Dee Clark

Although Delectus Clark was born in Arkansas, in November of 1938, he was raised in Chicago. Delectus had always enjoyed an inherent love of music, which was fostered by his mother who was a singer of gospel.

As Dee Clark he performed with a succession of groups from 1952 before embarking upon a career as a solo artist, in 1957. In late 1958, Dee recorded “Nobody But You” which, early in that following year, ascended to No.21 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and No.3 on its rhythm and blues chart.

Dee’s three subsequent entries also performed more creditably on the rhythm and blues chart when “Just Keep It Up” reached No.9 and “Hey Little Girl”, No.2, also in 1959, and “How About That”, No.10, in 1960.

However, the best was yet to come! This took the form of the uptempo ballad, “Raindrops”, which became an international hit in 1961.

Dee’s entries to the charts had petered out by 1963, nevertheless, quite out of the blue, he appeared on the British pop chart, in 1975, via the single, “Ride A Wild Horse”, which peaked at No.16.

When Dee was fifty years of age I saw a report on television, which showed him to be virtually penniless and living in a dilapidated motel. Just as sad, was the fact that his health appeared to mirror his pecuniary situation. Two years afterwards, he died from a heart attack, in December of 1990, in Georgia.

Wilbert Harrison

One of thirteen children, Wilbert Harrison was born in January of 1929, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Although he is known best as a singer of rhythm and blues, he was also an accomplished pianist and guitarist.

Wilbert’s career exploded, in 1959, when he took “Kansas City” to No.1 on both Billboard’s pop and rhythm and blues charts. The song had actually been written by the legendary duo of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, in 1952.

Regardless of the fact Wilbert continued to tour and record, it was to be another decade before he would re-enter the charts. This event came in the form of the self-penned single, “Let’s Work Together (Part 1)”, which reached No.32 on Billboard’s Hot 100, in 1969.

“Let’s Work Together” was covered by Canned Heat in 1970 and under the title of “Let’s Stick Together” was to be taken to No.4, in Britain, and No.2, in Australia, by the leader of Roxy Music, Englishman Bryan Ferry, in 1976.

Wilbert Harrison died from a stroke, in October of 1994, at the age of sixty-five.