The Diamonds were the first white vocal group to have hits on both pop and rhythm and blues charts.Jeff Xander
He could sing across four octaves, from a growling bass to that signature, soaring, explosive falsetto at the start of Little Darlin': "Yaa-aaa-aaaa, ya-ya-ya-ya … "
David Somerville's voice was once reportedly described by electric-guitar deity Les Paul as "God-given … a distillation of Elvis and Bing." His natural pipes were a rich baritone, and with leading-man good looks, Mr. Somerville's career spanned seven decades as an actor, voice-over artist and songwriter.
But it was as lead singer of the 1950s doo-wop group the Diamonds that he made his lasting mark with the iconic Little Darlin', a bouncy, hyperventilating tune that would become part of the soundtrack to poodle skirts, hot rods and hula hoops.
"Propelled by Dave's voice, the Diamonds became the most prominent white male vocal group of the mid-to-late 1950s," broadwayworld.com proclaimed in a tribute to Mr. Somerville. They were the first white vocal group to have hits on both pop and rhythm and blues charts, and "were widely regarded as one of the pioneers of rock 'n' roll, known for their sparkling vocal harmony sound that was so vital in rock's early days," the website stated. "Little Darlin' has stood the test of time, becoming a seminal song of the era and enduring as an anthem of the rock and roll generation today."
The song has appeared on more than 250 albums and experienced new life when it was part of the soundtrack to the 1973 film American Graffiti. Mr. Somerville was told by American soldiers that while fighting in Vietnam during the 1960s and 70s, they used the catchy lyrics as signals in the jungle.
In all, the Diamonds had 16 Billboard Hits between 1956 and 1961, including a cover of Why Do Fools Fall in Love? and Love, Love, Love. All but one registered in the Top 40, three cracked the Top 10 on the pop charts and four songs made the Top 10 on the R&B charts.
There were three gold records: Little Darlin' (recorded one month after the original version by a group called the Gladiolas), Silhouettes and The Stroll, which became the Diamonds' second million-seller and a hit on American Bandstand that inspired a new dance craze. "When you think of the Diamonds, you've got to think of Dave Somerville," American Bandstand host and TV mainstay Dick Clark once said.
They weren't the only clean-cut fifties doo-wop group to have roots in Canada: The Four Lads and the Crew-Cuts also owed origins to Toronto.
The Diamonds never managed to crack No. 1 in the United States – Paul Anka was the first Canadian to do so with 1959's Lonely Boy – but they came close. Little Darlin' sat at No. 2 "for an agonizing eight weeks," Mr. Somerville lamented to The Winnipeg Free Press a few years ago. "We were kept there, languishing, suffering, by a guy named Elvis Presley."
Mr. Somerville's wife, Denise Biron, sighed at the excruciating fate of Little Darlin'. "It was on the charts for 26 weeks [in 1957] and No. 2 for eight – the same eight weeks that Elvis's All Shook Up was at No. 1. They couldn't seem to bump him. But hey, it was good to be next to the King." It was the third-bestselling record of 1957 and according to Mr. Somerville, the sixth-biggest recording ever by a Canadian act. It was also later covered by Elvis himself.
Mr. Somerville died of cancer on July 14 in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was 81. His last performance was just four months ago at a casino in Iowa. A year ago, he headlined the "Original Stars from American Bandstand" show at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ont.
He was born on Oct. 2, 1933, in Guelph, Ont. to Sadie Jolliffe, the daughter of Methodist missionaries who herself had been born in China, and Jack Somerville, who, among other jobs, sold insurance. Within a few years, the family moved to the nearby farming community of Rockwood, about 85 kilometres outside Toronto, where they lived in a two-room cabin with no electricity or indoor plumbing. Mr. Somerville was 12 when the clan moved to Toronto, where he studied architecture at Central Technical School and soaked in the sounds of the big bands.
In 1952, Phil Levitt and Ted Kowalski, both engineering students; Bill Reed, a telephone installer; and Stan Fisher went to a CBC Radio talent show. There, they met Mr. Somerville, who was working as an "operator" – the guy who put the discs on the turntable and cued up the tone arm. Mr. Somerville was also studying voice at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music and persuaded the quartet to let him become their vocal coach. When Mr. Fisher opted to study for his law exams, Mr. Somerville replaced him. The Diamonds were born, and their first performance was in a Christmas minstrel show in the basement of Toronto's St. Thomas Aquinas Church.
In 1955, the group tied for first place on Arthur Godfrey's New York TV show Talent Scouts, and with help from the influential Cleveland disc jockey Bill Randle were signed to a contract with Mercury Records. At around the same time, they alternated with the Add-Fours as the featured quartet on CBC-TV's The Denny Vaughan Show.
With eight hits under their belts by 1957, the Diamonds joined a now legendary Greyhound Bus tour with other rising stars: Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Mr. Anka, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly and others. For two months, they barnstormed the United States. Multiple appearances on American Bandstand, The Perry Como Show and The Steve Allen Show boosted the group's profile.
But eager to strike out on his own, Mr. Somerville quit the group in 1961. And there were always stories that others were pocketing the group's earnings. "It's my understanding that they never received a royalty payment [while they were active]," his wife bluntly stated on the phone from Los Angeles. "They only got a monthly stipend to pay for expenses. They never saw any accounting." In that, she added, the Diamonds were not alone.
Using the stage name David Troy, he began a six-year solo career as a folk singer, and studied acting with Leonard Nimoy, appearing in an original Star Trek episode. He joined the Four Preps in 1967, singing bass, and later broke away with bandmate Bruce Belland to form a music/comedy duo. They opened for such acts as Glen Campbell and Henry Mancini and were regulars on The Tim Conway Show.
Over the years, Mr. Somerville kept a bruising schedule entertaining at concerts, recording soundtracks, performing voice-overs and writing hundreds of songs. He even recorded a children's album, The Cosmic Adventures of Diamond Dave. More recently, he reunited with Mr. Belland, joined by Jim Yester, formerly of the Association, in a group aptly called Triple Gold.
In 1988, he rejoined the Four Preps and in 2000, the Diamonds reunited to tape Doo Wop 51, a PBS retrospective.
One of the songs he wrote, The Unknown Stuntman, was for a TV special that never aired. One day, he played it for his friend, TV producer Glen Larson, and the tune became the theme song for the 1980s TV show The Fall Guy, which starred Lee Majors. The show's pilot and first few episodes were even filmed at Mr. Somerville's Hollywood home. "I live in The Fall Guy house," his wife said.
As for the Diamonds, "there's something supremely innocent about their kind of sound," the Canadian Music Hall of Fame noted when it inducted the group in 1984. "It takes you back to simpler days, to that idealized vision we all have of the past, when music was sweet and melodic and usually about love (or the lack thereof), and rarely about violence or materialism. … Not to mention their clothes. Those suits! It seems that in the days of the Diamonds (or so we can imagine), everyone was well-dressed, happy and lookin' for love."
Mr. Somerville was inducted into the Doo Wop Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
It was also in 1984 that group members received only the second royalty cheque in their careers up till that point. "Isn't that something?" Mr. Somerville said to The Globe and Mail's Liam Lacey. "They're very big amounts, too, which gives me some idea of what we've lost." He blamed a manager for trademarking the group's name and diverting royalties all those years.
The voice never quit. "He had over a four-octave range," his wife said. "He had the most striking falsetto you'll ever hear, so vibrant and clear and strong. He could hit those notes even better at 81. We ate organically and he exercised every day. And it showed."
But hitting those exquisite tones into his golden years? "It was very easy," he insisted. "After you've sung Little Darlin' the first few thousand times, you no more think about how to do it than you'd think about how to put on your suit jacket."
Elvis was a fan of the Diamonds, Mr. Somerville once pointed out, and Bob Dylan and Carole King cited the group as an influence. "Gratifying," he added, "for four blue-eyed, semi-virgin white guys from Toronto."
Besides his wife, Mr. Somerville leaves a son, David, and grandson, Chilao. He was predeceased by his brother, Mark, a Toronto lawyer.
Editor's Note: The original print version and an earlier digital version of this article incorrectly spelled the name of Mr. Somerville's mother. This digital version has been corrected.
To submit an I Remember: obit@globeandmail.com
Send us a memory of someone we have recently profiled on the Obituaries page. Please include I Remember in the subject field.