Ral Donner
February 10, 1943 – April 6, 1984
Ral Donner was a singer who came on to the scene in the early 1950s and for better or worse had an uncanny resemblance, both physically and vocally to Elvis Presley. That fact both helped and cursed him for the rest of his life. There was always interest in him as a singer, but much of the time it was only because people wanted to check out this guy that was so much like Elvis. At times, many even thought he was Elvis. Donner was having moderate success by the second half of the ’50s, even performing on Allan Freed’s Big Beat Show and later at the Apollo Theater. His biggest hit came in the early ’60s when he recorded a relatively unknown Elvis track called “The Girl of My Best Friend” which became a Top 20 hit. Donner’s career pretty much petered out by the mid-’60s, recording occasionally for smaller labels. But then in 1977, Elvis Presley passed away, ironically spawning a revived interest in Donner since he sounded so much like the King. Donner performed tributes to Elvis in the coming years, but unlike the many others, he kept them tasteful by relying on his musical abilities instead of costumes and gimmicks. Perhaps his ultimate honor came in 1981 when he was selected to impersonate Elvis as narrator of the This Is Elvis documentary. Ral Donner passed away of cancer on April 6, 1984.
We need to see more pictures of Ral Donner and videos if available. Love his music.
can anyone out there take the vocal out of Ral Donners songs and make a disk for karaoke ????? Donners songs are just too good to not be shared with others. If there was a karaoke cd people could here some really great music over a couple of cocktails at the local karaoke bar in your town. I’m an Elvis impersonator but wdould truely love to sing the Ral Donner songs too. Contact me if you can make a karaoke cd.
I love Ral Donner and his music. I am really surprised that he wasn’t more popular in his time and even later.
Ral Donner, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Bobby Rydell, Rick Nelson, Johnny Burnette, Robert Gordon, The Stray Cats, Gene Vincent, Conway Twitty, Jack Scott, Link Wray, and the list goes on of the influences on me to sing Rockabilly. I was lead singer of a local nightclub band called The Bopcats in San Jose, California area in the early 1980s. My stage name was “Johnny X”. We recorded some of our shows at local nightclubs, but all of my tapes of these shows were lost when my storage was robbed about seven years ago. We never recorded anything in the studio, but now I wish I had. There were several songs I wanted to record, among them a couple of Ral Donner tunes. Ral was one of the all-time greats, a true legend of Rock’n’Roll, who could sing like the King.
I love Ral Donner’s voice! “So Close To Heaven” still blows me away!
For years I have been into Gospel music and CCM, and have been out of the Rock’n’Roll and Rockabilly scene.
I have been out of the music business for a long time, except for the business end of it, managing other artists, doing A&R work and promotion, but I want to go back in just for fun and sing again, and record something this time with a full studio session.
I thought it would be fun to do a Christian Rockabilly album, so that’s what I’m getting ready to go. I’ve got a few original songs that me and my friends have written I would love to do.
If anyone wants to contact me they can put a comment on here and I will reply.
Thanks for your nice comments! And good luck with your Christian rockabilly album. I’ve heard a few others who have done that – The Found Cats and The Pioneers.
Vince
Being an avid Elvis fan,Of all the imitators,Ral Donner is the only one who fooled me. There are a few songs where Ral used his natural voice, and he had a very good voice. Also, not the same year or date, but Ral died at the same age as Elvis. Wish someone had put him in the movies.
the first time i herd ral i got his music on a 78 record have loved his cd is there any more music by him.ron
just a note to let you know i was a friend and next door neighbor. i was always going to his rock shows and see him perform.any local shows i went with him and his mother and girl friend Darlene Gardner,i was also luck to be back stage for several of his shows and met all the performers.i hung out at his house a lot and played base ball with him. he was a great person and cared about his friends and fans. Ron Johnson.