The Del-Vikings

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The Del-Vikings , also known under the names The Dell-Vikings or The Del Vikings (the name was spelled partly with and partly without a hyphen), were an American doo wop group that had some hit in the 1950s -Singles had. In later decades they continued to make recordings and toured, albeit with a changing line-up. The Del-Vikings stood out from the crowd of other Doo Wop groups because they were the first successful Doo Wop group with a mixed ethnic makeup.

history

Beginnings

The group was founded by Clarence Quick in 1956 together with three other members of the US Air Force during their army service in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , and called themselves "The Del-Vikings". This first ensemble consisted of Clarence Quick (bass), Corinthian "Kripp" Johnson (lead singer and tenor), Samuel Patterson (lead singer and tenor), Bernard Robertson (second tenor) and Don Jackson (baritone), all of whom were black. After winning an Air Force singing competition in Pittsburgh, they qualified for the All Air Force Talent Show in New York, which they also won in global competition with nearly seven hundred participating groups.

In Pittsburgh, the group was managed by disc jockey Barry Kaye and music producer Joe Averbeck who wanted to make test recordings. Before these screen tests, Patterson and Robertson were transferred to Air Force locations in Germany and replaced by Norman Wright and Dave Lerchery, the first white group member. The first recordings were purely a cappella songs, and after Luniverse Records, which acquired the rights to the recordings, hesitated to release the recordings, Averbeck signed the group for his record label Fee Bee Records, underpinning the vocals in November 1956 with instrumental accompaniment and released the track Come Go with Me in December 1956.

The successful year 1957

The single was distributed by Dot Records and released in January 1957 under a Dot catalog number. The title was placed on the Billboard charts on February 16, 1957 , stayed in the charts for 31 weeks and reached number 4. The single landed at number 2 on the rhythm and blues charts. Come Go With Me was the first title in the USA, with which a mixed ethnic rock and roll group reached the top 10.

In the course of the success of Come Go With Me , the Fee Bee label released two more singles in February and March 1957, which were not taken over by Dot Records and could not place themselves in the charts. In early 1957, Don Jackson was transferred to Germany, and Donald "Gus" Backus took over his vocal part.

In this composition, the group recorded the hit Whispering Bells in their second recording session in March 1957 , which was released in April 1957 on Fee Bee Records and in May 1957 on Dot Records and reached number 9 in the US singles chart and in the R 'n'B charts reached number 5. In the spring of 1957 the group split up. Since everyone except Johnson was not of legal age when the contract with Fee Bee Records was signed, the new manager of the group, Al Berman, persuaded the Del-Vikings to sign a new contract with Mercury Records , only Johnson stayed with Fee Bee and formed under the Name a new group Del-Vikings. The group members Wright, Lerchy, Backus and Quick complemented each other by William Blakely and recorded their first record for Mercury Records in April 1957: Cool Shake . The single reached number 12 in the radio charts, but only made it to number 46 in the Top 100, and number 9 in the R'n'B charts.

The Del-Vikings, who were under contract with Fee Bee Records, consisted in the summer of 1957 of Kripp Johnson, Eddie Everette, Arthur Budd, Chuck Jackson , lead singer, and Don Jackson, who had meanwhile returned from Germany. Between June and December 1957, the group released three singles on Fee Bee Records, but none of them were successful.

When the Del-Vikings were represented in the charts in the summer of 1957, Luniverse Records remembered their rights to the recordings, backed the a cappella songs with instruments and released the eight tracks from the first recording session on an album called Come Go With the Del-Vikings and a single with the songs Over The Rainbow and Hey, Senorita . The release of the album by Luniverse Records was immediately sued because it contained song material to which Fee Bee Records had rights, which meant that further marketing of the album was stopped shortly after its release.

In order to avoid legal disputes, Dot Records released the single When I Come Home / I'm Spinning in August 1957 under the name Dell-Vikings and now wrote the group name with two L. Mercury Records filed a lawsuit against Fee Bee Records to get the sole naming rights to Del- or Dell-Vikings. In December 1957, Mercury was granted sole rights to the name by a US court, and the Dell-Vikings of the Fee Bee label renamed themselves Versatiles. When the legal dispute began, Dot Records had withdrawn from the contract with Fee Bee Records and from August 1957 onwards no more records were released by the group.

Further career progression

The Versatiles at Fee Bee Records disbanded when Kripp Johnson's contract with Fee Bee Records expired in 1958 and he returned to the Del-Vikings, where he replaced Gus Backus, who had recently been transferred to Germany, where he after his end He stayed in the military and made a career as a pop singer . The Versatiles lead singer, Chuck Jackson, began a successful solo career after the group broke up.

In 1957, the Del-Vikings released 17 singles on four different labels. This oversupply of record releases and the numerous changes in personnel meant that after 1957 the record releases of the Del-Vikings were no longer successful. In 1958 Mercury ended the recording contract, the attempt at a solo career by Kripp Johnson failed in 1959. The group toured the United States in the following years, appeared in numerous television shows, and in October 1960 released a single on Alpine Records. In early 1961, the Del-Vikings received another record deal, this time with ABC Records , but their singles were unsuccessful. Their last single for ABC came out in 1963, and in 1965, after a brief contract with Gateway Records in 1964, the group broke up.

In 1970 Johnson, Blakely, Wright, Lerchey and Quick formed a new group that appeared under the name Del-Vikings. In November 1972 they recorded the single Come Go With Me / When You're Asleep for Scepter Records , their last record ever. They continued to perform at oldie concerts, from 1979 after the group split again, there were again two different groups called Del-Vikings. Kripp Johnson's group broke up after Johnson died of cancer on June 22, 1990. The second group, named Del-Vikings, Quick was the only original Del-Vikings member of that group, recorded a 1950s-style single for BVM Records in early 1991.

Musical historical significance of the group

The group's greatest hits are responsible for their continued popularity as 'oldies'. Songs like her "Come Go With Me," which was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , have been in films like American Diner , American Graffiti , American Hot Wax , Joe versus the Volcano, and Stand by Me been used.

The American music group The Beach Boys sang the Del Vikings hit Come Go with Me on their anniversary tour “50 Years of Beach Boys” in 2012 in honor of this group, whom they described as one of their role models for polyphonic singing.

Discography

Only titles that have made it into a hit parade are included in the discography. The overview contains the following information: year / month of publication, title / title of the B-side , label and US catalog number, top positions in the charts: US = Billboard Pop Charts, R&B = Billboard R&B Charts. - A complete singles discography can be found at Warner, a not quite complete discography of the singles and albums at Gribin / Schiff and an overview of the albums with cast and included song material at Tilch.

  • 1956/12: Come Go With Me / How Can I Find True Love? - Fairy Bee 205
  • 1957/01: Come Go With me / How Can I Find True Love? - Dot 15538 - US Best Sellers Charts # 4, US Top100 # 5, US Radio Charts # 6, US Juke Box Charts # 6 - US R'n'B # 2
  • 1957/04: Whispering Bells / Don't Be A Fool - Fee Bee 214 (published under The Del-Vikings feat. Krips Johnson)
  • 1957/05: Whispering Bells / Don't Be A Fool - Dot 15592 - US-Top100 # 9, US bestseller charts # 10, US radio charts # 19 - US R'n'B # 5
  • 1957/05: Cool Shake / Jitterbug Mary - Mercury 71132 - US Radio Charts # 12, US Top100 # 46 - US R'n'B # 9

literature

  • Pareles, Jon / Romanowski, Patricia (Eds.): The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll . London: Rolling Stone Press / Michael Joseph, 1983, p. 144, ISBN 0-7181-2400-6 .
  • Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 167f, ISBN 0-312-02573-4 .
  • Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940–1990 . New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, pp. 149-152, ISBN 0-8230-8264-4 .

Remarks

  1. ^ The Del-Vikings were the first successful racially integrated group in rock and roll - Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940–1990 . New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, p. 149
  2. ↑ Jon Pareles names 1955 as the year of foundation; Pareles, Jon / Romanowski, Patricia (Eds.): The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll. London: Rolling Stone Press / Michael Joseph, 1983, p. 144
  3. ↑ US catalog number: Fee Bee 205, B-side: How Can I Find True Love?
  4. ↑ US catalog number: Dot 15538. The title was published again in 1960 under the catalog number Dot 16092.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Ltd., 1994, p. 161
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel: Top 40 R&B and Hip-Hop Hits. 1942-2004. New York, NY: Billboard Books, 2006, p. 142
  7. ↑ Fee Bee 206: Down In Bermuda / What Made Maggie Run? and Fee Bee 210 with the A-side What Made Maggie Run? and - depending on the pressing - three different B-sides: Down By The Stream , Uh Uh Baby or When I Come Home .
  8. ↑ On Fee Bee Records, Fee Bee 214, the single was released under the artist name “The Del Vikings feat. Krips Johnson ”; the Dot version has catalog number Dot 15592. In both editions, the B-side was Don't Be A Fool .
  9. ↑ US catalog number: Mercury 71132; B-side: Jitterbug Mary .
  10. ↑ US catalog number: Luniverse 106. As the cover photo of the album, Luniverse took a current photo of the ethnically mixed group, not a photo of the purely colored group that recorded the songs.
  11. ↑ Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul. 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, p. 168
  12. ^ Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940–1990. New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, pp. 150f
  13. ↑ US catalog number: Scepter 12367
  14. ^ Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940–1990. New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, p. 151
  15. ^ Warner, Jay: The Billboard Book Of American Singing Groups. A History 1940–1990 . New York City / New York: Billboard Books, 1992, pp. 151f
  16. ↑ Gribin, Anthony J. / Schiff, Matthew M .: Doo-Wop. The Forgotten Third Of Rock 'n' Roll . Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, 1992, pp. 259f
  17. ^ Tilch, KD: Rock LPs 1955-1970. Vol. 1: AE . 3rd ext. Hamburg: Taurus Press, 1990, pp. 415f

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