Introduction
Don Rea (December 9, 1928—June 30, 2017) was an American singer and keyboardist. He was a founding member of the vocal group The Gaylords with Ronnie Gaylord (June 12, 1930 – January 25, 2004) and Bonaldo "Burt" Bonaldi(July 6, 1926 – May 10, 2017).
Early life
Don Rea was born Donald Rea in Detroit, Michigan, on December 9, 1928, to Thomas Rea and Mary Rea. He had three brothers—Thomas, David, and Louis—and a sister Dolores.
Don got an early start in music and began playing piano and keyboards at age 13.
He attended the University of Detroit Mercy in Detroit, Michigan, where he was a classmate of Ronnie Gaylord and Bonaldo "Burt" Bonaldi—his future bandmates.
Career
In 1949, Don formed The Gaylords (originally The Gay Lords) with Ronnie Gaylord and Bonaldo "Burt" Bonaldi.
The Gaylords met with immediate success and had several Italian-styled hits on the Mercury Records label in the 1950s. Their signature style was a hybrid of Italian and English language lyrics.
Gaylords' first, and biggest, hit came in 1952 with "Tell Me You're Mine" (written by Ronnie and composer Nino Ravasini). Derived from an Italian ballad, the song was originally recorded as a disc to be sold at Bonaldi's father's store. It reached number 2 on the U.S. pop chart and number 3 on Cashbox in 1953 and sold over one million copies by 1958. The song was covered by Russ Morgan and His Orchestra (1953), Vic Damone (on the album Angela Mia, 1958), Lou Monte (on the album Italian Houseparty, 1959), and Jerry Vale (on the album I Have But One Heart, 1962).
1953 saw two more hits with "Ramona" and "Spinning A Web" on Mercury Records (#70112). Both sides reached the top fifteen sellers, with "Ramona" remaining on the pop charts for more than eight weeks. In December 1953, they had moderate success with "The Strings of My Heart".
By that time, The Gaylords were an established name in the pop scene and were also making frequent club appearances and performing throughout the country. Over the years, they performed in many famed venues and casinos in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and Reno, including Harrah's, Caesar's Palace, The Dunes, Nugget Casino Resort, Sahara, Sands, Desert Inn, The Riviera, Tropicana, the Riverside, and Mapes. They also did shows with Buddy Hackett, Sammy Davis Jr., Bob Hope, Don Rickles, Red Skelton, Dinah Shore, Arthur Godfrey, Fats Domino, Maurice Chevalier, Danny Thomas, Duke Ellington, Bill Cosby, and at Frank Sinatra's Palm Springs home for Sinatra's birthday.
"Stolen Moments" from 1954 failed as a seller, but it was a song featured on the Steve Allen television show "Songs For Sale". Their next big hit was songwriter Leonard Whitcup's "From The Vine Came The Grape", recorded with music by George Annis And His Orchestra. It reached the top ten and stayed a hit for over three months.
In the mid-1950s, Ronnie joined the U. S. Army and was replaced by Bill Christ.
"Isle of Capri", released in 1954 on Mercury was on the charts for three months and was a top fifteen seller. "The Little Shoemaker", also from 1954, was a huge hit nationally and reached the number 2 spot.
Don, Bonaldi, and Bill continued recording as The Gaylords for Mercury Records until 1964. After their recording contract with Mercury ended, Don and Bill left the group, while Ronnie and Bonaldi (who changed his name to Burt Holiday) began performing as "Gaylord and Holiday". The duo were frequently joined by Don Rea. In 1963, Don played piano on Gaylord and Holiday's recording of Live At Lake Tahoe, accompanied by bassist Aka Jones, drummer Harvey Lang, and guitarist Jerry McGee. "Gaylord and Holiday" had a minor hit in 1976 with "Eh! Compuri", but failed to reach the success they had as The Gaylords trio.
By the 1970s, all four musicians had moved to Nevada where they became fixtures of the Las Vegas entertainment scene. They performed occasionally until 2003 when Ronnie's struggle with cancer made it difficult for him to continue his music career.
Personal life
Don married Susan Benning on February 24, 1951. Susan passed away on June 19, 2012.
They had two sons—Matthew and Mark—and a daughter—Carla.
Death
Don died after a short battle with cancer in Reno, Nevada, on June 30, 2017, at age 88.