45 RPM Discography - (1960-1963)

Releases in 1960

Tell the Truth / Real True Love

"Tell the Truth" was a quality rocker written by Clyde Otis. Another of The Diamonds' excellent non hit records."Real True Love" (again written by Otis) is a medium tempo love ballad featuring some catchy guitar licks. Such a shame these worthy sides were not hits.

Passion Flower/San Antonio Rose

This disc was released in Australia only. "Passion Flower" was covered by Sydney (Australia) based group The Delltones, who modelled themselves after The Diamonds.

The Pencil Song/Slave Girl

"The Pencil song" was a modern arrangement of the French folk song "Au Clare de la lune", whilst "Slave Girl" represents the folk music trend that was emerging at the time. "Slave Girl" is worth a listen as it features individual solos by each of The Diamonds.

You'd Be Mine/The Crumble

"You'd be Mine" is reminiscent of "Little Darlin'" (with an added middle eight bridge and string section). "The Crumble" is a dance song ("this beat makes a Lindy Hop feel like a waltz!") with a great rhythm and good guitar figures.

Releases in 1961

I Sho' Lawd Will / You Short Changed Me

Both sides of this record were written by Clyde Otis and bluesman Willie Dixon. The disc received limited airplay/distribution.

The Munch/Woomai-Ling

"The Munch" is a great light hearted novelty about a friend who "eats everything in sight" (Bass singer John Felten shines on this one). Woomai-Ling is an early Bill Medley composition much in the style of "She Say (oom dooby doom)"

One Summer Night/It's a Doggone Shame

"One Summer Night" was a revival of a previous Mercury hit (1957) by "The Danleers". The Diamonds gave the song a new coat of paint and put it back in the top thirty in 1961. "Its a Doggone Shame" was written by Sugar Hall and sounds very much like the kind of thing that "The Coasters" would have done. The tenor sax break in this relentless rocker is classic rock and roll. This was the final record release that Dave Somerville can be heard singing lead. the tenor sax solo was performed by Plas Johnson.

Releases in 1962

Horizontal Lieutenant/Vanishing American

Canadian Jim Malone replaced Dave Somerville in 1962. The group was enlisted to sing the theme song to the movie "The Horizontal Lieutenant". On the flip side was another movie tune - "The Vanishing American" - an ode to the gradual disappearance of the American Indian. These sides were the only Mercury releases featuring lead singer Jim Malone. (Although "Sorry - I ran all the way home" and a few others still continue to stagnate in the Mercury Records vaults). The release of this record brought the seven year association of The Diamonds and Mercury Records to a close.

Releases in 1963

The Slide/ Melody of Love

After The Diamonds left mercury, they released a single and an album on the "Nathanial" label (Owned by their (then) manger, Nat Goodman). "The Slide" was an uptempo take-off of a square dance, while "Melody of Love" was a return to the smooth, four part harmony singing that The Diamonds did so well. The record was not distributed widely (if at all) and didn't register as a hit.

Further releases

There were no further single releases by The Diamonds until 1979 when Gusto/King records had some of the original members (including Dave Somerville) record a stereo version of "Little Darlin'" and "The Stroll". In the years that followed there have been several re-recordings of Little Darlin'", "The Stroll", "Why do Fools Fall in Love" and others.

There was an album released in 1970 (see albums section of discography) with last remaining "Mercury" diamond Mike Douglas leading the group. By this stage, The group had changed from vocal quartet to a vocal/instrumental outfit, and the songs and singing style had understandably changed with the times.