THE DELLS
DREAMS OF CONTENTMENT

It is often shocking for fans of the vocal group music now known as doo-wop to thumb through a chart-listing book such as Joel Whitburn's and discover that our heroes, indeed household names in certain homes, made such a poor chart showing. That's the way it is with the Dells, at least during the period of the 1950s, the era which will appeal to most of you who are reading this. I that period of time, the Dells show one lone entry, their classic "Oh What A Nite."

Yet, any fan of fifties vocal group sounds can rattle off several of the songs on this package, and probably even sing a few bars. "Why Do You Have To Go," "Dreams Of Contentment" and "Pains In My Heart" are all part of the common language of those teens were spent in the urban Northeast in the rock `n' roll heyday of the mid-fifties.

The Dells, of course, number among the fortunate few, like the Four Tops, the O'Jays and the Isley Brothers, whose careers have continued beyond their teens and well into middle age and, I am happy to report, have a record on the Billboard R&B charts even as I write these notes. Soul music fans will recall the Dells' heyday of the late sixties and early seventies, with hits like "Stay In My Corner" (the original 1965 version of which is heard here), "There Is" "Always Together," "I Can See A Rainbow/Love Is Blue," "Give Your Baby A Standing Ovation," `I Miss You" (one of my favorites) and their # 1 1969 remake of "Oh What A Nite," not to mention one of the great B-sides of all time, "Please Don't Leave Me Now."

I mention that last song because the Dells have always been known for their great flip sides. In England these flips are held in such high regard that the ballad A-sides have been neglected on two otherwise fine reissues of Vee-Jay material there in the past decade. Although, to be more accurate, British taste in doo-wop does lean more toward the up-tempo.

It is one of the Dells flip sides that I often use to refute those who insist that doo-wop is stupid music by and for stupid people without a life who are stuck in their memories of the glories of their youth. "Jo Jo" is a record whose greatness goes far beyond mere nostalgia. As complex as the work of the great poets, such as T.S. Eliot, "Jo Jo" is self-referential. For example, the line "When you were sixteen/Christine was doing fine" refers to the Dells first record for Checker, "Christine", and one would have to go far to find a line with the implied danger of "If you got another man/Prepare to let him go."

The echo laden background sounds give an eerie quality which contributes to the possibility of violence at any moment from a voice as cool as Iceberg Slim's, laying it on thick, with the timeless pimp's come-on, "You got the kind of frame that would shame my Cadillac/If you run with me, Baby, I'll trade my kitty cat." As urban folk poetry goes, even Percy Mayfield doesn't get much better than that.

The Dells came together at Thornton Township High School in their home town of Harvey, Illinois. Originally a sextet, Mickey McGill's brother, Lucius, found he wasn't suited to show business and left. The rest, Johnny Funches, Marvin Junior, Verne Allison, Mickey McGill and Chuck Barksdale,(alternate link) after one flop as the El Rays at Checker, woodshedded with some tutoring from the Moonglows and tried out for Vee-Jay. Their first as the Dells, "Tell The World," wasn't much more professional in their opinion, so they practiced more and, at the end of 1955, came up with the beautiful "Dreams Of Contentment." The Flip side, "Zing, Zing, Zing," was covered by the Diamonds on Mercury. "Oh What A Nite," one of the most romantic ballads ever recorded and their third Vee-Jay record, went to # 4, and it looked like the guys were on their way.

But that was not to be the case, at least not in the fifties. The group worked hard at becoming one of the best and most musical of their colleagues, working out versions of standards like "Jeepers Creepers" with harmonies patterned after the Hi-Los and Four Freshman. These skills ultimately got them gigs touring with and backing up Dinah Washington and also backing Barbara Lewis on her 1963 hit, "Hello Stranger."

Before that, however, there was much scuffling, which led to the departure in 1958, of Funches, whose sweet lead contrasted so nicely with Marvin's ahead-of-its-time soulful rasp. Disheartened, the group broke up, taking day jobs until 1960, when they decided to give it another shot, all except Johnny Funches, who didn't want to try again. Fortunately, a fine replacement was found in Johnny Carter of the flamingos. Carter's high falsetto became as much a key element of the Dells' later sound as Marvin's husky yell. It is this configuration which continues to this day.

After, in an attempt to recapture the magic of their hit with "Oh What A Good Nite," in 1960, they cut several sides for Argo before returning to Vee-Jay. The next two years were spent experimenting with what they hoped might turn out to be commercial but to no avail. Neither the modern harmonies of Count Basie's "Li'l Luv Darlin" and Johnny Mathis's `It's Not For Me To Say" nor a cover of Tom Jones's "It's Not Unusual" could dent the market, despite the high esteem in which show business insiders held the group. Not even this early version of "Stay In My Corner" worked. In all fairness, Vee-Jay management at the time was a shambles and the production on the Dells' recordings paled in comparison to the studio wizardry at their disposal when they moved to Chess.

Today, the Dells are a living tribute to perseverance, patience and practice. They are role models who can teach the up and comer to believe in yourself and to never give up.

Billy Vera, 1992