Marvin Junior, 2002
Photo by John Watkins
Marvin Junior, a founding member of the Dells, was born 85 years ago today.
Junior sang baritone for the Dells for a half a century. The Chicago-based doo-wop and rhythm-and-blues group was formed when he and most of its other members were in high school in the early 1950s.
“Iron Throat” is what David Ruffin, the former lead singer of the Temptations, once called Junior. “Two tons of fun” is what he called himself. He grew up hoping to be the next Ray Charles and eventually inspired other singers, including Teddy Pendergrass.
Junior’s voice was huge and versatile — it often reached into tenor territory — and it held up through more than two dozen albums and 57 years of performing. Unlike some other acts of their era, the Dells had no angry breakups and few personnel changes.
“They grew up together and they never let the industry separate them,” Junior’s son said of the group. “They didn’t let anybody separate them.”
Junior wrote the Dells’ first hit, “Oh What a Nite,” with the group’s Johnny Funches. Originally released in 1956, it was rerecorded with a new arrangement in 1969 and released as “Oh, What a Night.”
Many more hits would follow, including “Stay in My Corner,” which was originally released in 1965 and also rerecorded and released again in 1969. The reworked versions of both songs went to #1 on the Billboard R&B chart and reached the Top 10 on the pop chart.
The Dells consisted of five members: a trio of harmony singers (Verne Allison, Mickey McGill and Chuck Barksdale for a vast majority of the group’s existence) and the baritone-falsetto counterpoint of Junior and Johnny Carter, a former member of the Flamingos, who replaced Funches in 1960.
Junior died of kidney and heart problems on May 29, 2013.