The Lawrence Welk Show produced a lot of good musicians. Maybe they would have been good musicians without Lawrence, but he certainly provided a broad showcase. The upside of that sort of opportunity is name face recognition and lot's of exposure. The downside, so says Ralna English, is that once you are a Welk performer, you are always a Welk performer. Not a direct quote, but close.
Ralna English was born In Texas in 1942. As a youngster of five she sang "Daddy's Little Girl" at Spur Texas High School. She said she remembered it clearly in a short dress with a sash, knees shaking and thinking, "Can they see my knees?" She formed her first band in junior high school called Ralna and The Ad-Libs and entertained around Texas. In a "Battle of the Bands" competion, she beat out Buddy Holly, who was also from Lubbock. She sang backup for a Waylon Jennings recording. After high school Ralna went to Texas Tech University, and participated in the Campus Revue at Six Flags Over Texas . Her career also included singing jingles for television ads. Clearly she was talented and headed for a career in vocal performance.
Ralna moved to California in the late 1960's and became a club vocalist around the Lake Tahoe area. One biography says it was there that Welk's son saw her and suggested to his father that she get an audition. At that time she was singing at The Horn* in Santa Monica. It was there that she met her future husband Guy Hovis. (I'll do a separate blog on Guy. Ralna deserves one of her own.)
In 1969 certainly was a life-changing year for Ralna. She and Guy Hovis got married. She was contacted by the Welk company, auditioned and was hired as a solo performer doing Christian standards, and other Welk styles. She persuaded Welk to bring her husband, Guy into the troupe and everyone fell in love with the beautiful couple who were so much in love there was no hiding it.
Ralna was drawn to jazz ala Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and Morgana King, but that was not the Welk sound, nor was it Guy's.
Ralna was married to Hovis for about fourteen years. They have one daughter Julie. Neither discussed their differences in public. The most Ralna said was that they were totally compatible on stage, but in life they just couldn't handle being together. (Again, not a direct quote but close.)
During the hard times, in 1980, Ralna was hospitalized for two weeks. Welk had her placed on a quiet floor where only a few doctors knew who she was. She was in a mental ward, it was night, and she she said that night changed her life. She said she prayed, and felt the comforting hand of Jesus and a love and assurance she could not describe.
She had an opportunity to do some recording for Capitol Records, but when her manager went to the Welk people, the opportunity was lost. Ralna accepts that God has a plan for her and is guiding her. She considers herself very fortunate to have had a steady career in a fairly unsteady business. She does not live in the past, nor does she fret about what might have been. She and Guy, who remarried, have a compatible working relationship and have raised their daughter with equal responsibility. They continue to perform as a duo, traveling to clubs, colleges and theaters.
Larry Welk has said the Welk program did not do Ralna justice, that she was capable of doing a lot of songs that would not have been acceptable on the program.
Ralna says, "I have a feeling in five or ten years, I'll be sitting on a barstool in Phoenix some place with a trio, just singing jazz." (Will the Welk fans accept that?) "Some will," she says, "some won't."
Good luck, Ralna, may 2013 find you doing just that if that's what you want.
*The Horn was also a launch pad for such stars as Jack Jones, Vikki Carr and Steve Martin
Thanks to Wikipedia;
and other internet biographical sites for musicians
janice.major@iCloud.com
Comments and corrections welcomed
Ralna moved to California in the late 1960's and became a club vocalist around the Lake Tahoe area. One biography says it was there that Welk's son saw her and suggested to his father that she get an audition. At that time she was singing at The Horn* in Santa Monica. It was there that she met her future husband Guy Hovis. (I'll do a separate blog on Guy. Ralna deserves one of her own.)
In 1969 certainly was a life-changing year for Ralna. She and Guy Hovis got married. She was contacted by the Welk company, auditioned and was hired as a solo performer doing Christian standards, and other Welk styles. She persuaded Welk to bring her husband, Guy into the troupe and everyone fell in love with the beautiful couple who were so much in love there was no hiding it.
Ralna was drawn to jazz ala Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and Morgana King, but that was not the Welk sound, nor was it Guy's.
Ralna was married to Hovis for about fourteen years. They have one daughter Julie. Neither discussed their differences in public. The most Ralna said was that they were totally compatible on stage, but in life they just couldn't handle being together. (Again, not a direct quote but close.)
During the hard times, in 1980, Ralna was hospitalized for two weeks. Welk had her placed on a quiet floor where only a few doctors knew who she was. She was in a mental ward, it was night, and she she said that night changed her life. She said she prayed, and felt the comforting hand of Jesus and a love and assurance she could not describe.
She had an opportunity to do some recording for Capitol Records, but when her manager went to the Welk people, the opportunity was lost. Ralna accepts that God has a plan for her and is guiding her. She considers herself very fortunate to have had a steady career in a fairly unsteady business. She does not live in the past, nor does she fret about what might have been. She and Guy, who remarried, have a compatible working relationship and have raised their daughter with equal responsibility. They continue to perform as a duo, traveling to clubs, colleges and theaters.
Larry Welk has said the Welk program did not do Ralna justice, that she was capable of doing a lot of songs that would not have been acceptable on the program.
Ralna says, "I have a feeling in five or ten years, I'll be sitting on a barstool in Phoenix some place with a trio, just singing jazz." (Will the Welk fans accept that?) "Some will," she says, "some won't."
Good luck, Ralna, may 2013 find you doing just that if that's what you want.
*The Horn was also a launch pad for such stars as Jack Jones, Vikki Carr and Steve Martin
Thanks to Wikipedia;
and other internet biographical sites for musicians
janice.major@iCloud.com
Comments and corrections welcomed
I find it interesting that she played with Waylon, since he was touring in Buddy Holly's band when the plane went down. Waylon had given up his seat on the plane and taken the bus instead -- with only a couple twists of fate, Ralna might well have been a back-up singer on that plane instead of the Big Bopper or Richie Valens. Apparently there was one more seat but Dion opted not to chip in the $36 for the flight.
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