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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO DIANA TRASK?
Bob Howe
That’s the incredibly apt title to DIANA TRASK’s new autobiography and the question that radio broadcaster and cousin, Kevin Trask has heard so many times over the years.
“Kevin is the man behind the scenes right now. He is the one who single-handedly got this book and the whole thing moving,” Diana told me during her recent Australian visit.
What began as a trip to launch the book eventually became a string of exciting personal and television appearances and even singing performances at the Caboolture Urban Country Music Festival in Queensland and Canterbury Country’s 10th Birthday show in Sydney. After 53 years in the music industry, including a long absence from the stage that prompted the inquisitive title of the book, the question is finally answered.
The first phase of her illustrious career began in rural Victoria. At the age of 17, Diana won the Swallow’s Parade television talent quest and by 1958 she was singing on In Melbourne Tonight hosted by GRAHAM KENNEDY. Her first recording was on the W&G label, and in 1959 American promoter Lee Gordon signed her as the support singer for a tour Australia with the FRANK SINATRA show. Encouraged by Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Diana decided to follow a lifelong dream and try her luck in the USA.
After much hard work, success followed and in 1961 she was catapulted to fame in the US when she landed a regular singing spot on the national television series Sing Along With Mitch. It was heady time for the young Australian performer with shows in Las Vegas and friends such as, GEORGE BURNS, DANNY THOMAS and JACK BENNY. Diana’s success would later pave the way for the likes of HELEN REDDY and OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN.
Diana made trips back to Australia for concerts with PAT BOONE and SAMMY DAVIS JNR and it was on a plane journey that JOHNNY MATHIS introduced her to American businessman THOM EWEN who would become her husband and later her manager. Their 1962 wedding in Warburton attracted huge public attention and Diana remembers the day and the “three thousand uninvited guests” fondly. In 1964, now with two sons, the family returned to Australia for The Di Trask Show on the Nine Network.
Returning to the USA in 1967, musical trends had changed and Diana found that her jazzy style of ballad singing was no longer in the same demand. It was time to reinvent herself and it was Thom who not only inspired her to write songs in a simpler, more direct fashion but who also said, “You could sing country, Di”.
“We packed up our babies and the dog and headed for Nashville,” Diana recalls. The second phase had begun and it would be an exciting and challenging time; tours with HANK WILLIAMS Jnr, Las Vegas with ROY CLARK, appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, several hits for the DOT label, including Lock Stock and Teardrops, Hold On To What You Got, Lean It All On Me, a Grammy nomination for I Fall to Pieces, a TV duet with JOHNNY CASH and as a songwriter, her I Think About Your Lovin’ was a hit for THE OSMONDS. Now known as ‘Miss Country Soul’, Diana would hit the top again in 1975 with Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In) which would become her signature tune.
In the late eighties, Thom’s health began to fail and Diana had to make a difficult choice. “I could have carried on the hectic showbiz lifestyle alone or choose make a complete break to be with the man I loved.”
She chose the latter and the couple took a step back from the hustle and bustle and sailed their yacht around the Caribbean. The celebrity stories in the book now become tales of seafaring expeditions and exotic ports, punctuated only by a performance in 1996 for the 100 years of Australian Football celebrations. It was in the quiet moments before her beloved Thom sadly passed away in 2009, that Diana began to write her autobiography, spurred on by the encouragement of her cousin Kevin.
These days she lives in Southern Georgia; “I went back to school and got my degree in Natural Medicine graduated as a Master Herbalist. I teach, consult and lecture in the local area.”
Of her life, Diana says, “It’s been a fantastic ride…” and with interest mounting from the publishing of her book, offers have begun to arrive, not the least from Las Vegas. The next chapter is still unfolding.
*Producer of Canterbury Country, BOB HOWE, recorded with DIANA TRASK in 1976 and toured with her in 1980.
PHOTO: DIANA TRASK at Canterbury Country
Photo by Terry Phillpot – Eyegraphics.net
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