The Del-Vikings (also known as The Dell-Vikings) were an American
doo-wop musical group
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the na ...
that recorded several
hit singles
A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...
in the 1950s and continued to record and tour with various lineups in later decades. The group is notable for the hit songs "
Come Go with Me
"Come Go With Me" is a song written by C. E. Quick (a.k.a. Clarence Quick), an original member (bass vocalist) of the American doo-wop vocal group the Del-Vikings. The song was originally recorded by The Del-Vikings (leadsinger Norman Wright) in ...
" and "
Whispering Bells", and for having been a successful racially mixed musical group during a period of time when such groups were rare.
History
Formation and early fame
The Del-Vikings were formed in 1955 by members of the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
stationed in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
, with Clarence Quick,
Kripp Johnson
Kripp Johnson (born Corinthian Johnson; May 16, 1933 in Cambridge, Maryland – June 22, 1990) was an American singer for The Del-Vikings from 1956 to the 1980s. Johnson sang lead vocal on their hit "Whispering Bells (song), Whispering Bells", amon ...
, Don Jackson, Samuel Paterson, Bernard Robertson and guitarist Joe Lopes. Because all of the members were in the armed forces, the group constantly ran the risk of being disrupted by members being stationed in other places. This happened soon after the group's forming when Paterson and Robertson were sent to Germany. They were replaced by baritone David Lerchey,
the group's first white member, and tenor Norman Wright. Wright had started a group with Lawrence "Prince" Lloyd called The Valverteens from Amarillo Air Force Base, Texas, before joining The Del-Vikings.
Shortly after, Don Jackson left the band and was replaced by
Gus Backus
Donald Edgar "Gus" Backus (September 12, 1937 – February 21, 2019) was an American singer. He started his career as a member of The Del-Vikings and later became a successful Schlager singer in Germany.
Life and career
Backus was born on Lo ...
, the group's second white member.
The band's name was created by Clarence Quick. Some sources say that the band members had read about
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
s
[ The Del Vikings: Biographyat ]Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
. Retrieved April 15, 2008.[The Dell Vikings](_blank)
at Doowopy.de. Retrieved April 15, 2008. with the prefix "Del" being "added to give the group name an air of mystery."
Another suggestion is that Clarence Quick had known of a basketball team in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, called the Vikings and had suggested the name.
The name may also have originated from the popular
Viking Press
Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquir ...
, publisher of paperbacks that group members liked to read.
Their first hit came in 1957 with "
Come Go with Me
"Come Go With Me" is a song written by C. E. Quick (a.k.a. Clarence Quick), an original member (bass vocalist) of the American doo-wop vocal group the Del-Vikings. The song was originally recorded by The Del-Vikings (leadsinger Norman Wright) in ...
", released on
Fee Bee Records as catalog number FB-205. In late January 1957,
Dot Records
Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...
re-released "Come Go With Me" as Dot 45-15538. The song was written by Clarence Quick
. The song became a hit, peaking at #5 on the
''Billboard'' Top 100 chart. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a
gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
.
The song was later featured in the films ''
American Graffiti
''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed as Ronny ...
'' (1973), ''
Diner'' (1982), ''
Stand by Me'' (1986), ''
Joe Versus the Volcano'' (1990), and ''
Set It Up
''Set It Up'' is a 2018 American romantic comedy film directed by Claire Scanlon, written by Katie Silberman, and starring Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Taye Diggs, and Lucy Liu. The plot follows two overworked assistants who try to set up their deman ...
'' (2018). ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' listed "Come Go With Me" as no. 447 on its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
Split
All of the group members, other than Kripp Johnson, were under 21 when they signed their recording contract with Fee Bee (a tiny Pittsburgh label, which was later distributed by
Dot Records
Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...
). Having signed the contract as minors, they had the right to be released from it. In 1957, under the direction of their manager, Alan Strauss, they left to record at
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...
. Johnson, who was still bound to Fee Bee/Dot, stayed, thus creating two Del-Vikings groups. The original group replaced Johnson with Quick's friend William Blakely and recorded the Backus-led song "Cool Shake". Kripp Johnson constructed a new group with the returning Don Jackson,
Chuck Jackson
Chuck Jackson (born July 22, 1937) is an American R&B singer who was one of the first artists to record material by Burt Bacharach and Hal David successfully. He has performed with moderate success since 1961. His hits include "I Don't Want to ...
, Arthur Budd, and Ed Everette. This group recorded the Kripp Johnson-led "
I'm Spinning", billing themselves as the Dell-Vikings.
The Dell-Vikings also released "
Whispering Bells" in May of 1957, with Kripp Johnson singing lead vocals. (The Dot label referred to Johnson as "Krips Johnson".) "Whispering Bells" reached No. 5 on the
U.S. R&B chart and #9 on the
U.S. pop chart in 1957. "Whispering Bells" was featured in the 1986 film ''
Stand by Me'' and was included in the film's soundtrack.
Johnson also sang lead vocals on the B-side "Don't Be A Fool".
Around this time, some old Fee Bee demo tracks had been sold to an up-and-coming record company, Luniverse, who overdubbed a backing track on these ''a capella'' songs, which included an early version of "Come Go with Me". The overdubbed demo was included as a track on an eight-song album subsequently released by Luniverse. Only one single was released from these Luniverse overdubs—"Somewhere Over The Rainbow"/ "Hey Senorita".
Johnson's Dot group had an extra advantage—he had been discharged from the USAF and his group could tour freely, while the original group needed to seek military leave in order to tour. Mercury sued, claiming it had sole rights to any spelling of the group's name, and the Dell-Vikings briefly became The Versatiles, with singles being billed to "Kripp Johnson and the Versatiles" or "Chuck Jackson and the Versatiles". The group broke up, with Chuck Jackson going on to a successful solo career. Meanwhile, the original group had begun to fall apart. Gus Backus was re-stationed, leaving the group a quartet. They broke up soon after. Quick restructured the group with new talent from the Pittsburgh area—lead tenor, Billy G. Woodruff, Willie Green, Horace Douglas "Doug" White, and
Ritzy Lee. By the end of 1957, with the breakup of the Dell-Vikings, Kripp Johnson returned to the original group, making them a sextet. They signed to
ABC Records (ABC-Paramount). While the nucleus of the group was back, they weren't able to chart any more hits, and the group split up in 1965.
Reunion and split
The Del-Vikings were back in 1970 with a near original line-up of Clarence Quick, Kripp Johnson, Norman Wright, David Lerchey, and William Blakely. The group re-recorded their old hit for
Scepter Records
Scepter Records was an American record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg.
History
Florence Greenberg founded Scepter Records from the $4,000 she received after she sold Tiara Records and the Shirelles to Decca Records. When the Shire ...
; a new version of "Come Go With Me" made the ''Bubbling Under The Hot 100'' chart in 1973 (it also wound up on the
Easy Listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...
chart, where it peaked that year at #32).
They performed
Come Go With Me
"Come Go With Me" is a song written by C. E. Quick (a.k.a. Clarence Quick), an original member (bass vocalist) of the American doo-wop vocal group the Del-Vikings. The song was originally recorded by The Del-Vikings (leadsinger Norman Wright) in ...
On April 27th, 1973(For The Midnight Special TV Show).The line-up was Billy G. Woodruff, Roalf "Ritzy" Lee, Kripp Johnson, Clarence Quick, and Terry Youn
Norman Wright, David Lerchey, and Wright's two sons, Norman Wright, Jr. and Anthony Wright performed as The Del Vikings for PBS show "Doo Wop 50" in 2000, and Wright toured and performed with his sons for the remainder of his life.
Clarence Quick died May 5th, 198
Corinthian "Kripp" Johnson died of cancer on June 22, 1990 at age 5
Gus Backus died in Germany on February 21, 2019.
David Lerchey (born in
New Albany, Indiana) died of cancer on January 29, 2005 in
Hallandale, Florida
Hallandale Beach (formerly known simply as Hallandale) is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is named after Luther Halland, the son of a Swedish worker for Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad. As of the 2 ...
, at age 67.
Norman Wright died after a long illness on April 23, 2010, at age 72.
Roalf E. "Ritzy" Lee died On June 27th, 202
The Del-Vikings were among hundreds of artists whose material was destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
Singles discography
See also
* Del Vikings (France), an antifascist black youth subculture with a love for American classic car
A classic car is an older car, typically 25 years or older, though definitions vary.While other languages, such as German and Dutch, may refer to classic cars as "oldtimers", this usage is unknown in English, where "old-timer" refers to an elder ...
s, doo wop, and early rock & roll
References
External links
Marv Goldberg's article on The Del Vikings
The Del Vikings - 1957 - Complete Recordings
* The Del Vikings biography at allmusic.com
Listen to "Rock and Roll Remembered"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Del-Vikings, The
1955 establishments in Pennsylvania
1965 disestablishments in Pennsylvania
Doo-wop groups
Musical groups from Pittsburgh
Mercury Records artists
American rhythm and blues musicians
Musical groups established in 1955
Musical groups disestablished in 1965