Dion & The Timberlanes (Bronx, New York)


Personnel :

Dion DiMucci (Lead)


Discography :

Dion & The Timberlanes
1957 - The Chosen Few / Out In Colorado (Mohawk 105 / Jubilee 5294)
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Other Timberlanes' Recording

Rosanne June & The Timberlanes
1956 - Unselfish Love / When A Woman Cries (Caprice 053)
1956 - I've Done My Livin' For Today / Don't Make Me A Promise (Rosanne June)(Caprice 058)

The Timberlanes
1956 - Music Box Lullabye / Sweet Dreams Sweetheart (Dragon 101)
1956 - You Better Get With It / Wedding Bells (But Not For Me) (Dragon 102)
1956 - Sweet Kentucky Rose / The Bamboo Tree  (Dragon 103)
1956 - Home Is Where The Heart Is / No More Love  (Dragon 104)
1958 - You Can't Put A Fence Around The Sun / Lend A Helping Hand (Dragon 107)

Joyce Heath & The Timberlanes
1959 - Promise Me Sweetheart /(The Legend Of) The Great Philadelphia Lawyer (RCA 7536)

Joyce Heath bb The Timberlanes
1958 - You're Mine All Mine / I Only Dreamed It (Dragon 106)
1961 - A Letter To A Disc Jockey / Our First Kiss (Dragon 412)
1961 - I Wouldn't Dream Of It / I Can't Say The Same About You  (Dragon 415)

Biography :

Dion Francis Di Mucci was born to an Italian-American family in the Bronx, New York. As a child, he accompanied his father, Pasquale DiMucci, a vaudeville entertainer, on tour, and developed a love of country music – particularly the work of Hank Williams. He also developed a fondness for the blues and doo-wop musicians he heard performing in local bars and on the radio. His singing was honed on the street corners and local clubs of the Bronx, where he and other neighborhood singers created a cappella riffs.

In early 1957, he auditioned for Bob and Gene Schwartz, who had just formed Mohawk Records. They recorded Dion singing lead on a song which had been arranged by Hugo Montenegro and pre-recorded with everything but the lead vocals. The backing vocals were by a group called "The Timberlanes", whom Dion had never met.The resulting single, "The Chosen Few", was released under the name, Dion and the Timberlanes, and became a minor regional hit.

  

 Writing about this experience later, in his autobiography, The Wanderer, Dion said that he had never met the Timberlanes and didn't even know who they were. "The vocal group was so white bread, I went back to my neighborhood and I recruited a bunch of guys --three guys-- and we called ourselves Dion and the Belmonts." The Timberlanes were involved with other Artists as well as Dion. They were the premier Artists on the Dragon label, having at least 5 releases for the label on their own.

1957 - Dion & the Belmonts

They also backed up other Artists,  most notably Joyce Heath (another Dragon alumni). There's a "Val  Gagliano" common to some releases (Joyce's husband).  Heath recorded a  song on RCA backed with the Timberlanes in 1959 called "Promise Me, Sweetheart" that was a note-for-note remake of "The Chosen Few", though at a (slightly) faster pace. The song could be taken as an answer record.



Songs :

Dion & The Timberlanes

  
The Chosen Few                                Out In Colorado


Joyce Heath & The Timberlanes

  
The Great Philadelphia Lawyer                 You're Mine All Mine         

  
         Our First Kiss                            A Letter To A Disc Jockey


The Timberlanes

  
Sweet Dreams Sweetheart                          Music Box Lullabye       

...