Diana Trask
 |
This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (September 2008) |
| Diana Trask | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 June 1940 |
| Origin | Melbourne, Australia |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano |
| Years active | 1968–1981 |
| Labels | Columbia Dial Dot ABC/Dot Kari |
Diana Trask (born 23 June 1940) is an Australian and American country and pop singer born in Melbourne, Australia. She was a popular country singer during the 1970s in the United States and also was a popular star in her native Australia. In the U.S., she charted eighteen singles on the country charts, of which the highest was the #13 "Lean It All on Me" in 1974.
Contents |
[edit] Early career
Born in a lumber camp town near Melbourne, Trask learned to sing at an early age singing at school functions and for her family. At age 16, she became a part of a singing group and she soon opened for top stars like Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. that were touring Australia. It was Frank and Sammy that wanted Trask to move to America to further her solo career there. She started out becoming a regular on Don McNeill's Breakfast Club TV Show and appeared as a dancer and singer on the Jack Benny TV show. She soon was noticed by conductor Mitch Miller who in 1960 decided to give her a recording contract with Columbia Records and also as a regular on his show Sing Along with Mitch. Trask released two albums in 1961 and 1962 geared at the pop market but none of these were successful. After Miller's show was cancelled in 1964, she and her new husband Thom McEwen decided to move back to Australia so she could restart her career there.
[edit] Country career
In 1967, Trask and her husband moved back to the United States and settled in Nashville so that she could become a country singer. She signed with Dial Records that year, and in early 1968 had her first country chart single with "Lock, Stock, and Teardrops" which was a minor hit only reaching the top 70. It was enough to garner her a major record deal with Dot Records that same year and she released an album which would become her nickname "Miss Country Soul", later released in the UK on Ember Records. The album featured versions of R & B hits like "Hold On To What You Got", "Show Me", and others and also displayed her soulful voice as well. The album drew critical acclaim but the single released "Hold On To What You Got" only reached the top 60. It wasn't until 1970 when Diana first reached the Top 40 on the country charts with her version of Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" and "Beneath Still Waters" (a decade later a Number 1 hit for Emmylou Harris). Starting in 1972, she started a string of major hits with songs like "We've Got To Work It Out Between Us" (1972), "It Meant Nothing To Me" (1972), and 4 straight Top 20 hits with "Say When" (1973), "It's A Man's World (When You Have A Man Like Mine)" (1973), "When I Get My Hands On You" (1974), and "Lean It All On Me" (1974), which would become her biggest hit reaching #13 on the country charts and a minor pop hit as well nearly breaking into the Top 100.
[edit] Later career and present
Trask continued with Dot Records with two more hits, "If You Wanna Hold On (Hold On To Your Man)" (1974) and "Oh Boy" (1975). These hits would become her last major hits. She continued releasing albums and singles with the label until 1977. She made a brief comeback on the Kari label in 1981 with two minor hits, "This Must Be My Ship" and "Stirrin' Up Feelin's". After this, she and her husband moved back to Australia where she resumed her career.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Title | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Diana Trask | — | Columbia |
| Diana Trask on TV | — | ||
| 1969 | Miss Country Soul | 34 | Dot |
| From the Heart | 32 | ||
| 1971 | Diana's Country | — | |
| 1972 | Sings About Loving | — | |
| 1973 | It's a Man's World | 25 | |
| 1974 | Lean It All on Me | 34 | ABC/Dot |
| Greatest Hits | 32 | ||
| 1975 | The Mood I'm In | — | |
| 1976 | Believe Me Now or Believe Me Later | — |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | CAN Country | |||
| 1968 | "Lock, Stock, and Teardrops" | 70 | — | — | non-album single |
| "Hold What You've Got" | 59 | — | — | Miss Country Soul | |
| 1969 | "Children" | 58 | — | — | From the Heart |
| 1970 | "I Fall to Pieces" | 37 | 114 | 29 | |
| "Beneath Still Waters" | 38 | — | 50 | non-album single | |
| 1971 | "The Chokin' Kind" | 59 | — | — | Diana's Country |
| 1972 | "We've Got to Work It Out Between Us" | 30 | — | — | Diana Trask Sings About Loving |
| "It Meant Nothing to Me" | 33 | — | 29 | ||
| 1973 | "Say When" | 15 | — | 8 | It's a Man's World |
| "It's a Man's World (If You Have a Man Like Mine)" | 20 | — | 22 | ||
| 1974 | "When I Get My Hands on You" | 16 | — | 26 | |
| "Lean It All on Me" | 13 | 101 | 12 | Lean It All on Me | |
| "(If You Wanna Hold on) Hold on to Your Man" | 32 | — | — | ||
| 1975 | "Oh Boy" | 21 | — | 14 | The Mood I'm In |
| "There Has to Be a Loser" | 82 | — | — | ||
| "Cry" | 99 | — | — | Diana Trask's Greatest Hits | |
| 1981 | "This Must Be My Ship" | 62 | — | — | non-album singles |
| "Stirrin' Up Feelings" | 74 | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||
