Don Ralke (July 13, 1920 – January 26, 2000) was an American

music arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, and record producer, working for four decades in the Hollywood studio system in films, television, and pop recordings. He was born on July 13, 1920, in

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...

. Ralke died on January 26, 2000, in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

Education

Ralke received his bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, graduating with honors. He also studied with famed composer and Hollywood emigre,

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

Career overview

On the

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

Ralke collaborated with versatile flute and reed instrumentalist,

Buddy Collette William Marcel "Buddy" Collette (August 6, 1921 – September 19, 2010) was an American jazz flutist, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He was a founding member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Early life William Marcel Collette was born in L ...

on "Jazz Heat", "Bongo Beat".

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

hired him for "Gershwin with Bongoes" and "The Savage and The Sensuous ", which is widely regarded as one of the best jungle exotica albums of that era. He worked with Warren Barker on the music for

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television Private investigator#PIs in fiction, private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith (actor), Roger Smith, Richard Long (actor), Richard Long (fr ...

and did the heavy musical lifting when Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, one of the show's stars, became a

teen idol A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups. By region Asia East Asia possess ...

and recorded his one hit, "

Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb) "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)" is a song written by Irving Taylor and performed by Edward Byrnes and Connie Stevens. The single was produced by Karl Engemann and arranged by Don Ralke, and was featured on Byrnes' 1959 album, ''Kookie Star ...

". Ralke performed similar duties for "

Hawaiian Eye ''Hawaiian Eye'' is an American detective television series that ran from October 1959 to April 1963 on the ABC television network. Premise Private investigator Tracy Steele (Anthony Eisley) and his half-Hawaiian partner, Tom Lopaka (Robert Con ...

" star

Connie Stevens Connie Stevens (born Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingolia; August 8, 1938) is an American actress and singer. Born in Brooklyn, New York City to musician parents, Stevens was raised there until age 12, when she was sent to live with family friends in r ...

when she recorded "Sixteen Reasons". Other recordings include Jewel Akens' "

The Birds and the Bees The talk about sex, often colloquially referred to as "the birds and the bees" or "the facts of life", is generally the occasion in most children's lives when their parents explain what sex is and how to do it. According to tradition, "the birds ...

", and five other gold records. His orchestra backed

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

on several 1959-1960 songs. Ralke also recorded two hits by Ty Wagner: "I'm a No Count" as well as "Slander". In the late 1960s he created his own record company. He collaborated with sound engineer Brad Miller on the hugely successful strings-with-environmental sounds creation, the Mystic Moods Orchestra.

Golden Throats

Working with "

Golden Throats Golden Throats is Rhino Records' series of humorous compilations of critically lambasted cover versions of songs, performed mostly either by celebrities known for something other than musical talent or musicians not known for the genre from which ...

talent" became a specialty niche for Ralke. Ralke is credited for convincing non-singers including

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

and

Lorne Greene Lorne Hyman Greene (born Lyon Himan Green; 12 February 1915 – 11 September 1987) was a Canadian actor, musician, singer and radio personality. His notable television roles include Ben Cartwright on the Western ''Bonanza'' and Commander Ada ...

to play it safe and stick to

narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to storytelling, convey a narrative, story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deli ...

over a musical background. Ralke also produced

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

dad

Murry Wilson Murry Gage Wilson (July 2, 1917 – June 4, 1973) was an American songwriter, talent manager, record producer, and music publisher, best known as the father of the Beach Boys' Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson. After the band's formation in 1 ...

's ''The Many Moods of Murray Wilson'' which was not kindly lauded by critics but nonetheless has achieved a place as an important footnote in 1960s music.

Snoopy, Come Home

In 1972 Ralke produced and orchestrated Bob and Dick Sherman's

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nominated

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

Snoopy, Come Home ''Snoopy, Come Home!'' is a 1972 American animated musical comedy-drama film directed by Bill Melendez and written by Charles M. Schulz based on the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. The film marks the on-screen debut of Woodstock, who had first appeared ...

''.

Happy Days/Laverne and Shirley

In the 1970s, he returned to television, working for producer

Garry Marshall Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American filmmaker and actor. He started his career in the 1960s writing for ''The Lucy Show'' and ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' before he developed Neil Simon's 1965 play ''The Odd Co ...

on the series "

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most succ ...

" and its spin-off, "

Laverne and Shirley ''Laverne & Shirley'' (originally ''Laverne DeFazio & Shirley Feeney'') is an American sitcom television series that played for eight seasons on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of ''Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' star ...

Description by colleagues

Ralke was once described by Stan Ross, co-founder of Gold Star recording studio, as "the most well-known unknown in the business."

Recordings

*77 Sunset Strip / Sebastian - WB 5025 (single) *Zooba / Stardust - WB 5058 *''Very Truly Yours'',

Crown Records Crown Records was a budget albums record label founded as a subsidiary of Modern Records in 1957. It has been the name of several different record labels, listed below. Discography Mono Stereo Other Crown Records * United Kingdom ** Crown Reco ...

CLP 5018 *''Dance Caper in Hi-Fi'',

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

WBS-1300 *''Bongo Madness'',

CLP 5019 *''Bourbon Street Beat'',

WBS-1321 *''But You've Never Heard Gershwin with Bongoes'',

WBS-1360 *''The Savage and the Sensuous Bongoes'',

WBS-1398 *''Jerry Howard Plays Crazy Guitar'',

Imperial Records Imperial Records is an American record company and label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by Universal Music Group. Early years to 19 ...

LP-9106 *(arranger/producer on) ''

The Transformed Man ''The Transformed Man'' is the debut album by actor William Shatner. It was originally released in 1968 by Decca Records (Cat. #DL 75043), while Shatner was still starring in the original ''Star Trek'' series, and began his musical career. The a ...

'',

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

DLP-75043 *(arranger/producer on) "

Ringo Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

*''C'mon Let's Live a Little'' (soundtrack), Liberty LST-7430 *(arranger/producer on) ''

Snoopy Come Home ''Snoopy, Come Home!'' is a 1972 American animated musical comedy-drama film directed by Bill Melendez and written by Charles M. Schulz based on the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. The film marks the on-screen debut of Woodstock, who had first appeared ...

'' Original Cast Soundtrack

Production and arrangement

Among the artists he either produced or arranged included

Dick and Dee Dee Dick and Dee Dee (or Dick and Deedee) is an American singer-songwriter duo that reached popularity in the early to mid-1960s. The group was founded by California classmates Richard Gosting and Mary Sperling. They eventually changed their names t ...

The Cappetta Company

The Cappetta Company was a group that featured

Suzie Cappetta Susan M. Cappetta (August 20, 1948 – April 13, 2007) was an American pop musician. She was the writer of the top 40 hit "Dave Hull The Hullabalooer" in 1965, a song about Los Angeles radio personality Dave Hull. She was a member of the group, ...

. In the 1960s she wrote the song "Dave Hull, the Hullabalooer" which she and her grioup the Scuzzies recorded. Ralke did the arrangements on the Cappetta Company's single "

Me And Bobby McGee "Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller. Fred Foster shares the writing credit, as Kristofferson wrote the song based on a suggestion from Foster. A posth ...

" / "Gimme' That", which was produced by

Ken Jenkins Ken Jenkins (born August 28, 1940) is an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Bob Kelso, the chief of medicine on the American comedy series '' Scrubs'' (2001–2009). He has also had notable appearances in many popular TV shows. Ea ...

and engineered by Stan Ross.

Vic Malo

Hawaiian based Tongan singer/actor Vic Malo worked with Ralke. Malo in the late 1970s appeared as Billy Swan in ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

''. Also known as Vic Mataele, he was a fencing instructor, and related to the

King of Tonga This is a list of monarchs of Tonga since 1845, after the Constitution of Tonga established the role of the monarch. The first monarch of Tonga was George Tupou I. 2008 cession of powers Three days before his coronation on 1 August 2008, th ...

Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV (born Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Tupoulahi; 4 July 1918 – 10 September 2006) was the King of Tonga, from the death of his mother, Queen Sālote Tupou III, in 1965 until his own death in 2006. Immediately prior to his death, ...

. Ralke produced his self titled album. Malo's single "I Play Guitar And Sing A Song" / "Still No Emotion Shows",WorldCa
I play guitar and sing a song ; Still no emotion shows
/ref> was also produced by Ralke.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ralke, Don 1920 births 2000 deaths Record producers from Michigan American entertainment industry businesspeople Musicians from Michigan 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American businesspeople Crown Records artists University of Southern California alumni People from Battle Creek, Michigan