Spinning A Web : The Gaylords
Back in the late 1940s in the east
side of Detroit, Michigan, three young neighborhood teenagers met and discussed
their love of music and their own dreams of someday becoming part of that
profession. They got together through their association with a CYO youth group
at Our Lady of Sorrows church. After high school they all entered the
In late 1952 Mercury recorded the Gaylords singing their tune "Tell Me You're Mine" / "Cuban Love Song" on #70030,
and by December of the year it began to sell in a big way. The record turned
out to be a huge hit across the country with a stay on the best seller charts
for five and a half months and getting to the number two position on the hit
parade held out of the top spot only by Perry Como's "Don't Let The Stars
Get In Your Eyes". This first recording by the threesome eventually sold
more than one million copies earning them a gold record. By the time the spring
of 1953 arrived The Gaylords had their second Mercury
release out, again accompanied by the "orchestra" of Ronnie Vincent
(in reality Fredianelli) - "Ramona" the old
romantic standard, and "Spinning A Web" on #70112. Both sides shot
into the top fifteen sellers with Ramona getting the most of the sales and
remaining on the pop charts for more than two months.
By mid 1953 The Gaylords
were a top pop music act on records and many club appearances were now
forthcoming. However the next two Mercury records were not successful -
"My Heart Is Free Again" / "I Won't Believe It" on #70131,
and "Tell Me You Love Me" / "Coquette" on #70170. In
December of the year "The Strings of My Heart" ("Mama Papa Polka"
on the flip side) was a decent seller for the group. It followed their formula
of singing part of the lyrics in Italian which became their signature style.
"Strings" was a top twenty hit carrying into 1954. "Sweet
Sue" and "Wonderin' " on #70235, and
"Stolen Moments" on #70286 did not do well, but it was a song
introduced on the Steve Allen television show "Songs For Sale" that
proved to be a winner. The song "From The Vine Came The Grape"
recorded with the George Annis Orchestra was a solid
hit climbing into the top ten and remaining a hit for over three months as The Gaylords continued to make their mark on the pop music
scene of the early fifties. At this time there was a change in the trio as Fredianelli entered the
The Gaylords
continued on with another hit that spring, scoring once more with a two sided
best seller. Mercury #70350 was released containing the songs "Isle of
Although they did not make the
national pop charts again, The Gaylords continued to
record for Mercury. "Pipalina" /
"Wonderful Lips" on #70479, "Giuseppe Mandolino"
/ "By The waters of
Into the early nineteen sixties the
music continued. "Mountain Climber" on #70979, "The Dum-De-Dum Song" / "Open The Letter" on
#71051, "Satin Doll" / "Wondering Hearts" on #71186,
"Oh Marie" / "The Magic Song" on #71236, "Each Time I
Love You More" on #71265, "Buena Sera" on #71337", I'm
Longing For Love" / "Flamingo d'Amor"
on #71369, and, "How About Me?" / "Again" on #71399 were
released. By this time Mercury had also released 45 extended play mini albums
(EPs) such as "On The Town" (#3190), "Sing Along With The Gaylords", "The Gaylords
Sing By Request" (#3263), and "Italian Memories". In the more
popular LP format Mercury presented "Let's Have A
Pizza Party" (#20356), "American Favorites In Italian" (#20620),
"At The Shamrock" (#20695), "That's Amore" (#20430), and
"Italiano Favorites". And the singles
continued - "Homing Pigeon" on #71450, "Jesse James" /
"The Shovel" on #71503, "The Whip Of The Wind" on #71601,
"Born To Be Loved" on #71762, "Oh Lonesome Me" on #71832,
and "Two Ton Tessie" on #719970. Now it was
the mid sixties and the time had come for the Gaylords
to call it a career as a pop music trio. So that was the end of Bonaldi, Rea, and Christ, after thirteen years of music and
the steadfast loyalty of Mercury Records. That was not the last chapter of the
story of The Gaylords however, as that wonderful and
creative trait called re-invention was about to take place and become part two
of the story.
Ron Fredianelli
had left the trio after being drafted in the army and while in uniform decided
to pursue his musical career as a solo performer and for this purpose changed
his name professionally to honor the trio and became known as Ronnie Gaylord.
Mercury Records followed suit and signed him to the label as a single artist.
His first releases were not that successful, including "I Won't Believe You" and "My Heart Is Free" on Mercury
#70131, and "Just In case You Change Your Mind" and "Marcheta" on #70212. But in early 1954 with the
release of "Cuddle Me" on #70285 recorded with the orchestra of David
Carroll, Ronnie had his hit record as a solo singer. The flip side of the
record was a song called "Am I Lonely?". His
solo effort was a mainstay on the hit charts for four months and charted as
high as number thirteen in the nation. It was a nice enough accomplishment for
Ronnie Gaylord to highlight his talent even though no other solo efforts would
do as well. Other solo efforts by Ronnie for Mercury were "Oh Love Of
Mine" / "Wow" on #70378, "Don't You Forget About Me" /
"I'm No Gonna Say" on #70425, "Bring
My baby Back To Me" on #70471."You" and a cover of Johnny Ace's
"Pledging My Love" on #70551, and "Be My Baby Do" /
"Prize Of Gold" on #70585. Ronnie Gaylord
also had some recordings released on Mercury Records subsidiary label Wing.
Some of these are "Che (Que)
Sera Sera" and a cover of Fats Domino's "Ain't That A Shame" on Wing #9000, "More And
More" / "Gina" on #90018, "Through The Years" /
"Don't Ever Change" on #90034, and "To Be Beside You" /
"Do You Know Where God Lives" on #90057. There was also a Mercury EP
called "Ronnie Gaylord Entertains". Gaylord also recorded for the Kapp Records label with a cover of Billy Myles "The
Joker" on #158, and "Down The Road Of
Love" and "Signora Fortuna" on #167.
Then in the mid nineteen sixties
while the British Invasion, Motown, Phil Spector, and
the California Sound ruled pop music, the Gaylords
reappeared. Burt Bonaldi had decided to change his
name professionally to Burt Holiday and soon after reunited with Ronnie to form
a duo they called Gaylord & Holiday, but also appeared billed as The Gaylords. By the nineteen seventies they had moved to
The music of The Gaylords
lives on in a number of CDs that are available. The single most important and
valuable resource is the Polygram album called
"The Gaylords : The Mercury Years". This CD has 25 tracks of their
best and most noteworthy songs plus Ronnie's solo hit "Cuddle Me".
Other CDs by The Gaylords
include "All Time Greatest Hits" for Our Heritage, "Christmas
With The Gaylords" and "Greatest Hits Vol.
1 & 2" both for AEM, and "Famiglia"
for Overture. Burt Holiday as a solo performer has "Music Laughter and
Songs" for Over Eazy, Ronnie Gaylord as a solo
performer has "Greatest Hits" and "Ronnie Gaylord Live"
both for Over Eazy in 1997.
And so for more than a half century
the music of The Gaylords has been a part of that
wonderful time during the late forties and early fifties that we call the
Interlude Era. We remember their music and celebrate them as part of the time
of our lives.