The Mom And Dads

The Mom and Dads were a Western-styled folk music group from Spokane, Washington that specialized in waltzes, polkas, and general easy listening. The quartet, made up of one elderly woman and three middle-aged men, featured Doris Crow (June 17, 1905 – September 28, 1998) on piano, Quentin Ratliff (August 13, 1933 - January 25, 2013) on saxophone, Leslie Welch (February 2, 1912 – February 1, 1983) on accordion, and Harold Hendren (July 12, 1919 - September 9, 2008) on drums. The band, which formed in the early 1950s, named itself after its main repertoire; "Music for Mom and Dad". In the early years of its history, the band was strictly a part-time endeavor with its members holding down more typical jobs during the week. Most of the band's fame was in Canada, where they first gained fame when a disc jockey at a high-powered radio station in Great Falls, Montana played their first recording, The Ranger's Waltz, a song composed by Quentin Ratliff, the group's saxophonist. This broadcast carried into the Canadian province of Alberta, and they also gained a following in Australia.