America’s Little Darlins The Diamonds - The quartet from Canada, who became one of the most popular groups in the 1950s. Members shown in picture -  Ted Kowalski - Tenor. Dave  Somerville - Lead.  Phil Levitt - Baritone. Bill Reed - Bass.  In 1953 Phil Levitt and his friend Stan Fisher started harmonizing while on vacation at Crystal Beach near Toronto,  Canada.  That fall both Phil and Stan entered the University of Toronto.  Phil to study electrical engineering, and  Stan to study law. One day Phil and Ted, who had just met, were out on campus on a surveying class. While Ted  was looking through his telescope a young co-ed walked through the field of view. Ted yelped "Wow!" in a high  voice, and Phil jokingly said he sounded like a tenor. Ted said he was, and Phil suggested that they get together  with Stan as a trio. They did, and liked the sound, and a short time later, Ted mentioned that he had a buddy who  sang bass. He proposed that he join the group, and they formed a quartet. The buddy's name was Bill Reed." Over the next few months they worked up a few songs and sang them wherever they could. Ted had suggested  they call themselves the Four Diamonds. (More on the Name)  With a small repertoire of songs they decided to  enter a local talent show called "Pick The Stars". (Mouse here F/Eye Witness Account) The show was produced at  the Canadian Broadcasting Company, where a young engineer named Dave Somerville was working.  Before they  were to go on, they were practicing in the hall way when they met Dave by chance when he stopped to listen to  them.  He told them that he was knowledgeable in music and that he worked at C.B.C and could get them into  studios to rehearse, and he offered to work with them. They accepted. With every possible moment not taken up by jobs or school, they began to rehearse. They met Bill’s dad, who had  sung on radio with a locally well known barbershop group, The Garden City Four. He taught them barbershop  technique and a few tunes, extending their repertoire. One day Bill Reed mentioned that a black vocal group called  The Revelaires, out of Detroit, was performing at a small downtown hotel, and the Diamonds went to catch their  show. They sang spirituals and gospel songs, and the guys were absolutely blown away. Star-struck, the Diamonds  approached them after the set, introduced themselves, told them how fantastic they thought they were and begged  them to teach them some of their music. The Revelaires took a liking to their new admirers and took them under  their wing. The Diamonds got together whenever The Revelaires came into town. They did their best to un-square  the Diamonds....to make them cool. They taught them a few spirituals and gospel songs from their sizeable  repertoire. Because of their influence there was a significant transformation in the Diamonds style and abilities. The  Diamonds had started their career on the songs of the Four Lads, Mills Brothers, Ames Brothers and Crew Cuts but  the major influence on their singing was that of the Revelaires. In the spring of 1954 Ted and Phil finished their first year of college and  decided  not to go back to school in the fall. Now there was lots of time for rehearsals. Around this time the Diamonds realized they needed a real manager.  Dave got an audition with a local C.B.C radio and TV celebrity who introduced them to Nat Goodman, a professional classical musician who was interested in finding an act to manage. He liked the Diamonds and became their  manager. Now things started to move as Goodman got them some professionally prepared arrangements. At this  point, Goodman insisted Dave and Bill quit their jobs so the group could get really serious about rehearsing. In the summer of 1955 Nat arranged for the Diamonds to sing for food and board at a resort in Greenwood Lake,  about an hour’s drive from New York City. He got them on the Arthur Godfrey talent show and they tied for a win  with a female classical pianist, resulting in a week on his morning talk/variety show.   As a result of the Godfrey appearance Nat Goodman was able to get them a recording contract with Coral Records.  They made two records for Coral in New York, one side being "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots", which  they learned from sheet music. The Diamonds' version of the song didn’t do much, selling a few thousand copies,  mainly in Toronto, resulting in a bit of fame locally. As a result of this disappointing experience their manager got  serious about learning the inner workings of show business. He found that there was a disc jockey, Bill Randle,  broadcasting at station WERE out of Cleveland, who apparently was responsible for the discovery of some very  successful talent, including The Crew Cuts. When the Diamonds went to Cleveland to play The Alpine Village night  club, Nat Goodman managed to get them an audition with Mr. Randle.   After the audition, Mr. Randle recommended the Diamonds to Mercury Records.  Mercury liked the group and, upon hearing their spirituals they decided to slate them for rock ‘n roll. Shortly after this the Diamonds signed a contract  and began to record in Chicago. The Diamonds first record was, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", a cover of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. Shortly  after the session Mercury sent them on the road in a Chevy Impala sedan (perhaps a Ford or Mercury would have  been more appropriate) to promote the song. They rushed from city to city, town to town, mostly throughout the  eastern and Midwestern U.S.A., doing nothing but visiting disc jockeys in a tour which lasted 5 or 6 weeks. The  record did well, ultimately charting in the top 20, according to the national magazine Billboard, and the group  was  very excited. They did a number of other recordings in Chicago, all under the direction of Mercury’s David Carroll,  a.k.a. Nook Schreier, who they greatly admired, and these did well, all hitting the charts. They were "Church Bells  May Ring/Little Girl of Mine", "Love Love Love/Every Night About This Time", and "Ka-Ding Dong/Soft Summer  Breeze". Then someone at Mercury decided to have them record a couple of songs in New York. These were  originals; "My Judge and My Jury" and "Put Your House in Order". The Diamonds were not exactly thrilled with the  songs; also, the writers were white, and one of the songs was a "spiritual"!! However they really didn’t have much  voice in these decisions so, reluctantly and rather embarrassed, they did the recordings. They were not surprised  when they did poorly, and in fact privately felt vindicated. Through the success of the recordings the Diamonds became a reasonably established act and toured the U.S. and Canada appearing in night clubs and on radio and television. However this success, while satisfying and fairly  substantial, was limited, and they began to look for the big one which would make "The Diamonds" a household  name. In 1956, back at their beloved Chicago Mercury studios, they were played a demo record of a ballad with a  Hawaiian flavor called "Faithful and True". The Diamonds really liked it and persuaded Mercury to let them record it.  Mercury agreed, and told them that the flip side would be a cover of a song called "Little Darlin’" by The Gladiolas,  led by Maurice Williams who had written it. The group spent a lot of time and effort working up "Faithful and True",  then whipped up a version of "Little Darlin’", complete with an Ink Spots-like spoken bass solo. That evening they  recorded both songs in a long, late session. The Diamonds tried to concentrate on "Faithful", while David Carroll  kept them working on "Darlin’" until they had a pretty creditable version, which included what must have been a first,  a Latin rhythm cowbell (David Carroll’s brainchild). The Diamonds were excited as they were sure they had a real winner with "Faithful". They went back on the road  and kept an anxious eye on the charts, but were surprised when "Little Darlin’" started to chart very quickly, while  "Faithful and True" was well behind. "Just wait!", they said. "Little Darlin’", of course, wound up as the big winner,  reaching #2 nationally. In fact it was on the verge of hitting #1 when Elvis Presley’s "All Shook Up" overtook it for the  top spot. Earning them a gold record "Little Darlin’" led to further and better TV and nightclub appearances and to  many increasingly popular one-nighters. It secured a solid niche for the Diamonds in the archives of rock ‘n roll -  they had made it. In the spring of 1957, Phil had grown weary of being on the road and longed to return to University to complete his  engineering studies. Mike Douglas took over the baritone position.  In July, 1957, Phil went back to Toronto and that fall  entered second year engineering. Bill and Ted left the group in the latter part of 1958, being replaced by John Felten - bass, and Evan Fisher - tenor.  The Diamonds at this point were Dave Somerville, Mike Douglas, Evan Fisher, and John Felten. They went on to  record 26 more songs for Mercury Records - two of them gold - charting another 6 songs on Billboard, making a  total of 16 charters for Mercury.  Dave Somerville left in 1961 and was replaced by Jim Malone. Bill went into record  promotion and apparently never sang with another group, although he had many offers.  Ted returned to University  of Toronto to finish his studies in electrical engineering. He also sang with several groups over the years. Dave has  always been involved singing solo, groups, and acting, and as of this writing, he still is. In 1984 the Diamonds were awarded a Canadian Juno "Hall of Fame" award by the Canadian Academy of  Recording Arts and Sciences. The Diamonds received national attention once again in 2000, when the original four were invited to sing in T. J.  Lubinsky’s Public Broadcasting Service production of “Do-Wop 51”, and again in another PBS production of “Magic  Moments-The Best Of '50s Pop” in 2004. That was the last performance with the original four. In June 2004, the Diamonds went to Hawaii to perform.  Bill was ill and wasn't able to make the trip. Trying to  recover fully from an aneurysm operation, he had also developed cancer and passed away on Oct. 22, 2004.  The  Diamonds lost a good friend, and the world lost a truly fine singer. In October, 2004, they were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in Sharon, Pennsylvania. In 2006 they were inducted into The Doo-Wop Hall of Fame. Dave Somerville is a descendant of Charlemagne. In the year 1100, another relative, Gualter Somerville, is credited as killing the last dragon in Scotland. Phil Levitt’s last name is commonly misspelled as “Leavitt” Bill Reed was chased by a bear on the Paul Winchell Show. Bill Reed may have been the earliest verified performer of the "air guitar". This was in 1957 and was recorded from a live TV show and can be viewed on the YouTube page. The Diamonds thought the song “Faithful & True”, the flip side of Little Darlin’, would be the hit. Actor/dancer Gene Kelly gave Ted Kowalski the idea to put the handkerchief  on his head during the performance of Little Darlin’. The Diamonds credit a black gospel group, The Revelaires, out of Detroit, as the major influence on their singing. Dave Somerville sang the bass part on Little Darlin' during Bill Reed's recitation. The Diamonds sang "Little Darlin" & "Where Mary Go" in the 1958 movie, "The Big Beat". The Diamonds sang the theme song for two films, "Kathy O"  in  1958 and "The Horizontal Lieutenant" in 1962. The "original" Diamonds do not own their name. Legally it belongs to the present group that still performs.  Fortunately, they are allowed to use it a few times each year.