By Harry Weinger h e g r e a te st h a r m o n y g r o u p o p ment,” “Pain in My Heart” and original all time, the Dells thrilled au­ versions of “Oh W hat a Nile” and “Stay diences with their amazing in My Comer.” After the Dells survived vocal interplay, between the a nasty car accident in 1958, their perse­ gruff, exp lore voice of Mar­ verance became a trademark. During vin Junior and the keening their early down periods, they carried on high tenor of Johnny Carter, thatwith sweet- innumerable gigs that connected T the dots of postwar black American- homeChicago blend mediated by Mickey McGill and Veme Allison, and music history: schooling from Harvey the talking bass voice from Chuck Fuqua, studio direction from Willie Barksdale. Their style formed the tem­ Dixon and Quincy Jones, singing back­ plate for every singing group that came grounds for Dinah Washington and Bar­ after them. They’ve been recording and bara Lewis (“Hello Stranger”) and tours touring together for more than fifty with Ray Charles. years, with merely one lineup change: A faithful Phil Chess helped the Dells Carter, formerly ©f the Flamingos reinvigorate their career in 1967. By the (t ool Hall of Fame inductees), replaced end of the sixties, they had enough clas­ Johnny Funches in i960. sics on Cadet/Chess - including “There Patience and camaraderie helped the Is,” “Always Together,” “I Can Sing a Dills stay the course. Starting out in the Rainbow/Love Is Blue” and brilliant Chicago suburb of Harvey, Illinois, in remakes of “Stay in My Comer” and “Oh, 1953, recording for Chess subsidiaries What a Night” (with a slight variation in Checker and Cadet and then Vee-Jay, the its title) - to make them R&B chart leg­ Dells had attained Hall of Fame merit by ends. Their hits of the era, most pro­ the mid-sixties as a doo-wop group, duced by Bobby Miller, are tender and with jewels like “Dreams of Content­ terrifying, the pinnacle of Chicago soul. The Dells remained vital for decades more. Still on Chess in the early seven­ ties, the group delivered “The Love We Had (Stays on My Mind),” a stunning ballad coproduced by Barksdale with Charles Stepney, the renowned Chess staffer who had been arranging the group’s hits and would soon help trans­ form Earth, Wind & Fire into a pop powerhouse. Following a couple of ambi­ Left: Mickey McGill, Marvin Junior, Chuck Barksdale, Johnny C arter and Verne tious concept albums, the single “Give Allison (clockwise from top left) Your Baby a Standing Ovation,” released Clinton and P-Funk.“ When ABC folded, The Dells, live in the group slipped back into a Chicago Chicago, circa i9 6 0 Doo-wop legends comfort zone, working with Carl Davis and the Chi-Lites’ Eugene Record, producing the modem clas­ and masters of sics “I Touched a Dream” and “Passionate Breezes,” as w ell as a spectacular third version of “Stay in My Comer” for Chi- Sound/20th Century Records in the early 1980s. While not the slow jam_____ huge hits, they deserved to be: The singing is supple, the grooves mesmerizing, the sound sublime. in 1973, was their first certified million-seller. That same year, Yet after a few singles for Private I, the group was without a Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, who had been together as label in the mid- to late eighties. They’d survived longer than long as the Dells, finally broke through with lead singer Teddy most of their contemporaries, but the silence stung. Then Pendergrass, a Philly soul version of Marvin Junior. actor-director Robert Townsend came into their fives. In 1991, In the mid-seventies, the Dells dove into several genres. Townsend, hot with the satirical film Hollywood Shuffle and con­ They moved to Mercury Records, another great Chicago label, cert documentary Eddie Murphy Raw, was developing The Five where they hit with “We Got to Get Our Thing Together” and -Heartbeats, a fictional film about a classic soul-singing group. the disco-flavored “Our Love.” On the ABC label, “Super The Dells became Townsend’s consultants and confidants and, Woman” was a minor hit; they also cut tracks with George ultimately, singers of the movie’s theme song, “A Heart Is a House for Love.” W hen the song stormed the charts - where it then sat next to Boyz II Men, heirs to their vocal throne - the Dells became the sole artists after James Brown to have hits in the fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties. In the new millennium, the group embraced the Internet age, creating their own Web site, developing associations with cyber-businesses and starting their own label, Dells, Way. They recorded a new album for the reactivated Volt in 2000. In 2001, the Dells established the Open Up Your Heart Foundation - its moniker inspired by the name of one of their cherished Chess hits - to assist families of the blue-collar workers killed in the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Touring in good and bad times Is the Dells’ bread and but­ ter. The second edition of “Stay in My Comer,” their biggest hit, is based on the stage-show rendition of the original. Oddly, the guys have never recorded a five album. They’re still on the road; maybe that, too, w ill come. Doo-wop legends and masters of the slow jam, the Dells are survivors, with dignity and class. They are five bad brothers, v now part of a select few who have long admired their gifts and Rock and Roll Hall o f Famer Dinah W ashington w ith th e Dells followed their lead. Welcome to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. — x “A prime example of lasting power" Jerry "the Geator" Blavat on the Dells' dedication, passion and unity ............... My introduction to the Pells groups. For a brief period in freedom to play music from material, whether it be was in 1958 when i was on the fifties, Chuck Barksdale the heart, a upbeat or a slow jam, they tou r with Irving Feld's sang wish the Moonglows research chart. And I made had the ability to capture Cavalcade of Stars, and also with Otis Williams sure that everything the any musical mood. featuring R8B and rock8 and the Charms. On the 1958 Dells were recording, along Throughout the years, roll artists, going from city version o f "Oh What a Nite,” with songs from the early what has impressed me toijfifty. And there I was in Chuck was not part o f the years, such as “Dry Your most about these guys I® ............. Chicago, where we had a Dells, w ith Calvin C arter Eyes" and "Dreams o f th a t as musical trends and layover. As it was in those singing on that classic Contentment," were part tastes came and go, the recording. Johnny Carter,, o f « show. My audience Dells have been able to days, if other artists were appearing in town, we who up unt® i9 6 0 was flipped. change their harmonies jumped to catch them. singing with the Flamingos* In 1965, ju s t as I was to suit the time® without sacrificing their power, their On the bill a t the Windy would later replace Johnny afeWit to begin my TV show, City's Regal Theatre were Funches in the Dels. But on The DiScophonic Scene, sound, their originality or the Moonglows, Dee Clark the show that evening,the Leonard sent me a dub ftf* that incredible presence. and the Cool Gents, the D itit original guys~ with their Chess o fT ta ttl L o v e liia f.X Of all the legendary and the Impressions. Jerry combination o f gospel, soul backed with 'There Is.” groups th a t came from Butler at that time had just and passionate harmony- Leonard'told me that the the Windy City, the Delliiipfe recorded "For Your Precious to r# th e house down.TheirV. actioiB^wiica g o was on, ■ a prime example o f lasting Love." The host fo r the harmony was as tig h t as five "Ooh ItOve You.” But. power. Through dedication, evening was the Magnificent fingers belonging to one fist. became o f my TV show's passiphi unity, love and Montague, and I was Even though they had no real dancers, I went with 'There sacrifice, they exemplify ■ ■ backstage with some o f the hits afef$§il time, they were Is.® busted wide open, with, what is so special about legends o f the recording looked upon by other leftists the Geator Gold Dancers our industry. They have . iridustry: Vivian Carter (who as the group to emulate. And creating a line dance to It. remained true to their with her husband, James whenever I was working a On my radio show, I played c ra ft and to each other. Bracken, owned Vee-Jay show at the Apittoor the “Goh | Love You" In FftlSy the They never sold apt. If Records], along with her Paramount theaters, other record became a two-sided you've ever caught them brother, Calvin Carter, and groups would always talk h it-a n d it was the Dells’ '®|t®nd seen the audience's ■ my dear friend Ewart Abner. about the Dells and th a t turning point in the sixties. reaction* fou know why ............................................................................... Also stopping by was unique harmony. I, too, was The dynamic interplay o f they're an inspiration to Leonard Chess, who knew hooked on it.