The 1950’s Fabulous Foursome!
This
is
a
fan
site
of
the
original
Diamonds
of
the
1950s.
All
hailing
from
Canada,
they
made
their
way
to
the
U.
S.,
and
with
their
songs
and
energy,
endeared
themselves
to
their fans forever.
The
Diamonds
were
often
accused
of
diverting
royalties
from
(“robbing”)
black
groups.
There’s
much
more
to
this
than
meets the eye:
The
practice
of
covering
songs
was
very
prevalent
in
the
business
at
that
time.
For
many
decades
prior
to
the
advent
of
Rock
’n
Roll,
singers
sang
and
songwriters
wrote.
That
was
just
the
way
things
were
done,
and
the
Diamonds
were
part
of
this.
They
didn’t
write
songs,
they
just
sang
them.
In
fact,
they
were
surprised
to
find
that
some
singing
artists
wrote
their own material.
In
their
first
years
of
recording,
The
Diamonds
had
virtually
no
say
in
what
they
recorded.
They
were
a
new,
unknown
group
who
considered
themselves
very
lucky
to
be
given
a
recording
contract
and
Mercury
told
them
what
to
record,
or
gave
them
a
few
choices
(of
songs
selected
by
Mercury),
and
they
gratefully
did
what
they
were
expected
to
do.
(Mercury
did
offer
them
a
choice
for
an
original
song
to
go
on
the
flip
side
of
“Little
Darlin”,
and
they
chose
“Faithful
and
True”, which had been ‘pitched' to them by the songwriters themselves)
Especially
early
on,
The
Diamonds’
records
appeared
mainly
on
the
pop
(white)
charts
while
the
black
artists’
versions
were on the R & B charts. That changed somewhat as the group became better known.
The
songwriters
themselves
benefited
greatly
from
the
Diamonds’
use
of
their
songs.
The
R&B
record
companies
didn’t
have
the
distribution
capability
of
the
big
pop
companies,
so
many
more
copies
of
these
writers’
songs
were
sold
as
a
result of the Diamonds doing them.
All in all, The Diamonds only recorded approximately 17 “cover” songs as opposed to over 60 original and standards.
Considering all these things, it seems unfair to level the charge of robbing against the group.
For a list of songs that were covers and originals click
here
.
More on The Subject of “Covering” Artists and Ramifications
Phil Levitt