POP MUSIC REVIEW : Original Dells Reprise ‘50s Sound

Sporting purple jackets with purple sequinned collars over white shirts, slacks ‘n’ shoes, the five all-original members of the Dells walked out of the Wiltern Theatre wings Thursday and right into their minor 1969 hit version of Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay.”

Backed by a 14-piece band, the Chi-town quintet powered through a 50-minute set of (mostly) its biggest rococo-soul hits from a recording career that began back in ’56 with its first version of “Oh, What a Night” (a bigger record when the Dells remade it in 1969). “Stay in My Corner,” “Always Together” and the group’s last major chart buster, 1973’s “Give Your Baby a Standing Ovation”--all performed pretty much the way you remember ‘em.

In fact, the biggest drawback of the evening was that Marvin Junior, Vern Allison, Chuck Barksdale, Johnny Carter and Mike McGill didn’t stretch out with an a-cappella segment that would have spotlighted just how well they can still collectively and individually sing. After all, five-part male vocal harmony is heard about as often these days as footage of live dinosaurs is seen on the evening news.

Opening the show was the veteran Philadelphia falsetto-soul trio the Delfonics, led by original member William Hart, who co-wrote with producer Thom Bell such indelible melodies/ monster hits as “La-La Means I Love You” and “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time).”

Once and current Delfonics member Major Harris, whose 1975 solo hit “Love Won’t Let Me Wait” has recently been rerecorded by Luther Vandross, gave the two-thirds capacity crowd a taste of the original anguished version. Unfortunately, a nagging vocal hoarseness kept him from taking the tune any further than the church steps.

Ah, well, maybe tonight, when this sweet ‘n’ symphonic soul extravaganza takes it to the stage at the Celebrity Theatre in Anaheim. . . .