Doles Dickens
Show Business
Doles Dickens
Doles Dickens began his recording career in 1940, on bass, with the Eddie South Orchestra. He left them in mid-1943, when he joined The Five Red Caps. He cut a few records with them for Beacon and stayed on with them until 1946, when he went on his own. He waxed for Superdisc, Continental and Gotham in the mid-40’s with his own jazz quartet, featuring Herbie Scott, Reuben Cole and Dickie Thompson, then moved to New York in 1949 to record for Decca. There, in 1949, he recorded “We’re Gonna Rock This Morning,” and covered Wild Bill Moore’s “Rock and Roll,” which Moore had cut the year before. At the same time, he played bass in sessions for Piano Red. He recorded in 1954 as Doles Dickens and the Strangers, and made records at least into the soul years of the mid-60’s, acting as musical director. In 1964 he became a studio session man for the Gotham label, backing up some pop singers.
Chubby’s Café, Camden
Bob Eberly appeared at Chubby’s Café on Mt. Ephraim Avenue and Collings Road on the first two weekends in January of 1950. Also on the bill at Chubby’s on those dates were The Four Blues with Arthur Davey and the house orchestra, and the Frank Virtuoso Band, perhaps better known somewhat later as Frank Virtue and the Virtues.
Over the next six weeks the Frank Virtuoso Band shared the stage with Savannah Churchill, June Christy, Art Lund, Bill Darnel, Dick Todd, Billy Hays, Eve Young, Emilie Longacre, Artie Russell’s New Yorkers, and the Doles Dickens Quintet.
Selected Recordings
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1949 | Find ‘em, Fool ‘em and Forget ‘em |
| 1949 | Rock and Roll |
| 1949 | Choo Choo Bop |
| 1951 | We’re Gonna Rock This Morning |
| 1958 | Piakukaungcung |
| 1958 | Our Melody |
| Woogie | |
| Written by Doles Dickens, Jean Grace, R. Gamble, J. Rice; arranged by Doles Dickens & Jean Grace; performed by The Gay Jays | |
| The Chicken Back Part 1 | |
| The Chicken Back Part 2 | |