , Caged , Backfire , and Sex and the Single Girl ....
& Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel and films with Doris Day like Starlift.-Early life:Born Albert Gordon MacRae in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae graduated from...
,
Gisele MacKenzie
Gisele MacKenzie
Gisèle MacKenzie was a Canadian-American singer, most famous for her performances on the popular television program Your Hit Parade.-Biography:...
,
Freddy Martin
Freddy Martin
Frederick Alfred Martin was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist.-Early life:Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Raised largely in an orphanage and with various relatives, Martin started out playing drums, then switched to C-melody saxophone and later tenor saxophone, the latter the one...
,
Tom Netherton
Tom Netherton
Thomas Harold Netherton, Jr., known as Tom Netherton , is a singer best known for his long tenure on The Lawrence Welk Show....
,
Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
,
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
, and
Norma Zimmer
Norma Zimmer
Norma Zimmer was a vocalist, best remembered for her 22-year tenure as Lawrence Welk's "Champagne Lady" on The Lawrence Welk Show.-Biography:...
.
- For 17 years, Bob assisted in producing and directing Birmingham, Alabama’s annual Festival of Sacred Music. He was also pianist, orchestrator, and guest conductor for the Alabama Symphony.
- He is also a former conductor of the Hayward Symphony Orchestra (1976–1977).
- An alumnus of Illinois’ Wheaton College (alma mater of Dr. Billy GrahamBilly GrahamWilliam Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
, a devout Ralston fan), Bob has been involved in Christian music all of his adult life.
- Since 1988, he has been senior staff organist at Founder’s Church of Religious Science in Los Angeles (performing on their 4-manual, 31-rank WurliTzer pipe organ, the largest installed in any church in the world).
- Ralston is a member of MENSAMensaMensa meaning table in Latin, may refer to:*Mensa International, an organization for people with high IQs*Mensa , a southern star constellation*Mensa , a term used by geologists to refer to an extraterrestrial mesa...
, the high I.Q society
- Ralston’s hobbies include logic problems, linguistics, and the study of sixteen foreign languages.
- He does all of his arrangements and compositions on the latest Macintosh computers.
- He continues to work as a pianist, theatre pipe organist, show producer, arranger, conductor, composer, teacher, and recording artist.
- He is president of the Society for the Preservation of Theatre Organ Music in America (SPOTOMA).
- In February 2005, Bob was featured organist on the huge 109-rank tracker pipe organ at the newly constructed Walt Disney Concert HallWalt Disney Concert HallThe Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the...
in Los Angeles.
- “Bob Ralston’s the greatest,” said legendary singer Eddie Fisher, when he and Bob entertained at the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles for then Mayor Richard Riordan. Fisher first hired Ralston as his Musical Director for the “Earthquake Victims Benefit Concert” in San Francisco in 1989. They have since worked cruise ships and other engagements together.
- In 1990, Bob did a command performance at the home of the late Tom BradleyTom Bradley (politician)Thomas J. "Tom" Bradley was the 38th Mayor of Los Angeles, California, serving in that office from 1973 to 1993. He was the first and to date only African American mayor of Los Angeles...
when he was mayor of Los Angeles. Mayor Bradley originally wanted to hear Bob play “just a few Gershwin tunes,” but the mayor and his 12 guests were so enchanted with Bob’s piano stylings that the evening turned into a four-hour marathon with Bob playing dozens of medleys of the music of George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Jerome KernJerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Cole PorterCole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
, and other great composers.
- Bob Ralston knows over 3,000 songs by memory.
- Bob Ralston's latest album, "The Piano Artistry of Bob Ralston" was released in 2006.