Three albums from The Dells that were previously unavailable have finally hit streaming platforms. These LPs include: Like It Is, Like It Was from 1970; Sweet As Funk Can Be from 1972; and Give Your Baby A Standing Ovation from 1973.
Like It Is, Like It Was features older tracks and newer material alike, all highlighted by arrangements from Charles Stepney, who also worked with Ramsey Lewis, Rotary Connection, and Earth, Wind & Fire, among others.
Sweet As Funk Can Be is highlighted by the group’s celebrated ode to Chicago, “Windy City Soul.” Give Your Baby A Standing Ovation was helmed by veteran producer Don Davis and includes fan favorites like “Closer” and a cover of “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
The history of The Dells started in 1952, when they were formed in high school in Harvey, Illinois. A year later, they made their record debut on Checker, the Chess subsidiary, but it wasn’t until 1956 that they hit paydirt with the glorious “Oh What A Nite.” Before this run of celebrated 1970s records finally available for a new audience, the band hit its stride in the 1960s, a decade that brought them a dozen more R&B chart entries, two of them No.1s, and considerable pop crossover success.
The group returned to Chess in 1966 under the auspices of its Cadet label, which would be their home for eight years. And what years they were.
Just before the revival of “Oh, What A Night,” the Dells entered Billboard’s Bestselling Rhythm & Blues Singles chart on May 31, 1969 with something rather unusual. It was a medley of “I Can Sing A Rainbow” – popularized by Peggy Lee in the 1955 film Pete Kelly’s Blues and covered thereafter by Andy Williams, Cilla Black and others – and “Love Is Blue.”
The Dells’ Cadet years went on to contain several more major hits, after which they recorded for Mercury, ABC and other labels, logging their final chart entry in 1992. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, the mighty Dells finally hung up their microphones in 2012, at the end of an unforgettable 60 years of performing.
Listen to The Dells on Apple Music and Spotify.