Habe jetzt mal bei AMG geschaut, das liest es sich anders, Mista. Aber die sind auch bekannt für Falsches, nur erscheint gerade dieser Beitrag recht informiert. Aber lies selbst:
Also Zitat von AMG:
The group had its origins at the Pittsburgh Air Force Base, where five black enlisted men, Corinthian „Kripp“ Johnson (first tenor), Clarence E. Quick (bass), Don Jackson (second tenor), Bernard Robertson, and Samuel Paterson, began singing together during 1955 at the camp hall. They won a talent contest on the base in early 1956, and then competed nationally in New York and Bermuda, where they placed first and second, respectively. By that time, they were starting to attract local attention, most notably from disc jockey Barry Kaye, who wanted to record the Del Vikings, as they were then known (just one „l,“ and no hyphen).
The origins of their name have been ascribed to various sources. Some stories say that the members had read of the Vikings in an encyclopedia and liked the sound, the „Del“ being rather more mysterious. Others claim that Clarence Quick had known a basketball team called the Vikings in Brooklyn, and suggested the name.
The Del Vikings‘ lineup was fairly fluid due to the nature of military service, and by early 1956, Robertson and Paterson were gone, transferred to Germany. Their replacements were Norman Wright (lead tenor) and David Lerchey (baritone). Lerchey’s presence in the group as its first white member was more a matter of expediency than design, as he was simply the talent that was available. It did make the group slightly more distinctive; although other integrated singing groups had already achieved considerable exposure, including the Meadowlarks („Heaven and Paradise“) and the Mariners, who had appeared nationally on Arthur Godfrey’s network television show.
This second lineup was the version of the Del Vikings that Barry Kaye recorded. The resulting sessions yielded nine songs done a cappella, including early versions of Clarence E. Quick’s „Come Go With Me“ and Kripp Johnson’s „How Can I Find True Love.“ The demo tapes, which contained only the most rudimentary backing, were sent around to all of the major labels, each of which passed on the chance to record the Del Vikings. Finally, the group was signed by Joe Auerbach, the owner of a small Pittsburgh-based label called Fee Bee. A new recording session yielded a fully realized version of „Come Go With Me,“ backed by the quintet’s own band, including their resident backup men Joe Lopes (later a top recording engineer for RCA) and Gene Upshaw on sax, with the lead sung by new member Norman Wright.
The single, released late in 1956, quickly outgrew Fee Bee’s ability to exploit it, and Auerbach leased it to Dot Records; that version appeared in early 1957 and began a 31-week run on the charts, reaching number four on the pop chart and number three on the R&B chart during the spring and early summer. The group was now a national phenomenon and was booked on tours across the country, as well as a featured spot in one of Alan Freed’s Brooklyn Paramount shows. Their lineup had already changed again, the group acquiring its second white member, Gus Backus, who replaced Don Jackson as second tenor. Even so, military obligations sometimes prevented all of the members from participating at once in these performances.
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