The Dells recorded for Vee-Jay during a relatively brief portion of their incredibly lengthy career, doing their main hitch with the label in the mid- to late '50s before briefly returning to the company in the mid-'60s. This 17-track compilation puts material from both eras onto one disc, concentrating as expected on their doo wop output from 1955-1959. Of the 17 songs on the disc, 14 come from those years, resulting in just one song, "Oh What a Nite" (which is here of course), that's familiar to most rock fans. That number still outshines its surroundings, but the other cuts from the '50s show the group to be a capable and versatile doo wop group that could not only handle ballads like "Oh What a Nite," but also venture into uptempo tunes and (less satisfyingly) pop standards like "Jeepers Creepers." The three tracks from 1965 include an orchestrated mainstream pop song (
Neal Hefti's "Lil' Darlin'") and, more interestingly, a cover of
Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual" and their original small R&B hit version of "Stay in My Corner," which they'd remake for a Top Ten pop single three years later.
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Richie Unterberger, Rovi