The Gaylords were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

singing Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

trio, consisting of Ronald L. Fredianelli (June 12, 1930 – January 25, 2004), Bonaldo "Burt" Bonaldi (July 6, 1926 – May 10, 2017), and Don Rea (December 9, 1928 – June 30, 2017). Fredianelli joined the U. S. Army in the 1950s, and was replaced by Bill Christ. Fredianelli and Rea were born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Together with Bonaldi, they formed the Gaylords (originally The Gay Lords) in Detroit in 1949. The group's name was decided upon after a chance encounter with Marcus Wren. In the 1950s the group had a number of Italian-flavored

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

on the

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

label, often consisting of a song partly sung in

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and partly in

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. Their most successful release was "

Tell Me You're Mine "Tell Me You're Mine" is a song written by Ronald L. Fredianelli and Dico Vasin and performed by The Gaylords. It reached number 2 on the U.S. pop chart and number 3 on '' Cashbox'' in 1953. The song ranked number 17 on ''Billboard's'' Year- ...

", which had sold over one million copies by 1958. "Tell Me You're Mine" reached #3 on the US chart. They also recorded comedy-novelty material, like "Love I You." Fredianelli rejoined Mercury in 1954 after his military service, and, as

Ronnie Gaylord Ronnie Gaylord (born Ronald Fredianelli; June 12, 1930, Detroit—January 25, 2004, Las Vegas) was an Italian-American musician, songwriter, pantomimer, and comedian best known as a member of the band The Gaylords and the music/comedy duo Gayl ...

, recorded as a solo artist (charting with his hit song "Cuddle Me"). Bonaldi, Rea, and Christ continued recording as The Gaylords for Mercury until 1964. After their recording contract lapsed, Rea and Christ left the group. Fredianelli and Bonaldi continued to perform as "Gaylord and Holiday"; Bonaldi used the professional name of Burt Holiday, and adopted it legally in 1976. The team stayed together until 2003, when Fredianelli's failing health curtailed further work. Fredianelli died on January 25, 2004 in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, at age 73. Bonaldi still performed with Ron Gaylord, Jr., Ronnie Gaylord's oldest son (the other son being rock guitarist

Tony Fredianelli Third Eye Blind is an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major- ...

) until his death on May 10, 2017 in Carson City, Nevada, at age 90. Donald "Don" Rea, keyboardist for The Gaylords, died in Reno, Nevada, on June 30, 2017, after a short battle with cancer, at age 88.

Hit records

References

External links

Interview with Original Member, Burt Holiday, August 2012Official website
page {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaylords, The American vocal groups Mercury Records artists Italian-American culture Musical groups from Detroit Musical groups established in 1949 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 1949 establishments in Michigan 2003 disestablishments in the United States