Cat. No. 2756: RAL DONNER ~ THE COMPLETE RAL DONNER: 1959-1962. SEQUEL RECORDS NED CD 190. (IMPORT).

LONG DELETED. WE HAVE OBTAINED 2 USED COPIES IN NEAR MINT CONDITION AND OFFER THEM FOR SALE HERE.

RAL DONNER BEGAN HIS MUSIC CAREER IN THE LATE 1950s. HIS SINGING STYLE AND VOICE WAS VERY SIMILAR TO ELVIS PRESLEY AND WHEN HIS RECORDS WERE RELEASED THERE WAS SOME SUGGESTION THAT THEY WERE BY ELVIS SINGING UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME FOLLOWING A DISPUTE WITH RCA VICTOR. NOT TRUE OF COURSE. RAL’S MAJOR INSPIRATION WAS NOT SURPRISINGLY ELVIS PRESLEY DUE TO HIS VOCALS WHICH WERE NOT FAR REMOVED FROM ELVIS. IN 1960 HE CUT A DEMO OF A TRACK FROM ELVIS’S THEN CURRENT ALBUM “ELVIS IS BACK” CALLED “THE GIRL OF MY BEST FRIEND” BUT AS ELVIS’S VERSION WAS NOT RELEASED AS A SINGLE RAL HAD NO COMPETITION FROM ELVIS. RAL WAS COAXED INTO RE-RECORDING THE SONG IN A BIGGER STUDIO. AFTER FORMING A NEW BACKING BAND CALLED THE STARFIRES, RAL CUT A SESSION AT GLORIA FOX’S STUDIO IN MIAMI, FLORIDA. OF THE FOUR SONGS RECORDED “GIRL OF MY BEST FRIEND” AND “IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME” WERE RELEASED AND THE DISC TOOK OFF AND BECAME A NATIONAL HIT. IN MAY OF 1961 DONNER WENT BACK INTO THE STUDIO AND CUT 13 SONGS IN 2 DAYS. THE SONG SELECTED FOR RELEASE FROM THIS 2 DAY SESSION WAS “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’VE GOT (UNTIL YOU LOSE IT)”. THE DISC BECAME RAL’S BIGGEST HIT PEAKING AT NO.4. THIS 2CD SET WAS RELEASED IN 1991 AND IS SAID TO CONTAIN RAL’S COMPLETE OUTPUT FROM 1959-1962 AND CONTAINS SIX PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED TRACKS AT THE TIME OF THIS RELEASE. RAL DIED OF LUNG CANCER IN 1984. V.GOOD ROCK’N’ROLL ****

TRACK LISTING: CD1 – Girl Of My Best Friend / It’s Been A Long, Long Time / I Didn’t Figure On Him / Standing Here / To Love / Nine Times Out Of Ten / Please Don’t Tease / School Of Heartbreak / You Don’t Know What You’ve Got (Until You Lose It) / Lonely Star / Nite Owl / You Haven’t Lived Until You’ve Loved (prev. unreleased) / So Close To Heaven / Little Miss Heartbreak (prev. unreleased) / Creampuff / She’s My Baby / Turn Back The Clock / With You Now / Please Don’t Go.

CD2 – Pray For Me / I Don’t Need You / Bells Of Love / Puddle Of Tears / For Love Not Money / Your Skies Are Blue / Because We’re Young / Juarez (Quarez) (prev. unreleased) / Sweetheart / Silver And Gold (prev. unreleased) / Half Heaven, Half Heartache (prev. unreleased) / (What A Sad Way) To Love Someone / Loveless Life / She’s Everything / Will You Love Me In Heaven / Tell Me Why / That’s Alright With Me / And Then / Loneliness Of A Star.  

2CD SET