The Mom and Dads

The Mom and Dads were a Western-styled folk music group from Spokane, Washington that specialized in waltzes, polkas, and general easy listening. The quartet, made up of one elderly woman and three middle-aged men, featured Doris A. Crow (June 17, 1905 – September 28, 1998) on piano, Quentin Ratliff (August 13, 1933 - January 25, 2013) on saxophone, Leslie Welch (February 2, 1912 – February 1, 1983) on accordion, and Harold Hendren (July 12, 1919 - September 9, 2008) on drums.[1]

Band Biography

Signatures L-R: Leslie Welch, Doris Crow, Harold Hendren, Quentin Ratliff. From the back cover of the album "The Mom and Dads Play Your Favorits Hymns", 1974

The band, which formed in the early 1950s, named itself after its main repertoire; "Music for Mom and Dad". . In the early years of its history, the band was strictly a part-time endeavor with its members holding down more typical jobs during the week.

Their LP album entitled Presenting... The Mom and Dads had a mini biography printed on the back of the album sleeve. The section claimed that the Mom and Dads were able to play nearly any type of then existing dance music, from turn of the century dance music such as the Three Step, to more modern sounds, such as country and western.

Their biography states that all the band members had individually begun to play dance music between the ages of 12 and 14. Doris Crow and Leslie Welch had been playing together for over 22 years when the youngest member of the band, Quentin Ratliff joined them. The group finally became a four-piece 7 years later when Harold Hendren, who had begun his musical career in New Mexico, joined the band on drums.

Most of the band's fame was in Canada, where they first gained fame when a disc jockey at a high-powered radio station in Great Falls, Montana played their first recording, The Ranger's Waltz, a song composed by Quentin Ratliff, the group's saxophonist. This broadcast carried into the Canadian province of Alberta, and they also gained a following in Australia.[1]

"The Ranger's Waltz" marked their peak in 1971, when the title cut off the same-named album climbed into the American Top 10 country music charts, topping out at Number Four and eventually achieving double-platinum sales figures. The band had first started to appear on music charts earlier that year with the album "In the Blue Canadian Rockies".[1]

The Mom and Dads also began their first international tour, albeit reluctantly, when they went to Australia in the fall of 1974, after another act had cancelled. They spent four weeks promoting their albums overseas before returning home and resuming performance dates in their native Pacific Northwest.

The Mom and Dads were seen in a string of late-night television commercials in the United States during the mid-1980s.

The group continued to tour and record regularly until Welch's death in 1983.

Discography

Albums

Year Album Chart Positions CRIA
US Country US CAN
1970 Presenting the Mom and Dads — — 57 —
1971 In the Blue Canadian Rockies 18 165 74 Platinum
The Rangers Waltz 4 85 — 2× Platinum
1972 Reminiscing with the Mom and Dads — — — Gold
Souvenirs — — — Gold
1973 The Mom and Dads Again — — — Gold
Dance with the Mom and Dads 30 — — —
1977 The Best of the Mom and Dads — — — Platinum
1978 Golden Country — — — —
1980 20 Favorite Waltzes — — — Gold

Singles

Year Single Chart Positions Album
US
[2]		 CAN Country
1971 "Rippling River Waltz" — 38 Souvenirs
"The Rangers Waltz" 101 — The Rangers Waltz

Releases

Singles

Albums

[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 John Bush. "The Mom and Dads Biography". Allmusic.com. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2011). Top Pop Singles 1955–2010. Record Research, Inc. p. 615. ISBN 0-89820-188-8.
  3. ↑ The Mom & Dads | Albums | MTV
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