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.

History of The Diamonds Source: Phil Levitt - Baritone

The Diamonds - The quartet from Canada, who became one of the most popular groups in the 1950s. Members shown in picture - Ted Kowalski - Tenor. Dave Somerville - Lead. Phil Levitt - Baritone. Bill Reed - Bass.

In 1953 Phil Levitt and his friend Stan Fisher started harmonizing while on vacation at Crystal Beach near Toronto, Canada. That fall both Phil and Stan entered the University of Toronto. Phil to study electrical engineering, and Stan to study law. One day Phil and Ted, who he had just met, were out on campus on a surveying class. While Ted was looking through his telescope a young co-ed walked through the field of view. Ted yelped "Wow!" in a high voice, and Phil jokingly said he sounded like a tenor. Ted said he was, and Phil suggested that they get together with Stan as a trio. They did, and liked the sound, and a short time later, Ted mentioned that he had a buddy who sang bass. He proposed that he join the group, and they formed a quartet. The buddy's name was Bill Reed. Over the next few months they worked up a few songs and sang them wherever they could. Ted had suggested they call themselves the Four Diamonds. With a small repertoire of songs they decided to enter a local talent show called “Nows Your Chance” ( Two years later, this show became "Pick The Stars" .) The show was produced at the Canadian Broadcasting Company, where a young engineer named Dave Somerville was working. Before they were to go on, they were practicing in the hall way when they met Dave by chance when he stopped to listen to them. He told them that he was knowledgeable in music and that he worked at C.B.C and could get them into studios to rehearse, and he offered to work with them. He convinced them not to audition for the show and they accepted his offer. Around this time Bill and Phil started to hang out with Rosemarie Nicolucci and Maureen Maggiacomo, girls who headed an informal fan club. They convinced the guys to appear in the annual Minstrel Show at their church, St. Thomas Aquinas. It happened that the show was on the night before one of Stan Fisher’s exams, and he couldn’t make it. Dave knew all the songs and took Stan’s place. At the show they absolutely brought the house down. They did an encore and the audience applauded wildly again. They were ecstatic and, that night, vowed that they were going to become professional. They subsequently talked with Stan, but he made the decision to stick with school, so Dave became the permanent lead singer. With every possible moment not taken up by jobs or school, they began to rehearse. They met Bill’s dad, who had sung on radio with a locally well known barbershop group, The Garden City Four. He taught them barbershop technique and a few tunes, extending their repertoire. One day Bill Reed mentioned that a black vocal group called The Revelaires, out of Detroit, was performing at a small down town hotel, and the Diamonds went to catch their show. They sang spirituals and gospel songs, and the guys were absolutely blown away. Star-struck, the Diamonds approached them after the set, introduced themselves, told them how fantastic they thought they were and begged them to teach them some of their music. The Revelaires took a liking to their new admirers and took them under their wing. The Diamonds got together whenever The Revelaires came into town. They did their best to un-square the Diamonds....to make them cool. They taught them a few spirituals and gospel songs from their sizeable repertoire. Because of their influence there was a significant transformation in the Diamonds style and abilities. The Diamonds had started their career on the songs of the Four Lads, Mills Brothers, Ames Brothers and Crew Cuts but the major influence on their singing was that of the Revelaires. (Click on photo to the left for larger view) With all of the things that were happening to the group, they did go back to the TV show, now called “Pick The Stars”. With Dave now the lead, they entered the contest and did very well. An eye witness to this was Wayne Russell, who states: “ I actually saw their rise on Pick The stars. In the final show they were up against an opera/classical singer. The 3 {4?} judges picked the opera singer & they awarded her the prize & then they approached the Diamonds & said the phones have been ringing off the hook, offering appearances on the Jackie Rae show or some other stuff as well. Potential of a recording contract. The Opera singer was completely ignored the last part of the show with all the news buzzing around the Diamonds. Damn judges were musical snobs or something as everyone loved the Diamonds. Never heard of the opera singer again. Ha!” In the spring of 1954 Ted and Phil finished their first year of college and decided not to go back to school in the fall. Now there was lots of time for rehearsals. Around this time the Diamonds realized they needed a real manager. Dave got an audition with a local C.B.C radio and TV celebrity who introduced them to Nat Goodman, a professional classical musician who was interested in finding an act to manage. He liked the Diamonds and became their manager. Now things started to move as Goodman got them some professionally prepared arrangements. At this point, Goodman insisted Dave and Bill quit their jobs so the group could get really serious about rehearsing. In the summer of 1955 Nat arranged for the Diamonds to sing for food and board at a resort in Greenwood Lake, about an hour’s drive from New York City. He got them on the Arthur Godfrey talent show and they tied for a win with a female classical pianist, resulting in a week on his morning talk/variety show. As a result of the Godfrey appearance Nat Goodman was able to get them a recording contract with Coral Records. They made two records for Coral in New York, one side being "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots", which they learned from sheet music. The Diamonds' version of the song didn’t do much, selling a few thousand copies, mainly in Toronto, resulting in a bit of fame locally. As a result of this disappointing experience their manager got serious about learning the inner workings of show business. He found that there was a disc jockey, Bill Randle, broadcasting at station WERE out of Cleveland, who apparently was responsible for the discovery of some very successful talent, including The Crew Cuts. When the Diamonds went to Cleveland to play The Alpine Village night club, Nat managed to get them an audition with Mr. Randle. After the audition, Mr. Randle recommended the Diamonds to Mercury Records. Mercury liked the group and, upon hearing their spirituals they decided to slate them for rock ‘n roll. Shortly after this the Diamonds signed a contract and began to record in Chicago. The Diamonds first record was, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", a cover of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. Shortly after the session Mercury sent them on the road in a Chevy Impala sedan (perhaps a Ford or Mercury would have been more appropriate) to promote the song. They rushed from city to city, town to town, mostly throughout the eastern and Midwestern U.S.A., doing nothing but visiting disc jockeys in a tour which lasted 5 or 6 weeks. The record did well, ultimately charting in the top 20, according to the national magazine Billboard, and the group was very excited. They did a number of other recordings in Chicago, all under the direction of Mercury’s David Carroll, a.k.a. Nook Schreier, who they greatly admired, and these did well, all hitting the charts. They were "Church Bells May Ring/Little Girl of Mine", "Love Love Love/Every Night About This Time", and "Ka-Ding Dong/Soft Summer Breeze". Then someone at Mercury decided to have them record a couple of songs in New York. These were originals; "My Judge and My Jury" and "Put Your House in Order". The Diamonds were not exactly thrilled with the songs; also, the writers were white, and one of the songs was a "spiritual"!! However they really didn’t have much voice in these decisions so, reluctantly and rather embarrassed, they did the recordings. They were not surprised when they did poorly, and in fact privately felt vindicated. Through the success of the recordings the Diamonds became a reasonably established act and toured the U.S. and Canada appearing in night clubs and on radio and television. However this success, while satisfying and fairly substantial, was limited, and they began to look for the big one which would make "The Diamonds" a household name. In 1956, back at their beloved Chicago Mercury studios, they were played a demo record of a ballad with a Hawaiian flavor called "Faithful and True". The Diamonds really liked it and persuaded Mercury to let them record it. Mercury agreed, and told them that the flip side would be a cover of a song called "Little Darlin’" by The Gladiolas, led by Maurice Williams who had written it. The group spent a lot of time and effort working up "Faithful and True", then whipped up a version of "Little Darlin’", complete with an Ink Spots-like spoken bass solo. That evening they recorded both songs in a long, late session. The Diamonds tried to concentrate on "Faithful", while David Carroll kept them working on "Darlin’" until they had a pretty creditable version, which included what must have been a first, a Latin rhythm cowbell (David Carroll’s brainchild). The Diamonds were excited as they were sure they had a real winner with "Faithful". They went back on the road and kept an anxious eye on the charts, but were surprised when "Little Darlin’" started to chart very quickly, while "Faithful and True" was well behind. "Just wait!", they said. "Little Darlin’", of course, wound up as the big winner, reaching #2 nationally and. In fact it was on the verge of hitting #1 when Elvis Presley’s "All Shook Up" overtook it for the top spot. Earning them a “Gold Record,” "Little Darlin’" led to further and better TV and nightclub appearances and to many increasingly popular one-nighters. It secured a solid niche for the Diamonds in the archives of rock ‘n roll - they had made it. In the spring of 1957, Phil had grown weary of being on the road and longed to return to University to complete his engineering studies. Mike Douglas took over the baritone position and in July, 1957, Phil went back to Toronto and that fall entered second year engineering. Bill and Ted left the group in the latter part of 1958, being replaced by John Felten - bass, and Evan Fisher - tenor. The Diamonds at this point were Dave Somerville, Mike Douglas, Evan Fisher, and John Felten. They went on to record 26 more songs for Mercury Records - two of them gold: “Silhouettes” and “The Stroll” - charting another 6 songs on Billboard, making a total of 16 charters for Mercury. Dave Somerville left in 1961 and was replaced by Jim Malone. Bill went into record promotion and apparently never sang with another group, although he had many offers. Ted returned to University of Toronto to finish his studies in electrical engineering. He also sang with several groups over the years. Dave has always been involved singing solo, groups, and acting, right up to his death in 2015. In 1984 the Diamonds were awarded a Canadian Juno "Hall of Fame" award by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. In 1995 they were inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. The Diamonds received national attention once again in 2000, when the original four were invited to sing in T. J. Lubinsky’s Public Broadcasting Service production of “Do-Wop 51”, and again in another PBS production of “Magic Moments-The Best Of '50s Pop” in 2004, and “More Magic Moments the Best of '50s Pop”. That was the last performance with the original four. In June 2004, the Diamonds went to Hawaii to perform. Bill was ill and wasn't able to make the trip. Trying to recover fully from an aneurysm operation, he had also developed cancer and passed away on Oct. 22, 2004. The Diamonds lost a good friend, and the world lost a truly fine singer. In October, 2004, they were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in Sharon, Pennsylvania. In 2006 they were inducted into The Doo-Wop Hall of Fame.

Trivia

Dave Somerville is a descendant of Charlemagne. In the year 1100, another relative, Gualter Somerville, is credited as killing the last dragon in Scotland. Phil Levitt’s last name is commonly misspelled as “Leavitt” Bill Reed was chased by a bear on the Paul Winchell Show. Bill Reed may have been the earliest verified performer of the "air guitar". This was in 1957 and was recorded from a live TV show and can be viewed on YouTube . The Diamonds thought the song “Faithful & True”, the flip side of Little Darlin’, would be the hit. Actor/dancer Gene Kelly gave Ted Kowalski the idea to put the handkerchief on his head during the performance of Little Darlin’. The Diamonds credit a black gospel group, The Revelaires, out of Detroit, as the major influence on their singing. Dave Somerville sang the bass part on Little Darlin' during Bill Reed's recitation. The Diamonds sang "Little Darlin" & "Where Mary Go" in the 1958 movie, "The Big Beat". The Diamonds sang the theme song for two films, "Kathy O" in 1958 and "The Horizontal Lieutenant" in 1962. The "original" Diamonds do not own their name. Legally it belongs to the present group that still performs. Fortunately, they were allowed to use it a few times each year.