- Dick and Dee Dee
-
Dick and Dee Dee 
Dick and Dee Dee publicity photo, mid 1960sBackground information Origin United States Genres Pop, R&B Occupations singing duo Years active 1960–1969 Labels Warner Bros. Records, Liberty Records, Dot Records Website www.DickandDeeDee.com Members Dick St. John
Dee Dee SperlingDick and Dee Dee is an American singer-songwriter duo that reached popularity in the early to mid-1960s. The group was originally founded by California classmates Mary Sperling and Richard Gosting. They eventually changed their names to Dee Dee Sperling (currently Dee Dee Phelps) and Dick St. John. They had their first hit in 1961 when "The Mountain's High" reached #2 on the Billboard 100.[1] They toured with The Beach Boys and opened for the Rolling Stones during the Stones' 1964 tour of California.[2] Regulars on the show Shindig!, the duo had multiple hit songs before St. John and Sperling disbanded in 1969.[3] In the 1980s, St. John toured with his wife, Sandy.[4] Dick St. John died on December 27, 2003.[3] In 2007, Dee Dee Phelps released her memoir, Vinyl Highway, Singing as Dick and Dee Dee in the Sixties. She began performing with actor/singer Michael Dunn as Dick and Dee Dee in 2008, appearing in large doo wop and rock and roll shows throughout the United States.[5]
Contents
History
Founding
Dick St. John and Dee Dee Sperling met while students at Paul Revere Junior High School in Los Angeles, California. They attended different high schools, only to re-encounter one another after graduation. At the time Sperling was attending college and working at a See's Candy store, and St. John was looking for a job.[6] Both realized they were singer-songwriters, and together they began writing songs and singing the vocal parts. The duo were not romantically linked.[7]
The Mountain's High
The first Dick and Dee Dee 45 RPM release ("I Want Someone" backed by "The Mountain's High,") was on Lama Records, a small company started by their record producers, the Wilder brothers and Don Ralke. Their recordings were created with four voice tracks. Each of them sang two separate harmony lines. St. John sang the highest and lowest parts including the falsetto, and Dee Dee sang in the middle notes. Without telling the duo, the record producers changed Mary's name to Dee Dee, something they did not discover until after the record was released.[1][7]
The rock and roll song "The Mountain's High" became a smash hit in San Francisco.[5] The single was leased to Liberty Records for national distribution[1][4] and spent two weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1] The track reached #37 in the UK Singles Chart,[1][2][3] and eventually sold over a million copies.[7] Sperling left college to perform with St. John on rock and roll tours in America, Europe, and Japan.[5]
Touring with the Beach Boys, Rolling Stones
In the United States early on in their career, Dick and Dee Dee performed at California high school assemblies with the upcoming surf band, The Beach Boys. They eventually sang in 49 of the 50 United States, with acts like Roy Orbison, The Righteous Brothers, Ike and Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, The Shirelles, The Dick Clark Caravan of Stars, Murray the K’s Brooklyn Paramount Theatre review, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Kingsmen, Patti La Belle, The Crystals, The Drifters, Ben E. King, Jan and Dean, the Miracles, The Dovells, Johnny Tillotson, Jackie Wilson, Sonny and Cher and numerous other singers.
Dick and Dee Dee were the opening act for the Rolling Stones when the band came to California for their first tour in 1964. The duo recorded their voices on three Rolling Stones tracks while visiting London in in 1964, including "Blue Turns to Grey," and "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind," penned by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. In an interview with BBC Radio, recorded in 2006, Dee Dee Phelps revealed that their singing was overdubbed onto backing tracks recorded by the Rolling Stones with Mick Jagger's vocals removed.[2] The songs were officially sanctioned, largely at the behest of Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Oldham and released on Warner Bros. Records.[4][7]
Later singles
The duo had eight other singles chart with a total of five reaching the Top 30. Their other hits included "Tell Me" (1962), "Young and in Love" (1963), "Turn Around" in 1964 (co-written with Harry Belafonte), and "Thou Shalt Not Steal" (their second-biggest hit, reaching #13 in 1965, which included a special picture sleeve issue promoting Triumph Motorcycles). After their last hit "Thou Shalt Not Steal,"[5] they remained regulars on Jack Good's television show Shindig![4]
Disbanding, revivals
In 1965, Dee Dee married the duo's manager (later executive television producer for Dick Clark Productions), Bill Lee, and had one son.[4] In 1969, St. John and Sperling parted ways. Dick St. John continued as a songwriter, co-writing "Yellow Balloon" for the group of the same name.[5][7] After her divorce in the early seventies, Dee Dee married Kane Phelps and moved to Big Sur for the remainder of that decade. They raised two other children, moving back to the Los Angeles area in the 1980s, and are still married today.[8]
In the 1980s Dick revived the Dick and Dee Dee act with his wife, Sandy. The two of them also authored a cookbook in 1993, The Rock and Roll Cookbook, which featured recipes of various rock and roll artists. St. John died in 2003 after a fall from the roof of his house.[4]
Dick and Dee Dee today
Michael Dunn and Dee Dee Phelps performing in 2011
In 2006, Dee Dee Phelps published Vinyl Highway, Singing as Dick and Dee Dee in the Sixties,[9][10] and in 2008 she teamed with actor/singer Michael Dunn to again revive the classic Dick and Dee Dee songs on stage.[5][6]
Dunn was trained at New York’s Juilliard School, where he studied side by side with such future stars as Kevin Spacey and Val Kilmer. Dunn had a lengthy, award-winning theatrical career in his native Chicago. He is also an experienced lyricist, partnering with producer/composer Jim Price (who produced “You Are So Beautiful” for Joe Cocker) for several years in Nashville. He sang the John Lennon lead vocals on Castellaneta’s Beatles tribute album, Tulips, in 1998. For over a decade he has performed a one-man show as Charles Dickens for Los Angeles audiences.
Discography
Singles
Highest Billboard Positions for Dick and Dee Dee Release Title Chart Rank 1961 "The Mountain's High" Pop Singles 2 1962 "Tell Me" Pop Singles 22 1963 "Young and In Love" Adult Contemporary 6 Pop Singles 17 1963 "Where Did All The Good Times Go" Pop Singles 93 1964 "Turn Around" Pop Singles 27 1964 "All My Trials" Pop Singles 89 1965 "Thou Shalt Not Steal" Pop Singles 13 1965 "Be My Baby" Pop Singles 87 TV, Film performances
- Television
- American Bandstand
- Where the Action Is
- Shindig!
- Ready, Steady, Go (UK)
- Motion Picture
- Wild Wild Winter (1966) - sang "Heartbeats", their only film appearance
References
- ^ a b c d e Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 134. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ a b c Leigh, Spencer. "Dee Dee Interview". BBC Radio. http://www.dickanddeedee.com/audio/. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ a b c Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 154. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ a b c d e f Leigh, Spencer. "Dick St. John (1940-2003)". Spectropop. http://www.spectropop.com/remembers/DSJobit.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ a b c d e f James, Gary. "Gary James' Interview With Dee Dee Sperling of "Dick and Dee Dee"". Classic Bands. http://www.classicbands.com/DickAndDeeDeeInterview.html. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ a b Aushenker, Michael (June 11, 2008). "New 'Mountain': Dick and Dee Dee Return!". Palisadian Post. http://www.palisadespost.com/content/index.cfm?Story_ID=3998. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ a b c d e James, Gary (2008). "Dick St. John Interview ("Dick and Dee Dee")". FamousInterview.ca. http://www.famousinterview.ca/interviews/dick_st_john.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ "Show Stars: Dee Dee Phelps". Chuck Stevens Oldies. http://chuckstevensoldies.com/rock_n_roll_revival_004.htm#B. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ Waxler, Jerry. "Memoir Interview with 1960s Celebrity Dee Dee Phelps". Memory Writers Network. http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-interview-with-60s-celebrity-dee-dee-phelps/. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ Phelps, Dee Dee (2007). Vinyl Highway: Singing as "Dick and Dee Dee" (1st ed.). Los Angeles: Altergate Publishing. p. 335. ISBN 1934321753.
Further reading
External links
- Media
- Dick and Dee Dee on Pandora
- Dick and Dee Dee on YouTube
- Dick and Dee Dee on Last.fm
- Dick and Dee Dee on Rhapsody Music
- Merchants
- Dick and Dee Dee on Amazon.com
- Dick and Dee Dee on iTunes
- Dick and Dee Dee on CD Universe
Categories:- Musical duos
- Musical groups established in 1960
- Musical groups disestablished in 1969
- Liberty Records artists
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
