I first heard of the Dells when I bought their Greatest Hits album back in the 60s on the off-chance, as I liked soul music. The effect was shattering in more ways than one! After a few plays the LP showed noticeable distortion and groove jumping so I returned it to Pye (who issued the great Chess catalogue in the UK).They sent a replacement but said the record wasn't faulty - it was my record player. So the old Dansette went in the bin and I bought a budget Hi-Fi set-up.
Now the reason for this story is that it tells you a lot about the Dells - searing emotional music which would tax any stylus.
Imagine a doo-wop group, say the Drifters, with a deep-soul lead tenor, say Garnett Mimms or Chuck Jackson, with a psych production, say Jefferson Airplane!
This CD has my favourite tracks by the group, including their one UK hit - Love Is Blue/I can sing A Rainbow, which post-dated the LP I referred to but is on here. There is one surprising and important omission though: Stay in My Corner. But it does include my favourite by the group and one of my all-time favourite records: A Little Understanding - pure soul at its best.
This might be love-it-or-hate-it music but if you like the taste of it from this review, or if you recall Love is Blue and liked that, give it a try.
To finish where I started though, the music seems to have taxed even the CD format as there is slight distortion on one or two of the tracks but fortunately only at the end where it doesn't matter so don't let that put you off!