The Del-Vikings (also known as The Dell-Vikings) were an American

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

musical group A musical ensemble, also known as a music group, musical group, or a band is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumen ...

that recorded several

hit singles A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply 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 (lead singer Norman Wright) ...

" 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 Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

stationed in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, 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", among other songs. He die ...

, 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 band members had read about

Viking Vikings were 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 settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

s The Del Vikings: Biographyat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved April 15, 2008.The Dell Vikings
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 Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, 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. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...

, publisher of paperbacks that group members liked to read. Their first hit came in 1957 with "

", a Clarence Quick-penned song, released on

Fee Bee Records Fee Bee Records was a record label started by Joe Averbach in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The label is notable for recording The Del-Vikings hit "Come Go With Me" in 1957. Other Del-Viking songs recorded on the Fee Bee label include "How Can I Fi ...

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 its early years, Dot sp ...

re-released "Come Go With Me" as Dot 45–15538. The song became a hit, peaking at #5 on the US Billboard Top 100 Pop Charts (a predecessor of the 1958 established ''Billboard'' Hot 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, Paul Le Mat ...

'' (1973), ''

Diner A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe and Australia. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a comb ...

'' (1982), '' Stand by Me'' (1986), ''

Joe Versus the Volcano ''Joe Versus the Volcano'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film written and directed by John Patrick Shanley and starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall of Amblin Enterta ...

'' (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 ...

'' (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. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' listed "Come Go With Me" as no. 449 on its list of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...

. The Dell-Vikings also released " Whispering Bells" in May 1957, another Clarence Quick song, 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".

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

). 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. Mercury Records released ...

. 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 Charles Benjamin Jackson (July 22, 1937 – February 16, 2023) was an American R&B singer who was one of the first artists to record material by Burt Bacharach and Hal David successfully. He performed with moderate success starting in 1961. Hi ...

, Arthur Budd, and Ed Everette. This group recorded the Kripp Johnson-led " I'm Spinning", billing themselves as the Dell-Vikings. Around this time, some old 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 eight-song album subsequently released by Luniverse was titled "Come Go With The Del Vikings". Also one single was released from these Luniverse overdubs—"Somewhere Over The Rainbow"/ "Hey Senorita". For legal reasons the LP was pulled off the market shortly after its release in July 1957. 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, and was replaced by the groups guitarist "Joe Lopes". The Mercury Del Vikings recorded their last record in October 1958. By the end of 1959, 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. Kripp Johnson returned to the original group, making them a sextet. 1960 they signed to

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

(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 S ...

; 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 the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

chart, where it peaked that year at #32). They performed "

" on the April 27, 1973, episode of '' The Midnight Special''. The line-up was Billy G. Woodruff, Roalf "Ritzy" Lee, Kripp Johnson, Clarence Quick, and Terry Young. 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 E. Quick died on November 3, 1985, at age 48. David Lerchey (born in

New Albany, Indiana New Albany is a city in New Albany Township, Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River, opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The population was 37,841 as of the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Floyd County. It ...

) 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 people, Swedish worker for Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railr ...

, at age 67. Norman Wright died after a long illness on April 23, 2010, at age 72. Donald Edgar "Gus" Backus died on February 21, 2019, in Germering, Germany, at age 81. Corinthian "Kripp" Johnson died of cancer on June 22, 1990, in Detroit, Michigan, at age 57. Billy G. Woodruff died on January 26, 2019 Roalf E. "Ritzy" Lee died on June 27, 2020.

Current (2023-The Del-Vikings) U.S. Trademark ownership

On June 3, 2022, Kenneth Boulden, Jr United States Individual of Delaware filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the exclusive rights to perform as "The Del-Vikings" (The previous trademark expired in 2020). On August 22, 2023, Boulden's exclusive rights were approved without any objection or of being contested. (U.S. Trademark Reg. No. 7,147,212). Boulden now performs as the front man for "The Del-Vikings Doo-Wop Revue" which is named such, as being based on "The Truth in Music Act" - Int. CT. 41 - Class 41: Entertainment services in the nature of live performances by a vocal group Principal Register - The mark consists of standard characters without claim to any particular font style, size or color - Ser. No. 97-442,100. Filed 06-03-2022

Singles discography

References

External links

Marv Goldberg's article on The Del Vikings

The Del Vikings - 1957 - Complete Recordings

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 musical groups Musical groups established in 1955 Musical groups disestablished in 1965