Marvin Junior

As the lead singer of the Dells, Marvin Junior's warm, earnest baritone vocals helped define the Harvey, IL, R&B/soul music group during its '60s/'70s heyday (along with Johnny Carter's mesmerizing falsetto). One example of his vocal prowess is his ability at holding a note, as heard on the 1968 remake of their own "Stay in My Corner." It's no secret that producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff wanted Marvin Junior on their Philadelphia International Records label. When the group signed to Chess, they went with the similar-sounding Teddy Pendergrass. Gamble & Huff finally got to work with the Dells in 1992 on the I Salute You album. Junior, along with the rest of the Dells, was a key influence on Robert Townsend in the making of his movie The Five Heartbeats. In the early '50s, the group initially formed as the El Rays when the members were students at Thornton Township High School. The lineup was Marvin Junior, Johnny Funches, Verne Allison, Chuck Barksdale, Mickey McGill, and his brother Lucius. After doing their share of street-corner harmonizing, the vocal group auditioned for Leonard Chess of Chess Records in nearby Chicago. Their first release on Chess' Checker imprint was the a cappella song "Darling I Know" with "Christine" on the flip side. The 45 was a small regional hit. Not long afterwards, Lucius McGill quit the group. Now a quintet, the group was taken under the wing of Harvey Fuqua of the Moonglows who schooled the group on five-part vocal harmony. As the Dells, the group signed with pioneering R&B/pop/blues label Vee-Jay Records in 1955. Their first two singles for the label were "Tell the World" and "Dreams of Contentment." Their third single, "Oh What a Nite," a song written by Funches and Junior, went to number four R&B on Billboard's charts in late...