How The Dells: Developed R & B Vocal Groups

The Dells were one of the finest and longest-lived R&B vocal groups in history, and what's most amazing is that they did it with staying together as a group. They were one of the very few groups 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 certainly raised over the years, they remained a viable act right up into the '90s, by which time, they had long achieved legendary status in the R&B community.

The Dells were formed in 1953 in southern suburbs of Chicago, specifically the town of Harvey, Illinois, where all the members attended the same high school together. The original lineup of the group featured lead baritone

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 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

It seemed their career momentum had stalled, at least until 1980's. they recorded for 20th Century. Produced by the Chi-Lites' Eugene Record, I Touched a Dream recaptured the Dells' old magic, and was greeted with enthusiastic reviews. The follow-up, Whatever Turns You On, wasn't quite as successful, though, and the Dells wound up spending many years off record, returning with a little-noticed old-style soul album in 1988's The Second Time. It looked as though they might be consigned to the oldies circuit until filmmaker Robert Townsend approached them to serve as consultants on his movie about a fictional vocal group, The Five Heartbeats. The Dells recorded a song called "The Heart Is a House for Love" for the soundtrack, which became a left-field R&B chart hit when it was released as a single in