The Diamonds

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.

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.Fact|date=April 2007 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.Fact|date=April 2007 The audience reaction to the Dave Somerville led group was so tremendous, that the group that night decided to turn professional.Fact|date=April 2007 In one fateful decision Fisher decided to stay in law school and not continue with the group.Fact|date=April 2007 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.Fact|date=April 2007 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.Fact|date=April 2007 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.Fact|date=April 2007 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.Fact|date=April 2007

Although they were signed to do rock & roll, Mercury also paired them with Pete Rugolo in one of his "Meet" series.Fact|date=April 2007 The album entitled "The Diamonds Meet Pete Rugolo" allowed The Diamonds to return to their roots and do some established standards.Fact|date=April 2007

The group sang "Little Darlin'" and "Where Mary Go" in the movie, "The Big Beat", Fact|date=April 2007 and sang the theme song for another film, "Kathy-O". Fact|date=April 2007

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.Fact|date=April 2007 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.Fact|date=April 2007

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.Fact|date=April 2007

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)

Discography

Original albums

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

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)

=Billboard charted singles =

*"Why Do Fools Fall In Love" – Debut on 02/18/56, Peaked at #12. [cite web | title= U.S Billboard chart rankings| work=billboard.com|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_index.jsp Retrieved November 26 2006] [cite web | title= Canadian Charts from 1957 - 1986| work=1050chum.com|url=http://www.1050chum.com/index_chumcharts.aspx Retrieved November 26 2006]
*"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) [cite web | title= Gold & Platinum certification of albums at RIAA| work=www.riaa.com|url=http://www.riaa.com/gp/database/search_results.asp Retrieved November 26 2006]
*"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

Film appearances

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051410/ The Big Beat (1958)]

TV appearances

* "The Steve Allen Show" (1957)

Awards and honours

*In 1984, the Canadian Juno "Hall of Fame" award by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. [cite web | title= Juno Awards/Canadian Music Hall of Fame winner and nominations| work=juno-awards.ca|url=http://www.juno-awards.ca Retrieved November 26 2006]
*In October, 2004, inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in Sharon, Pennsylvania. [cite web | title= VocalGroup Hall of Fame inductees | work=vocalgroup.org|url=http://www.vocalgroup.org/inductees.htm Retrieved November 26 2006]
*In 2006 inducted into The Doo-Wop Hall of Fame.Fact|date=April 2007

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.Fact|date=April 2007
*Phil Levitt’s last name is commonly misspelled as "Leavitt".
*Bill Reed was chased by a bear on the Paul Winchell Show.Fact|date=April 2007
*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 Fact|date=April 2007

ee also

*Canadian rock
*Music of Canada

References

External links

* [http://doowopy.de/02page/D/eDiamonds.html The Diamonds at doowopy.de]
* [http://www.littledarlinsmusicworks.com/about.htm The "Original Diamonds"]
* [http://www.min7th.com/diamonds/ Official website Original Diamonds]
* [http://www.thediamonds.cc/ The quartet currently touring as The Diamonds]
* [http://www.vocalgroup.org/inductees/the_diamonds.html 'The Diamonds' Vocal Group Hall of Fame Page]
* [http://www.tsimon.com/diamonds.htm The Diamonds I]
* [http://www.history-of-rock.com/diamonds.htm The Diamonds II]
* [http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/diamondscover.html The Diamonds III]
* [http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/diamonds.htm The Diamonds IV]
*amg|11:lmf6zfdhehak|The Diamonds
* [http://worldjournal-gs.blogspot.com/2007/09/diamonds-rare-recordings.html Diamonds' singles discography]