The Diamonds 1958-1961

The Diamonds underwent a significant personnel change in the fall of 1958. Original members Tedd Kowalski and Bill Reed retired from the group (on the same day) and were replaced by two Californians - tenor Evan Fisher and bass John Felten. The first recording session that the two new guys sung on yielded what was to be The Diamonds last chart hit for a considerable time - the Barry Mann penned She Say (oom dooby doom). She Say was a good sized hit for The Diamonds. It was the kind of song The Diamonds had become known for - group harmony rock and roll. Dave Somerville recalled how he laid down the falsetto part after The Diamonds had recordd the song. Feeling that it needed something more, he returned to the studio later in the evening - on the day when the song was done - and overdubbed the part. The first tour with new diamonds Evan and John included Hawaii and then Australia, where they performed at the Sydney Stadium. Of the record releases that followed in 1959 and 1960 none seemed to capture the interest of the record buying public - this is in spite of some excellent sides that were recorded. Songs such as A Mother's Love, Gretchen, The Twenty Second Day, Young in Years, Tell The Truth, Real True Love, The Munch, The Crumble, Slave Girl, Woomai-Ling were as good as anything The Diamonds ever did, but it is well documented by music historians that solo singers were the current "thing", and all vocal groups - not just The Diamonds - were being edged off the charts by the "teen idols".

It was this group that also recorded two interesting full-priced concept albums. These were The Diamonds meet Pete Rugolo (1958) and Songs of the Old West (1960). Both albums were available in both stereo and mono. Neither album was overly successful in the marktplace, but artistically, both had merit. The Diamonds meet Pete Rugolo combined the vocal talents of the Diamonds with the big band swing sound of the Pete Rugolo orchestra. The album featured twelve songs from the jazz era. Songs of the Old West was a collection of twelve traditional western songs tghat were recorded in hollywood -- this time featuring a small band - also arranged and conducted by Pete Rugolo.

The group toured extensively throughout 1959 -1961 with the lineup of Dave Somerville (lead), Evan Fisher (tenor), Mike Douglas (baritone) and John Felten (bass).

In 1951, The Diamonds scored their last chart hit with a revival of The Danleers One Summer Night. The Danleers were label mates of The Diamonds =they originally recorded the song in 1957 an made it their one and only hit

Above: The Diamonds with arranger Belford Hendricks c 1960

Clockwise from top - John Felten, Evan Fisher, Dave Somerville, Mike Douglas

"Another hit in the making?"

Songs of the Old West - a great concept album from 1960