The Dells are one of the finest and longest-lived
R&B; vocal groups in history, and what's most amazing is that they've done it with nearly all the same members -- they haven't changed personnel since 1960. They were one of the very few doo wop outfits to successfully update their sound, finding their strongest commercial niche in the late '60s and '70s as a polished smooth soul harmony group. While their chart fortunes have certainly fluctuated over the years, they remained a viable act right up into the '90s, by which time they had long since achieved legendary status in the R&B; community.
The Dells were formed in
1953 in southern suburbs of
Chicago, specifically the town of
Harvey, IL, where all the members attended high school together. The original lineup featured lead baritone
Marvin Junior, lead tenor
Johnny Funches, tenors
Verne Allison and
Lucius McGill, second baritone
Mickey McGill, and bass
Chuck Barksdale. Initially called the El-Rays, the group recorded their first single, "
Darling I Know," for
Chess Records subsidiary Checker that year; it flopped. Lucius McGill departed not long after, and wasn't replaced, cutting the group down to a quintet. Newly christened the Dells, they got another shot in
1955 when they signed to
Vee Jay. They had a minor R&B; hit with the ballad "
Dreams of Contentment" that year, but really scored big in
1956 with the doo wop classic "
Oh What a Nite," which featured Funches singing lead and went
Top Five on the
R&B; charts. Thus established, the Dells hit the road, although they found it difficult to duplicate their chart success.
Tragedy nearly struck in
1958; on their way to a gig in
Philadelphia, the body of the group's station wagon failed, resulting in a serious accident which lacerated
Junior's larynx (slightly altering his voice thereafter) and nearly cost McGill the use of his leg. The Dells went on hiatus to recover; in the meantime, Barksdale became a temporary member of the
Moonglows, where he sang alongside
Marvin Gaye.
The Dells reconvened in 1960 and successfully auditioned to tour with
Dinah Washington, as both her opening act and backup group. Funches, however, was tired of touring and decided to stay home with his family, which would be the last time any member left the group. He was replaced by lead/falsetto tenor
Johnny Carter, a former member of the
Flamingoes.
Working with vocal coach
Kirk Stewart, the Dells perfected the more challenging art of jazz harmony singing. They toured with
Washington for two years, subsequently signing with the
Chess subsidiary
Argo and releasing four jazz-flavored
singles, all of which tanked. They returned to Vee Jay in 1964 and began recording R&B; again, though their local nightclub act centered more around jazz;
1965 brought them a Top 30 R&B; hit with "
Stay in My Corner," their biggest success since "Oh What a Nite." However, Vee Jay went bankrupt in 1966, and the Dells returned to Chess for a third time, this time the
Cadet subsidiary; their first two singles, "
Thinking About You" and "
Run for Cover," became local hits. Also in 1966, the Dells became
Ray Charles' touring vocal backup, giving them an opportunity to sing in some of their biggest concert venues yet.
Cadet was where the Dells' career really started to take off. In
1967, the label assigned producer
Bobby Miller and arranger
Charles Stepney to handle the group, and they began to exploit the striking contrast between Junior's earthy baritone and
Carter's luminous falsetto, adding lush orchestrations and plenty of horn charts. The Dells' first
album under the Miller-Stepney aegis,
There Is, was a smashing success, spawning no less than four hit singles including an expanded remake of "Stay in My Corner" that topped the R&B; charts and went Top Ten pop.
Suddenly the group was bigger than they'd ever been; their follow-up album,
1968's
Always Together, spun off another four singles.
1969's
Love Is Blue gave them another R&B; number one and pop Top Ten with a remake of their '50s classic "Oh What a Nite."
Miller moved on to other projects in early
1970, and
Stepney became the Dells' producer on the following year's
Freedom Means, which featured the hit ballad "
The Love We Had (Stays
On My Mind)." After a
Dionne Warwick repertory album in
1972, Cadet hired
Don Davis as the group's new producer, which paid immediate dividends in the form of the Dells' first certified million-selling single,
1973's "
Give Your
Baby a
Standing Ovation." After a few more hits with
Davis, the Dells left Cadet in favor of
Mercury in
1975. ~
Steve Huey,
All Music Guide
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- published: 20 Dec 2009
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