They might not know the name of the group, but most music lovers would instantly recognise The Dell-Vikings’ evergreen Come Go With Me as one of the definitive songs of the doo-wop era…
It’s a solid bet that if a movie storyline is set back in the 1950s or early-60s America, especially one where the action takes place in New York’s Bronx, Brooklyn or Harlem districts, or on a college campus, at some point the soundtrack will glide nostalgically into a doo-wop hit of the day.
The combined back catalogue of vocal groups who leaned towards a doo-woppish style in that era certainly has the variety to supply the required mood. There are the sublime close-harmony offerings of The Harptones (Life Is But A Dream, A Sunday Kind Of Love) and The Penguins (Earth Angel), and the lovelorn, impossibly romantic The Platters (Only You ). The Moonglows (Sincerely) offer an effortless, slightly more worldly sophistication.
If the need is for something a bit edgy, tinged with the dramatic, there’s The Jive Five (My True Story, These Golden Rings, Never, Never). Maybe the situation calls for some white doo-wop to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. In that case, it has got to be The Skyliners (Since I Don’t Have You, This I Swear). Rosie And The Originals (Angel Baby) embody teenage innocence, and for a poppier, more transitional feel, Randy & The Rainbows (Denise) fit the bill.
Kings Of Doo-Wop
The romantic, haunting atmosphere of a lot of the early-50s vocal group songs owes much to the sparse instrumentation. However, from the mid-50s, the likes of The Chords (Sh-Boom), The El Dorados (At My Front Door), The Wrens (Come Back My Love) and Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers (Why Do Fools Fall In Love) sang arrangements beefed up by drums, electric guitar and sax, creating a more boisterous feel. One group that could combine the ethereal end of doo-wop with the more upbeat R&B and rock’n’roll hybrid, was The Dell-Vikings (also often known as ).
While their complicated line-up history frustrates efforts to relate it in a coherent way, they’re most frequently noted as one of the first racially integrated vocal groups. More importantly, from the distance of over 65 years, they left us at least two original songs which count as among the most memorable to emerge from 50s doo-wop, Come Go With Me and Whispering Bells. The less familiar but still excellent Whispering Bells was featured on the soundtracks of American Hot Wax and Stand By Me.
Although most of The Dell-Vikings personnel were originally from Brooklyn, the group was formed in 1955 at an airbase in Pittsburgh, Ohio, consisting of members of the United States Air Force. Their founder was Clarence Quick, who already had some experience of singing in vocal groups in Brooklyn before enlisting. Initially the line-up was all Black, but inevitable postings overseas meant some early members didn’t stay long. By the time the combo had caught the ear of Pittsburgh radio deejay Barry Kaye, they had their first white member on board, David Lerchey (baritone). Lerchey joined Quick (bass), Corinthian ‘Kripp’ Johnson (first tenor), Norman Wright (second tenor) and Don Jackson (second tenor, baritone).
Remarkable Sound
Kaye took them in to record a few demos in his basement studio, distributing the tapes around a few of the bigger New York record companies, such as Atlantic, in the hope that someone might bite. No one did, but in 1993, nine of the songs were released in their original – practically a cappella – form, with the most minimal of backing from a guitar and drums, on a Collectables Records vinyl album. That LP, retaining Kaye’s earnest introductions to each of the tracks, reveals that even at this early stage they had a remarkable sound.
Key songs include an early version of Come Go With Me, even at this point sounding like a winner, although the happy-go-lucky nonsense intro on this version was sung by the bass voice instead of the tenor. Another Dell-Vikings original True Love, eventually recorded as How Can I Find True Love and emerging as the B-side of Come Go With Me, showed the group could handle the more ethereal end of doo-wop. It showcased ‘Kripp’ Johnson’s silken tenor and spellbinding falsetto.
Another new song by the group was the tender There I Go. Showing the old standards were in their repertoire, they did a swinging version of White Cliffs Of Dover as well as Somewhere Over The Rainbow. They did a very lively version of The Penguins’ Hey Senorita, with a loose folk field song feel. They were also confident enough to deliver a near note-perfect rendering of The Five Satins’ intense In The Still Of The Night, a hit the year before. The signature number of another, less-remembered, integrated doo-wop outfit, Don Julian And The Meadowlarks’ 1955 single Heaven And Paradise, was sung as Heaven In Paradise.
Cheap Thrill
These tracks with crudely overdubbed instrumentation were released in 1957 on Dickie Goodman’s Luniverse label. Goodman also put out Somewhere Over The Rainbow, backed by Hey Senorita, as a single. It didn’t sell, but by then Come Go With Me had come to the attention of Joe Auerbach, owner of the small Pittsburgh Fee Bee label. He took the band to the Sheraton Hotel, getting them to re-record the song, this time with a backing band featuring drums, piano and a saxophone. The room was so cramped that the drummer played in the bathroom.
Yet the outcome was a crisply infectious classic, showing for the umpteenth time that you didn’t need expensive equipment to record doo-wop, R&B or basic rock’n’roll. While the scream may sound a little mechanical, the recording radiates energy. A good move was to have the tenor voice of Norman Wright, who sang lead on the demo, now also doing the “dum-dum, dum-dum, dum-de-doo-be-dum” intro, underlining the song’s breezy nature. The way the tenor, baritone and bass baritone voices intertwine retains a magical fascination to this day.
With the response to airplays on Kaye’s show giving clear indications that there was a lot of interest in the song, after first releasing it on Fee Bee, Auerbach leased the song to the bigger Dot Records. Come Go With Me soared to No.2 on the US R&B chart and made No.5 on the Billboard Pop charts in 1957. It stayed on the chart for 10 months and was the first Top 10 hit by a racially mixed rock’n’roll group.
Saved By The Bells
By the time they recorded Whispering Bells, after failing to register with the calypsonian Down In Bermuda and What Made Maggie Run they’d recruited a second white member Gus Backus (tenor) in place. Another original number, Whispering Bells featured the voice of ‘Kripp’ Johnson behind sax, handclaps and a highly catchy guitar intro. Although not as successful as Come Go With Me, it was again released on both Fee Bee and Dot, and reached No.9 on Billboard Pop chart and No.5 on the R&B chart.
Unfortunately, a rupture had occurred by this point, with most of the members signing for Mercury, leaving Johnson high and dry. Backus took the lead vocal on Cool Shake, released by Mercury while Whispering Bells was still on the charts. It made No.12, but it has none of the magic of the group’s earlier output. Johnson had a short spell leading a hurriedly put together group of his own, featuring the grainy baritone of the future uptown soul star Chuck Jackson. But in time Johnson was able to rejoin the Mercury-signed band.
The Dell-Vikings went on recording impressive new songs into the 60s, by this time signed to ABC-Paramount where on numbers such as Kilimanjaro, Johnson could still stop listeners in their tracks with his haunting falsetto.
In 1972, the group recorded a solid new version of Come Go With Me for Scepter Records. With an ever-changing line-up, this great but often underestimated ensemble, was still making occasional records into the 90s.
Listen to the Dell-Vikings here
