The Dells grew up in Harvey, Illinois and began singing together while attending Thornton Township High School. Forming in 1952 under the name the El-Rays, the group initially consisted of Marvin Junior, Mickey McGill, Lucius McGill, Verne Allison, Chuck Barksdale, and Johnny Funches. Lucius soon left the group and the remaining quintet signed with Checker Records, releasing their first single, "Darling I Know," which flopped.
In 1955, the group renamed themselves the Dells and signed with Vee-Jay Records. In 1956, they recorded their first hit, "Oh, What a Nite" (a song co-written by Johnny Funches, who also sang lead on the recording alongside Marvin Junior), which hit the Top 5 of the R&B singles chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The song is ranked #260 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In November 1958, the Dells suffered a car accident that left McGill in a hospital in Ohio for six months. The group temporarily disbanded and Barksdale sang as a member of Harvey Fuqua's spinoff Moonglows act, Harvey and the Moonglows, which included a young Marvin Gaye. In 1961, the Dells reunited and auditioned for Dinah Washington. After Washington agreed to hire them, Johnny Funches left the group to take care of his family. Funches was replaced by Flamingos founding member Johnny Carter and sang background for Washington for two years. In 1966, they were hired to open for Ray Charles, only to be fired after a performance resulted in several standing ovations. The group would also sing background for Barbara Lewis, mainly on Lewis' 1963 hit, "Hello Stranger", while also working with Quincy Jones, who helped to fine-tune their vocals for standards and jazz material.
In 1966, the Dells returned to Chess under the label's Cadet subsidiary working with Bobby Miller and future Earth, Wind & Fire arranger Charles Stepney. In 1967, the Dells issued the album There Is which included their first R&B chart-topper in years with the title track, which showcased the sharp baritone of Marvin Junior and the harmonies with the four other Dells. The song was also their first top 20 pop hit.
Subsequent R&B hits included "Wear It on Our Face," "Always Together" (Top 20 Pop, "I Can Sing a Rainbow - Love is Blue (medley)" (UK #15), and their first #1 R&B hit and first Top Ten pop hit, 1968's "Stay in My Corner," which reached #10 on the pop chart and showcased both Carter and Marvin in lead vocals. In the following year, 1969, The Dells' soulful remake of their debut hit, "Oh What a Night" gave the group their second chart-topping R&B single and also reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. For a second time, the song sold over a million copies. Subsequent hits included "Open Up My Heart," "Oh What A Day," and "On the Dock of the Bay." In 1971, the Dells' "The Love We Had Stays on My Mind" became another Top Ten hit on the R&B charts, also reaching the pop Top 30. By this time Charles Stepney had taken over production duties from Bobby Miller. 1973's "Give Your Baby a Standing Ovation" was their third certified gold record. The song was written by L.V. Johnson and produced by Don Davis.
Leaving Cadet around the end of 1974 with the parent company in financial difficulties, the group would continue recording in order under the Mercury, ABC, and Virgin labels finding some hits, including 1980's "I Touched a Dream", which returned the group to the top 40 on the R&B charts. The Dells were confined mostly to the oldies market afterwards until they were asked to be creative consultants to Robert Townsend's acclaimed 1991 film, The Five Heartbeats, which was loosely based on the lives of The Dells and other groups of its era. The group recorded a composition titled "A Heart Is a House for Love". The song reached number 13 on the Billboard R&B chart, making them only one of two groups to have hit singles in five decades. The following year, signing with PIR, they released the album, I Salute You. The Dells continued performing and recording sporadically in the early years of the new millennium. In 2004, the group were inducted to both the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The group continued performing until 2012.
Original Dells vocalist Johnny Funches died of pneumonia on January 23, 1998, at the age of 62.
Johnny Carter died of cancer on August 21, 2009, at the age of 75. Carter is one of the few artists to be a double Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, having been inducted with The Flamingos in 2001, and the Dells in 2004.
On May 29, 2013, founding member Marvin Junior died in his sleep at his home in Harvey, Illinois, succumbing to complications of kidney failure and a weak heart at the age of 77.
Chuck Barksdale died on 15 May 2019, at the age of 83.
Members
Marvin Junior (born Marvin Curtis Junior, January 31, 1936, Harrell, Arkansas – May 29, 2013) - lead baritone, lead vocals (1952-1958, 1960–2012)
Verne Allison (b. June 22, 1936, Chicago) - second tenor, background vocals (1952-1958, 1960-2012)
Mickey McGill (b. February 17, 1937, Chicago) - baritone, background vocals (1952–1958, 1960-2012)
Chuck Barksdale (January 11, 1935 - May 15, 2019) - bass, background vocals (1952–1958, 1960-2012)
Johnny Funches (July 18, 1935, Chicago – January 23, 1998) - first tenor, lead vocals (1952–58, 1960-1961)
Lucius McGill (b. 1935, Chicago) - second tenor, background vocals (1952–54)
Johnny Carter (June 2, 1934, Chicago – August 21, 2009) - first tenor/falsetto, lead vocals (1961–2009)
Reminiscing
The Dells Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Reminiscing about you
Reminiscing about you girl
Reminiscing about you
I was just reminiscing
On your love I′ve been missing
I need a reminder
Of how it was before you left me
So I stopped by the old café
Where we used to meet
We were just kids in our teens
Full of joy and laughter
And great big dreams
Reminiscing about you girl
On your love I've been missing
I need a reminder
Of how it was before you left me
The old place ain′t the same you'll see
So I took our favourite leaf
I dropped in a dime
And I played our favourite melody
And then pretended you were here with me.
The Dells's song "Reminiscing" is a classic soul song that reflects on a past love. The song's lyrics are about a man who is reminiscing about his lost love and all the good times they had together. He visits a café where they used to meet as teenagers, hoping to trigger fond memories of their time together. The man is feeling nostalgic about the love that he has lost and desperately seeks a reminder of the happy times they shared. The song's tone is filled with yearning as he tries to relive the past and recapture the love he once had.
The lyrics evoke a sense of longing for a lost love that is relatable to anyone who has experienced heartbreak. The imagery of the old café and the nostalgic, sentimental tone of the music work together to create a melancholic feeling. The song's dreamy instrumentals complement the lyrics, emphasizing the bittersweet feeling of reminiscing about a past love. The listener can hear the sadness in the singer's voice, making it easy to empathize with the emotion the singer is expressing.
Line by Line Meaning
Reminiscing about you girl
Thinking back on memories with you, my dear
Reminiscing about you
Reflecting on the moments we shared together
Reminiscing about you girl
Replaying the moments we spent together in my mind
Reminiscing about you
Nostalgic recollection of the past times spent with you
I was just reminiscing
I was recently caught up in reflection
On your love I've been missing
I have been yearning for your affection
I need a reminder
I require something to jog my memory
Of how it was before you left me
A memory of the good times we had, before you departed
So I stopped by the old café
I visited the location where we used to meet
Where we used to meet
This is where we had rendezvous in the past
We were just kids in our teens
We were adolescent and inexperienced, in our prime
Full of joy and laughter
We were always happy, always smiling
And great big dreams
We had lofty and daring ambitions
The old place ain't the same you'll see
The location has changed, and might not resemble it's original appearance
So I took our favourite leaf
I picked the same type of foliage that we used to admire
I dropped in a dime
I inserted a coin into the jukebox
And I played our favourite melody
One of our favorite tunes began to play
And then pretended you were here with me
I imagined you being present, amidst the nostalgic atmosphere
Writer(s): Verne Anthony Allison
Contributed by Nicholas G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.