Chuck Barksdale (Dells) R.I.P.

The Dells live in DC back in the day … end of December 1967 ...

I was one of the lucky fans who got to see them perform @ Trentham Gardens a few years back; a magical night.

Sad news, those of us who saw the Dells live at Trentham Gardens will never forget that night I"m sure. He came across as a really lovely guy on the Richard Searling show with a genuine love of music. Was lucky enough to catch their show stateside once as well. Heres one which features Mr Barksdale prominently. Thank you for the music.

Cheers Paul

RIP Chuck, massive part of arguably the greatest Soul Group ever, I treasure every album I have by them 

Kev 

Another very sad loss RIP Chuck

I got this in a early 70's soul pack from blues and soul ,fell in love instantly wow what a group

Lucky to catch their show at Trentham gardens WOW what a show!!

RIP Chuck

To me the Dells were the ultimate showmen - I did not realise untill I saw them at Trentham Gardens how utterly polished there were. Every step identical absolute icons of soul music to see live you could of killed me that night and my life would of been complete. When there did this record below I was in tears it was just beyond belief and still resonates with me now. I thought to myself there is the soul movement in Britain with all its history of venues,mad prices of records,a scene etc then there are bands like the Dells who just stand above it all and shine and bring you to your knees and give you that real taste of Black American Soul Music and their were the masters of it.

RIP Chuck 

Trentham Gardens.  Dells in concert one of the greatest nights in UK soul music history.  It was a privilege to be there.  Thanks Chuck for your contribution to the sound track of my life now sleep well and rest in peace 

Steve 

14 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Trentham Gardens.  Dells in concert one of the greatest nights in UK soul music history.  It was a privilege to be there.  Thanks Chuck for your contribution to the sound track of my life now sleep well and rest in peace 

Steve 

Yes, it was an incredible night, i remember almost having to pinch myself to make sure it was really happening as one of the real Soul super groups had everyone in the crowd totally captivated by their masterful performance. The day after I had the pleasure of meeting Chuck, what a lovely man and one who really appreciated the support and love that were shown to them at Trentham Gardens. God bless big man, RIP

 l agree wholeheartedly with Kev Cane. RIP Mr Barksdale. Absolutely legendary group expansive nearly 70 years? so many styles of soul music,such quality vocalists. Freedom Means The Mighty Mighty Dells RIP Sir.

Sad to hear about this- the Dells had hits in the 50's, 60's, 70's and 

80's and kept recording long after that. I can still hear those 60's 

dj's introducing their records- "The pride and joy of Harvey, Illinois,

the mighty, mighty Dells - 

One of the greatest Soul groups of all time - i'll be catching up on the footage from Trentham Gardens as I was lucky to be in the front row.

RIP Chuck

  The NORTHERN scene was invented to play THERE IS.   RIP chuck 🎶

RIP Chuck

This is an absolute classic recorded live at the peak of their powers

https://youtu.be/iX3cOtmyyOc

Sad news RIP.

This track seems to have become a must play item, and I never tire of it.

Ed

He was a producer as well and kicked out some pure class (well with Terry Callier using his pen what do we expect)

RIP Chuck

They just kept on & on making great music … one from the 90's …

Sad news to hear about Chuck Barksdale. Great Soul Man!

My favourites by the Dells are

"Thinking About You"

"Run For Cover" 

"Make Sure"

this 45 may not have surfaced if it wasn't for Chuck Barksdale. He got Calvin Carter to sign them- (god bless Boba for his interviews.)

The Dontells.

RIP Chuck Barsdale! :-(… we're lovers of a musical genre on wich, sadly, practically all our heroes from the great soul period (60's and 70's) are now aged around 80 or 90 years old...

Here's a big uptempo from one of the 2 albums Norman Harris produced for them (later covered by The Trammps on their 1979 album "The Whole World's Dancing"). Curiously, in my case I have been a big fan of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes and The Dells (one of the albums I never have stopped to hear is "The Dells Vs. The Dramatics" since the late 70's to today!!)… and much later I noticed Gamble & Huff were been reaching for sign The Dells firsty for their Neptune label and later for PIR and the first Blue Notes hits they wrote were really conceived for The Dells and thinking in Marvin Junior exceptional baritone! (In fact they finally signed The Dells in 1991 for their 40th anniversary album "I Salute You" on PIR / Zoo label that I purchased but deceived me for the sound so "inorganic", not the voices, the instrumental part, except some tune don't remember the title produced by Bunny Sigler)

Very sad news;Chuck was not only a Soul great but his work with The Dells in the 50's made him a legend of Doo Wop, too- a fine bass voice of R&B Group Harmony.

A sometimes overlooked aspect of The Dells story is their work as-often uncredited- backing vocalists,most famously on Barbara Lewis' lovely classic 'Hello Stranger'

sad news remember them at stoke allnighter awesome R I P cheers mark

R.I.P. thank you for the music and the magic

RIP. Sad news. Another of the greats gone.

Couple of awesome covers from the fellas. Love these: