After six decades with R&B group the Dells, singer and founding member Verne Allison has passed away.
SoulTracks reports that Allison, who sang second tenor for the group, was 90 years old.
Early Success Followed by Tragedy
The Dells’ story began back in the 1950s in Harvey, Illinois, where Allison and high school friends Marvin Junior, Charles “Chuck” Barksdale, Johnny Funches, and brothers Michael “Mickey” and Lucius McGill formed a doo-wop group they dubbed the El-Rays.
After Lucius McGill exited, the five-member group changed their name to the Dells, and landed a recording contract with the Vee-Jay label.
The group experienced its first taste of success with the Vee-Jay single “‘Oh What A Night,” released in 1956.
Tragedy struck in 1957, when the members of the Dells were injured in a severe automobile accident.
The group temporarily split up, and subsequently reformed without Funches. To fill the spot, former Flamingos singer Johnny Carter was tapped, resulting in the band’s classic lineup that would remain intact for the next five decades.
Further Success in the ’60s
This new iteration of the Dells signed to Chess Records in the 1960s, resulting in a string of hits including “Stay in My Corner,” “There Is,” ‘Give Your Baby A Standing Ovation” and “Run for Cover.”
The Dells continued touring and recording throughout the 1970s and ’80s, but an unexpected career resurgence took place in the early 1990s courtesy of filmmaker Robert Townsend.
Townsend contacted the group to create some new music for the soundtrack of his 1991 film, “The Five Heartbeats,” which the director had loosely based on the Dells’ story. The group recorded “A Heart Is A House For Love,” with the song becoming a surprise hit that rocketed the Dells back to the charts more than 30 years after the group was founded.
The group ceased performing in 2012.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
In 2004, the Dells were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Townsend inducting the group.
“The greatest harmony group of all time, the Dells thrilled audiences with their amazing vocal interplay, between the gruff, explosive voice of Marvin Junior and the keening high tenor of Johnny Carter, that sweet-home-Chicago blend mediated by Mickey McGill and Verne Allison, and the talking bass voice from Chuck Barksdale,” reads an essay written for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“Their style formed the template for every singing group that came after them,” the essay continued.
A Sad Loss
The passing of Allison served as a reminder of the importance of the Dells in the the evolution of music.
“Allison’s death marks another chapter in the history of one of soul music’s most enduring groups,” reads a tribute from SoulTracks.
“Like the Four Tops, the Dells will go down in music history as an act respected as much for its remarkable longevity as for its great music. Moving from doo-wop to jazz to soul over a half century, the group managed to stay relevant as musical styles and audiences changed, creating along the way one of the great vocal-group discographies.”
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Founding Member of Famed R&B Act That Inspired a Movie Has Passed Away at 90