Bob Ralston

Robert "Bob" Ralston (born 1938 San Bernardino County, California) is an American pianist and organist who performed on television's The Lawrence Welk Show from 1963-82.

A native of Southern California, Ralston graduated from Montebello High School around 1955 and went on to Wheaton College on a full music scholarship. Before finishing his degree, he transferred to the University of Southern California, where, in 1964, he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in composition and accompanying. During his college years, Ralston played six nights a week with the Freddy Martin orchestra (1959-1962) at Los Angeles's Coconut Grove nightclub, where in 1962, Welk invited him on his show as a guest musician.

That lasted until the summer of 1963, when one of Welk's original pianists, Jerry Burke, fell ill (Burke died not long after) and Ralston was hired on a permanent basis. The Welk TV shows feature Ralston's piano and organ solos, but they frequently include his performances as a singer, dancer, and comedian. He arranged music and continued to perform for the Music Makers live and on television until 1982 when Welk retired from active performing. Since 1988 he has been the pianist and organist for the Founders Church of Religious Science in Los Angeles, an affiliate of the Centers for Spiritual Living.

Throughout his career, Ralston has recorded several hundred albums; many of them as a solo artist or with bandleaders, including Welk, Ray Conniff, and Billy Vaughn. He has also been active in the preservation of theater pipe organs across America and has been a guest conductor for several symphony orchestras. Ralston appeared as host in a 1999 PBS rerun of Lawrence Welk's "Time" show. He still holds regular concerts in his home with various guest vocalists.

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