- Diana Trask
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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
KariDiana 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.
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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.
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.
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.
Discography
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 — 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 References
External links
Categories:- 1940 births
- Living people
- Australian country singer-songwriters
- Australian country singers
- Australian female singers
- Australian pop singers
- Dot Records artists
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