The Dubs
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The Dubs are an American doo wop group formed in 1957, known for their songs, "Could This Be Magic", "Don't Ask Me To Be Lonely", and "Chapel of Dreams".
They formed from the merging of two groups. In 1955, The Five Wings were an up-and-coming group with members Jackie Rue (who would later become lead of Jackie and the Starlights, Frank Edwards, Billy Carlisle, Melvin Flood, and Tommy Grate. When they were unable to find success, the group began to splinter. Rue, Flood, and Edwards were out, and Kenny "Butch" Hamilton replaced Edwards. Shortly thereafter, Carlisle's cousin, Richard Blandon, was in following his discharge from the air force. Meanwhile, The Scale-Tones were a quartet featuring James "Jake" Miller, Thomas Gardner, Cleveland Still, and James Montgomery. The addition of Don Archer made them a quintet.
The groups merged following Blandon's visit to a Scale-Tones recording session. Still, Miller, and Gardner from the Scale-Tones, and Blandon and Carlisle from The Five Wings came together as The Marvels. They recorded briefly before becoming The Dubs in early 1957. Their first recording was "Don't Ask Me To Be Lonely", which received local success and charted nationally at #68. Shortly thereafter, Gardner left, and was replaced by former Wings' bass, Tommy Grate. In August of the same year, the group found even greater success with "Could This Be Magic". 1958 found three more hits, "Beside My Love", "Be Sure My Love", and "Chapel of Dreams".
By late 1958, the group had split up. Richard Blandon joined The Vocaleers.
Late in 1959, Blandon left the Vocaleers to reform the Dubs. He brought back Miller, Grate, and Carlisle. Cleveland Still did not return and was replaced by Cordell Brown. This lineup recorded until mid-1961, when Still returned, replacing Brown. Still left again in 1963, with Cordell Brown returning. The group split up in the mid-1960s.
In 1971 they returned, a trio with Blandon, Still, and J. Kirk Harris. They continued with this lineup through the decade. Cleveland Still left in the mid-1980s to form his own Dubs, with lead Leslie Anderson, bass Bernard Jones, and backing vocalists John Truesdale and Steve Brown. This group still performs minus Brown.
Meanwhile, the original group continued, replacing Still with Jay McKnight, who sang lead on all of their non-Dubs tunes. By 1987, the group was a quartet with fourth member Kenny White. Harris left soon after, and was replaced by Danny Foy. Female vocalist Doretha Gills was an occasional member during this time. White left and in late 1990, Blandon, McKnight, and Foy recorded "Wherever You Are", for the Classic Artists label.
Richard Blandon died in 1991. His brother, Darryl Blandon, took over the lead spot. The group was, in 1992, a quartet of Darryl Blandon, McKnight, Foy, and Gills. This is the latest known lineup.
