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.
In
the
first
half
of
1957
the
Diamonds
went
to
Hollywood
for
filming
of
a
segment
for
an
appearance
to
sing
in
the
movie,
“The
Big
Beat”.
This
film
was
released
by
Universal
International
Pictures
the
following
year
in
1958.
It
was
one
of
a
long
list
of
low
budget
“Rock
&
Roll”
films
Hollywood
put
out
to
stay
with
the
current
culture.
If
it
weren’t
for
the
recording
artists
who
had
cameos,
the
film
would
have
been
a
lot
worse than it was. I won’t list all the acts here, however if you’re interested, you can read all about the film at this link,
IMDB
In
the
movie,
The
Diamonds
appeared
in
a
scene
at
what
was
supposed
to
look
like
a
“club”
or
hang-out”.
Phil
Levitt
told
me
they
were
surprised of how sparse the set. The fact that this was a b-grade movie no doubt explains the cheap setting. Ah, the magic of Hollywood.
Along
with
a
version
of
“Little
Darlin’”
they
sang
a
new
song
called
“Where
Mary
Go”,
which
they
recorded
for
the
film.
Their
other
recording
of
the
song
was
only
released
in
Australia
in
mid
1958,
and
was
never
included
on
any
compilation
until
2007,
when
it
finally
appeared
on
a
CD issued by Canetoad Records, Australia. This song now available on The Diamonds - The Stroll - 2 CD Set from
Amazon
That
same
year,
’58,
The
Flamingos
released
“Where
Mary
Go”
for
Decca
Records.
Nothing
particularly
special
about
that
except
that
their
recording
appears
to
be
a
“cover”
of
the
earlier
Diamonds’
version.
The
Flamingos’
version
was
released
after
the
Diamonds’
and
has
an
almost
identical
arrangement.
What
a
turnaround!
-
The
Diamonds,
who
covered
many
black
artists
recordings,
were
themselves
covered
by the Flamingos, a black group. A real twist to the normal trends of the time!
The Story Of The Song “Where Mary Go”
B. Worrell / T. Watson
