Early life

Gaylord was born Ronald L. "Ronnie" Fredianelli on June 12, 1930, in Detroit to Joseph and Florence (née Antico) Fredianelli.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} His mother died of pulmonary tuberculosis in 1932; his father remarried Frances (née Graziana) in 1937.^[7][11][12] Gaylord is Italian on both sides:^[1][3][13] his father was born in Boveglio^[14] and his mother's parents were from Naples.^[7]

Gaylord grew up in the same east side Detroit neighborhood as Bonaldo Bonaldi (later known as Burt Holiday),^[15][4] purportedly his cousin,^[16] and they both attended the University of Detroit Mercy to study pre-law.^[13] In 1947, while still students, Bonaldi and Gaylord (then still known as Fredanelli) formed a musical group called the Gay Lords with classmate Don Rae.^[4][17] They performed on campus and in clubs around Detroit; a newspaper misprinted their name from the Gay Lords to the Gaylords, which they took on.^[17][4][15] Gaylord finished two years of law school before quitting to tour with the band.^[18][8]

Career

The first hit by the Gaylords was "Tell Me You're Mine" which hit #2 on the music charts upon its release in 1952.^[9] The record sold more than 1.2 million copies and was a gold record.^[19][20] This was an Italian love song, "Per un Bacio d'Amore", with English lyrics written by the band and "an upbeat chorus".^[19] Singing popular Italian songs in English, and popular English songs in Italian, continued to be a part of the Gaylords' style throughout their career.^[4][20][21]

Not long after, Gaylord was drafted into the Korean War; he finished basic at Camp Atterbury and was subsequently assigned to the Special Services.^{[1][6][22][10]} He sang with the military band, did a number of singing commercials, and continued to produce music as a solo artist for Mercury Records.^{[10][6][17][13]} His hit song "Cuddle Me" was in the Billboard Top 20 Singles between March and May 1954.^[23][6] He guest starred on the Army-sponsored radio show Club 31 and, in addition to "Cuddle Me", recorded "Coquette" and "Tell Me You Love Me Tonight".^[17][24]

He was discharged from the military in 1958 and returned to the Gaylords, where he had been temporarily replaced by Billy Christ.^[2][16][10] After a brief split between Gaylord and Holiday, they reunited and began rebuilding the band to its success before the war.^{[16][1][22][6]} The following year, Bonaldi and Gaylord moved to Nevada together to work on the lounge circuit, a gig that was quite popular at the time.^[25][26][4] In the 1960s, they began billing as both a music and comedy duo.^[15] Their sets variously included poking fun at the city (when they were traveling); taking up stereotypical Italian personas and putting them in improbable situations; and impressions of other musicians, including The Mills Brothers, Elvis Presley, and Sonny and Cher.^{[1][27][19][15]} Gaylord wrote "I'll Trade You Laughter For Love" for fellow lounge circuit performer Don Rickles, who eventually used the song as his "theme song".^[4] In 1966, they performed at Frank Sinatra's wedding to Mia Farrow.^[28] Rae, who had been an accompanying part of the Gaylords for several years, officially left the band in 1975.^[9]

In the 1960s and 1970s, Gaylord appeared on a number of variety shows while the genre was at its peak, most of the time with Holiday but at times on his own.^[19] These appearances include The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour,^[3] The Hollywood Palace,^[22] Moving Wheels,^[1] The Johnny Carson Show,^[22] Headline Hunters,^[5] Melodies and Money,^[19] The Flip Wilson Show,^[25] Jukebox Jury,^[29] and The Ford Show.^[18] In 1965, the two were working on a pilot for their own TV show, but it never came to fruition.^[22] In 1985, they created Famiglia, described by Holiday as "an Italian Fiddler on the Roof", written by Gaylord.^[19] The film was eventually converted into a musical for stage.^[30] It follows the lives of a three-generation Italian family, starring Gaylord as the middle generation; Holiday as his father; and Gaylord's son Tony as his son.^[30] His wife Terry and son Ron Jr. also appear.^[30]

In addition to playing guitar, violin, bass, banjo, and mandolin, Gaylord was a talented songwriter who wrote a number of hits,^[1][10] including "Cuddle Me" (performed by Gaylord);^[31] "Oh, Am I Lonely?" (performed by Gaylord);^[31] "I'll Trade You Laughter For Love" (performed by Don Rickles);^[4] "I Will Never Pass This Way Again" (performed by Glen Campbell),^[30] and "Wondering!" (performed by The Gaylords).^[32]

Gaylord continued performing until the end; his last gig was in Michigan just four months before his death in January 2004.^[6]

Personal life

Gaylord stayed in the Las Vegas/Reno area from the time he and Holiday moved there in 1959 until his death.^{[19][25][18][15]} He had two children, Ronald Jr. and Melissa, with his first wife, Teena,^[8][33] and three, Chris, Tony, and Tiffany, with his second wife, Terry, who he was with for 35 years.^[25][6][28]

Four of five children are or were involved in show business.^[30] Tony was the guitarist for Third Eye Blind until 2010^[10][34] and previously played with heavy metal band Apocrypha and cover band Loveshack;^[6][30] Tiffany sang at Texas Station with Loveshack and at MGM Grand Las Vegas with Venus;^[10] Ron Jr. filled his father's role in Gaylord and Holiday;^[35][9] and Chris is a musician.^[36] Melissa, his eldest daughter, is a teacher.^[37] He was also survived by his grandchildren Jaime Fredianelli-Lessig^[38] and Joseph Fredianelli, and great-grandchildren Jared Phillips and Kaylee Lessig.^[6]

When not performing, Gaylord enjoyed painting, sketching, sculpting, and collecting cars.^[6][39]

Gaylord died on January 25, 2004, in his Las Vegas home following an eight-year battle with cancer.^[26][10][6] He hid his diagnosis from everyone, including his wife Terry and partner Burt, for as long as he could so he could continue performing.^[6]