The Diamonds

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The Diamonds were a Canadian quartet of the 1950s and early 1960s who rose to prominence performing cover versions of songs by black musicians. The original members were: Dave Somerville - Lead, Ted Kowalski - Tenor, Phil Levitt - Baritone, and Bill Reed - Bass.

Contents 1 History 2 Original members 3 Discography 3.1 Original albums 3.2 Compilation albums 3.3 Billboard charted singles 4 Film appearances 5 TV appearances 6 Awards and honours 7 Trivia 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] History

In 1953, Dave Somerville was working as a sound engineer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto, Canada. One of the shows produced at the CBC was "Pick The Stars", a local talent show. He noticed four gentlemen practicing in the hallway for that show, and stopped to listen. After exchanging amenities, Somerville convinced the four that, in his opinion, they were not ready for the competition and offered to be their manager.^{[citation needed]} This group was composed of Stan Fisher, Ted Kowalski, Phil Levitt, and Bill Reed. They agreed and for the next several months, Somerville provided tutoring, and got practice time in un-occupied studios at the CBC.

That Christmas, the group was to sing for a Christmas party at a local church. That date conflicted with studies for a law exam of Stan Fisher, the lead singer and Fisher decided he needed the study time. Since Somerville knew all the songs, he took Fisher’s place.^{[citation needed]} The audience reaction to the Dave Somerville led group was so tremendous, that the group that night decided to turn professional.^{[citation needed]} In one fateful decision Fisher decided to stay in law school and not continue with the group.^{[citation needed]} Somerville became the permanent lead, and that was the night The Diamonds were born.

By 1955, all members of the group had left college, and/or jobs, to sing full time. Professional musician Nat Goodman became their manager, and Goodman got the Diamonds onto Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts on American television. The result of the contest was a stalemate between the Diamonds and another contestant. With the prize of being guest artist for a week on Godfrey’s show, this led to a recording contract with Coral Records.^{[citation needed]} Coral released four songs, the most notable being "Black Denim Trousers & Motorcycle Boots", a cover of a recording originally by The Cheers. The Diamonds' version sold a few thousand copies, which was only enough to get them a little local recognition.

The next big step was an audition with Cleveland, Ohio, radio disc jockey Bill Randle, who aided in the success of some popular groups, such as The Crew Cuts. Randle was impressed with the Diamonds and introduced them to Mercury Records, who signed the group to a recording contract. At this time, black artists were not played on white radio stations.^{[citation needed]} Mercury Records, as well as other major record companies, were designating white artists to cover the recordings of black artists for the purpose of expanding their listening audience.

The Diamonds’ first recording for Mercury was "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," a cover of Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers’s version.^{[citation needed]} They also covered songs by such black groups as The Clovers, The Willows and The Heartbeats.

The Diamonds biggest hits were 1957's "Little Darlin'" (originally recorded by the The Gladiolas) and 1958's "The Stroll", which was not a cover, but actually an original song written for the group by Clyde Otis, from an idea by Dick Clark.^{[citation needed]}

Although they were signed to do rock & roll, Mercury also paired them with Pete Rugolo in one of his "Meet" series.^{[citation needed]} The album entitled "The Diamonds Meet Pete Rugolo" allowed The Diamonds to return to their roots and do some established standards.^{[citation needed]}

The group sang "Little Darlin'" and "Where Mary Go" in the movie, "The Big Beat",^{[citation needed]} and sang the theme song for another film, "Kathy-O".^{[citation needed]}

They had many television appearances, including the TV shows of Steve Allen, Perry Como, Vic Damone, Tony Bennett, and Paul Winchell. They also appeared on American Bandstand.

By 1961, all original members had left the group and were replaced. With the ever-changing style of rock & roll and their Mercury contract expired, the Diamonds continued touring the country. At one time, there were at least two groups performing under the Diamonds' name.^{[citation needed]} This created an issue that was ultimately settled in court. The ruling determined who legally owned the Diamonds' name, and allowed the original four to use the name a few times each year.^{[citation needed]}

The Diamonds received national attention once again in 2000, when the original members were invited to sing in TJ Lubinsky’s PBS production of “Do-Wop 51”, and again in the PBS production entitled "Magic Moments-The Best Of '50s Pop" in 2004.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Original members

• Dave Somerville - Lead / Replaced by Jim Malone 1961
• Ted Kowalski - Tenor / Replaced by Evan Fisher 1958
• Phil Levitt - Baritone / Replaced by Mike Douglas 1957
• Bill Reed - Bass (died 2004) / Replaced by John Felten 1958 (died 1982)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Original albums

• America's Number One Singing Stylists
• Meet Pete Rugolo
• Songs From The Old West
• Laughs, Singing, Laughs

[edit] Compilation albums

• America's Famous Song Stylists
• Pop Hits
• The Best of the Diamonds: The Mercury Years
• Little Darlin'
• Scrapbook of Golden Hits
• Hall of Fame
• Best of the Diamonds
• The Diamonds Songbook (2007)

[edit] Billboard charted singles

• "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" – Debut on 02/18/56, Peaked at #12.^[1][2]
• "The Church Bells May Ring" – Debut on 04/21/56, Peaked at #14
• "Love, Love, Love" – Debut 06/23/56, Peaked at #30
• "Ka-Ding-Dong" – Debut on 09/08/56, Peaked at #35
• "Soft Summer Breeze" – Debut on 09/22/56, Peaked at #34
• "Little Darlin’" – Debut on 03/16/57, Peaked at #2 for 8 weeks (Gold discs|Gold)^[3]
• "Words Of Love" – Debut on 06/24/57, Peaked at #13
• "Zip Zip" – Debut on 08/26/57, Peaked at #16
• "Silhouettes" – Debut on 11/04/57, Peaked at #10
• "The Stroll" – Debut on 12/30/57, Peaked at #4 (Gold)
• "High Sign" – Debut on 04/14/58, Peaked at #37
• "Kathy-O" – Debut on 07/28/58, Peaked at #16
• "Happy Years" – Debut on 08/04/58, Peaked at #73
• "Walking Along" – Debut on 10/27/58, Peaked at #29
• "She Say (Oom Dooby Doom)" – Debut on 01/26/59, Peaked at #18
• "One Summer Night" - Debut 07/03/61, Peaked at #22

[edit] Film appearances

• The Big Beat (1958)

[edit] TV appearances

• The Steve Allen Show (1957)

[edit] Awards and honours

• In 1984, the Canadian Juno "Hall of Fame" award by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.^[4]
• In October, 2004, inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in Sharon, Pennsylvania.^[5]
• In 2006 inducted into The Doo-Wop Hall of Fame.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Trivia

• Dave Somerville is a descendant of Charlemagne. In the year 1100, another relative, Gualter Somerville, is credited as killing the last dragon in Scotland.^{[citation needed]}
• Phil Levitt’s last name is commonly misspelled as "Leavitt".
• Bill Reed was chased by a bear on the Paul Winchell Show.^{[citation needed]}
• The Diamonds thought that the song "Faithful & True", the flip side of "Little Darlin’", would be the hit.
• The Diamonds credit a black gospel group from Detroit, The Revelaires, as the major influence on their singing.
• The band Diamond Nights were originally called Diamonds but were forced to change their name due to this group^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Canadian rock
• Music of Canada

[edit] References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)

[edit] External links

• The Diamonds at doowopy.de
• The "Original Diamonds"
• Official website Original Diamonds
• The quartet currently touring as The Diamonds
• 'The Diamonds' Vocal Group Hall of Fame Page
• The Diamonds I
• The Diamonds II
• The Diamonds III
• The Diamonds IV
• The Diamonds at Allmusic
• Diamonds' singles discography