Fact #107513
When:
Short story:
Gary Lewis And The Playboys record the Al Kooper composition This Diamond Ring at Western Studios, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Full article:
Gary Lewis : I was in my first year of theatre arts college in Pasadena, California and I said, "Well, I play drums. I've had a set of drums a long time. Maybe I'll just get 'em out of storage and throw a band together with some of the guys from my classes at school." And that's exactly what I did.
There was Dave Walker, he was rhythm guitar. Dave Costell was lead guitar. Al Ramsey, he was on bass, and John West on Cordovox. It was strapped on like an accordion but it was amplified, you didn't have to squeeze it.
Through Lou Brown, my dad's conductor (his dad was Hollwood comedian Jerry Lewis) we met Liberty producer Snuff Garrett. After the initial introductions were made, and he found out I had a band, he said, "Well, sure I'll give you a listen."
We rehearsed at Paramount Studios, 'cause my dad had an office there, and Snuffy and Leon Russell came down and listened to us. He said, "Yeah, you guys sound pretty good. I have some songs I'd like you to hear. Stop in next week and you can listen to them."
Snuff Garrett (producer) : They weren't very good. They sounded like any other group I've ever heard. But then I got to thinking, if I could do a record with Gary and get Jerry to help me promote it, it might do well.
Gary Lewis : I thought Snuffy was great. I never had one beef about him. Very early on, he said, "Now, we might have arguments and stuff like that, but you've just got to believe that I know what I'm talking about". And he was right every time, every record.
There was a story circulating for a long time that This Diamond Ring was offered to Bobby Vee first, and he turned it down because he didn't like it. That was supposedly the reason I got it. So I asked Bobby and he said, "No." He'd never even heard of it before it came out.
The original Playboys that I put together in 1964 were the guys that did all the tracks to the first seven hits. We played on all the basic tracks but then the overdubbing was done by studio people. Actually, they let the Playboys feel like they were really a part of it, but in the final mixdown, they kind of buried them.
Snuff Garrett : Gary wasn't a very good singer. I used to mix him with other singers. When I got through mixing him, he sounded like Mario Lanza.
Gary Lewis : The Playboys didn't sing any of the background vocals. I was the only one of them that did any singing. Then Snuff brought in these studio people.I didn't even know they were called the Eligibles. To me they were just Ron Hicklin, Al Capps and Stan Farber. Ron Hicklin was with me every time I would do some kind of vocal. Those guys did it all. I doubled my voice on everything and tripled, many, many times.
?Carol Kaye (session bassist) : The Gary Lewis dates were always cut at Western, Studio 1, and we knew this was going to be a big hit the minute we played it. Hal Blaine on drums
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There was Dave Walker, he was rhythm guitar. Dave Costell was lead guitar. Al Ramsey, he was on bass, and John West on Cordovox. It was strapped on like an accordion but it was amplified, you didn't have to squeeze it.
Through Lou Brown, my dad's conductor (his dad was Hollwood comedian Jerry Lewis) we met Liberty producer Snuff Garrett. After the initial introductions were made, and he found out I had a band, he said, "Well, sure I'll give you a listen."
We rehearsed at Paramount Studios, 'cause my dad had an office there, and Snuffy and Leon Russell came down and listened to us. He said, "Yeah, you guys sound pretty good. I have some songs I'd like you to hear. Stop in next week and you can listen to them."
Snuff Garrett (producer) : They weren't very good. They sounded like any other group I've ever heard. But then I got to thinking, if I could do a record with Gary and get Jerry to help me promote it, it might do well.
Gary Lewis : I thought Snuffy was great. I never had one beef about him. Very early on, he said, "Now, we might have arguments and stuff like that, but you've just got to believe that I know what I'm talking about". And he was right every time, every record.
There was a story circulating for a long time that This Diamond Ring was offered to Bobby Vee first, and he turned it down because he didn't like it. That was supposedly the reason I got it. So I asked Bobby and he said, "No." He'd never even heard of it before it came out.
The original Playboys that I put together in 1964 were the guys that did all the tracks to the first seven hits. We played on all the basic tracks but then the overdubbing was done by studio people. Actually, they let the Playboys feel like they were really a part of it, but in the final mixdown, they kind of buried them.
Snuff Garrett : Gary wasn't a very good singer. I used to mix him with other singers. When I got through mixing him, he sounded like Mario Lanza.
Gary Lewis : The Playboys didn't sing any of the background vocals. I was the only one of them that did any singing. Then Snuff brought in these studio people.I didn't even know they were called the Eligibles. To me they were just Ron Hicklin, Al Capps and Stan Farber. Ron Hicklin was with me every time I would do some kind of vocal. Those guys did it all. I doubled my voice on everything and tripled, many, many times.
?Carol Kaye (session bassist) : The Gary Lewis dates were always cut at Western, Studio 1, and we knew this was going to be a big hit the minute we played it. Hal Blaine on drums