Ava Barber

Last updated
Ava Barber
Birth nameAva Marlene Barber
Born (1954-06-28) June 28, 1954 (age 69)
Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres Country
Occupation(s)Singer
Instrument(s) Vocals
Years active1974present
Labels Ranwood
Website Ava Barber Official Site

Ava Marlene Barber (born June 28, 1954) is an American country music singer and performer. She is best remembered for her performances on The Lawrence Welk Show throughout much of the 1970s and early 1980s.

Contents

She is also known as a recording artist, her best-known hit being the song, "Bucket to the South", which peaked at No. 13 on the Hot Country Songs list in 1978. She has done many reunion specials on PBS for The Lawrence Welk Show over the past number of years.

Early life and rise to fame

Ava Marlene Barber was born on June 28, 1954, in Knoxville, Tennessee, and was named after her mother's favorite actress Ava Gardner and singer Marlene Dietrich. While growing up, Barber often played in her brother's band.

Barber began listening to country music when her father would turn on the radio to a country music station every morning. Soon, every Saturday night, Barber would go to the auditorium of WNOX Radio, where "The Tennessee Barndance" was performed.

She began singing professionally at age 10.

She started performing, and recorded records for some local labels. Her mother was an avid fan of a popular television show at the time, The Lawrence Welk Show, and suggested that her daughter write to Welk.

Barber wrote to Welk in 1973, and he responded, suggesting that if she was on the West Coast, she should be on the show. About this same time, she married singer and musician Roger Sullivan.

The Lawrence Welk Show and success as a country singer

Soon, Barber was hired as a regular on The Lawrence Welk Show, and found herself performing on his television series on the West Coast. At the same time, Barber was trying to get her country music career off the ground. Chart success didn't come initially, but she released her first charting single in 1977 with the song, "Waitin' At the End of Your Run", a truck-driving song. The song was only moderately successful, though, reaching only No. 70 on the country singles charts that year. Barber's 1978 release, "Bucket to the South", turned into a big country hit, peaking at No. 13 on the Hot Country Songs list in 1978 and reaching No. 12 in Canada. Being a country singer brought her instant fame and she soon appeared on many television shows such as Nashville Now and Crook & Chase. She also made two appearances on the Grand Ole Opry.

Barber's success on the country charts tapered off after the success of "Bucket to the South". She was off the country charts until 1981, when she made a comeback with the single "I Think I Could Love You Better Than She Did". When The Lawrence Welk Show ended in 1982, Barber and her husband Roger returned to Knoxville, where they purchased their own bus and formed their own band, Sweet Apple. They toured the United States and Canada singing and performing.

Career in the 1990s and life today

In 1990, Barber and Sullivan went into business with Dick Dale and leased a theater located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which they operated until 1996. [1] From 1997 to 2000, Barber worked at the Welk Theatre in Branson, Missouri. Since 2000, she has toured with former members of The Lawrence Welk Show and performed on her own. She does reunion specials for PBS with previous members of the show.

Discography

Albums

YearAlbum
1977Country as Grits
1978You're Gonna Love Love

Singles

YearSingleChart PositionsAlbum
US Country CAN Country
1977"Waitin' at the End of Your Run"70Country as Grits
"Your Love Is My Refuge"92You're Gonna Love Love
"Don't Take My Sunshine Away"69
1978"Bucket to the South"1312
"You're Gonna Love Love"44
"Healin'"75singles only
1981"I Think I Could Love You Better Than She Did"70

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Welk</span> American bandleader and TV impresario (1903–1992)

Lawrence Welk was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, television, and live-performance audiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patti Page</span> American country-pop singer (1927–2013)

Clara Ann Fowler, better known by her stage name Patti Page, was an American singer. Primarily known for pop and country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female artist of the 1950s, selling over 100 million records during a six-decade-long career. She was often introduced as "the Singin' Rage, Miss Patti Page". New York WNEW disc-jockey William B. Williams introduced her as "A Page in my life called Patti".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynn Anderson</span> American country music singer (1947–2015)

Lynn René Anderson was an American country singer and television personality. Her crossover signature recording, "Rose Garden," was a number one hit internationally. She also charted five number one and 18 top-ten singles on the Billboard country songs chart. Anderson is regarded as one of country music's most significant performers.

<i>The Lawrence Welk Show</i> American weekly TV variety series (1951-1982)

The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 1955 to 1971, followed by 11 years in first-run syndication from 1971 to 1982. Repeat episodes are broadcast in the United States by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations. These airings incorporate an original program—usually, a color broadcast from 1965 to 1982—in its entirety. In place of the commercials, newer performance and interview clips from the original stars and/or a family member of the performers are included; these clips are occasionally updated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Lennon Sisters</span> American vocal group

The Lennon Sisters are an American vocal group that has been made up, at one time or another, of three or four sisters. The quartet originally consisted of Dianne, Peggy, Kathy, and Janet. From 1955 to 1968, the group appeared regularly on The Lawrence Welk Show before having their own television variety show, called Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters, with Jimmy Durante. After the show was cancelled, they partnered with Andy Williams to create a successful Las Vegas residency, which lasted a decade. In 1999, younger sister Mimi replaced Peggy upon the latter's retirement. DeeDee has also since retired. The current line-up of the Lennon Sisters is a trio consisting of Kathy, Janet, and Mimi. They continue to tour around the country and, until recently, performed annually with their Christmas show at The Andy Williams Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Mandrell</span> American country music singer (born 1954)

Thelma Louise Mandrell is an American country music singer. She is the younger sister of fellow country singer Barbara Mandrell, and older sister of actress Irlene Mandrell. Louise had a successful singing career in country music from the 1970s, with a string of hits during the 1980s.

Ralna Eve English is an American-born singer from Haskell, Texas. She gained fame as half of the husband-and-wife singing duo of Guy & Ralna with then-husband Guy Hovis, both of whom were featured performers on The Lawrence Welk Show.

Richard L. Dale was an American singer and musician, best known as a featured singer and saxophone player on the television variety show The Lawrence Welk Show.

Gail Farrell is an American singer and songwriter, best known for her work on the variety program The Lawrence Welk Show.

"Anacani" María Consuelo Castillo-López y Cantor-Montoya is a Mexican singer best known as a featured performer on The Lawrence Welk Show television program.

Guy Lee Hovis, Jr., is an American singer, who, along with his former wife, Ralna English, a native of West Texas, was one of the featured acts on both the ABC and syndicated versions of The Lawrence Welk Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Diamonds</span> Canadian pop group

The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet that rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with 16 Billboard hit records. The original members were Dave Somerville (lead), Ted Kowalski (tenor), Phil Levitt (baritone), and Bill Reed (bass). They were most noted for interpreting and introducing rhythm and blues vocal group music to the wider pop music audience. Contrary to a popular myth, the father of Tom Hanks was never a member of the group.

Kathie Sullivan is an American-born singer who appeared on television's The Lawrence Welk Show from 1976 to 1982.

James Louis Turner is an American singer-songwriter, who has national credits from Broadway, television, and radio. Well-known from The Lawrence Welk Show as the country/pop bass baritone from 1979 until its eponymous host retired in 1982, he was earlier cast on Broadway for the original Jesus Christ Superstar, while he was in New York City on a Nashville folk rock tour. He was nominated in 2008 for a Dove Award as a country and gospel singer for his first radio release in the Christian music genre. He is the founder of The Sounds of Purpose and remains on the board of directors of this music-charged charity.

Guy & Ralna are an American singing duo who appeared as regulars on television's The Lawrence Welk Show from 1970 to 1982.

Dudley "Big Tiny" Little, Jr. was an American musician who appeared on The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1959. His primary instrument was the piano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gail Davies</span> American singer-songwriter

Gail Davies is an American singer-songwriter and the first female record producer in country music. She is the daughter of country singer Tex Dickerson and the sister of songwriter Ron Davies. Gail's son, Chris Scruggs, is a former co-lead singer and guitarist for the roots-country band BR549 and is currently on tour with Marty Stuart as a member of his Fabulous Superlatives.

The Carter Sisters, were an American singing quartet consisting of Maybelle Carter and her daughters June Carter Cash, Helen Carter, and Anita Carter. Formed during World War II, the group recorded and performed into the 1990s.

Penny Jay was an American country music singer and songwriter, who was active from the 1940s to the 1960s. She is best known for "Don't Let Me Cross Over" a song she wrote which reached #1 on the country music charts in late 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Collins (record producer)</span> Musical artist

Bernie Tom Collins is an American music producer and publisher in Nashville, Tennessee who has received three CMA Awards as Producer of the Year, and seven Grammy nominations. He produced a steady stream of country music hits over a 30-year span from artists including Ronnie Milsap, Barbara Mandrell, Sylvia, Tom T. Hall, Jim Ed Brown, James Galway, Marie Osmond, and Steve Wariner. Collins served as chairman of the Board of the CMA in 1979 and 1980.

References

  1. "Ava Barber Biography". IMDb.com. Retrieved 28 December 2014.