Producer/songwriter
Bobby Miller helmed several hits by
the Dells (the
There Is album, "O-O, I Love You," "I Can't Do Enough," "Always Together") during their stint as recording artists for Chicago, IL-based Chess Records. Along with singer/songwriters
Barrett Strong ("Money") and
Wade Flemons ("Here I Stand"),
Miller co-wrote "Stay in My Corner," a dual decade hit for
the Dells -- first as a 1965 hit on VeeJay Records and then as a 1968 number number one R&B/number ten pop hit on Chess' Cadet label. Besides hits for the Harvey, IL-based R&B/soul vocal group,
Miller also wrote "Bet You Never Thought," a Constellation Records single for
Gene Chandler, and recorded a single for the label, "Uncle Willie Time," that was based on a mid-'60s dance craze. On the flip was "Big Question." Other sides by
Miller are "Wonder of It All" b/w "That's All That Matters" for the Apollo label.
Miller worked closely with arranger
Charles Stepney on
the Dells' late-'70s Chess hits.
Stepney, who also worked with many Chess acts including a pre-stardom
Minnie Riperton, would go to arrange and co-write several gold and platinum hits for '70s supergroup
Earth, Wind & Fire, which was founded by former Chess session drummer
Maurice White.
In summer 1967,
the Dells were on the low end of the hierarchy of the Chess Records roster, having returned to the label in 1966 after having hits with another Chicago-based label, VeeJay Records.
Miller, now a Chess staff producer, picked the group to work with, amid much guffaws, after a staff meeting with
Leonard Chess.
Their collaboration with
Miller and arranger
Stepney yielded a hit single, "O-O, I Love You," which went to number 22 R&B in late 1967. Their career-making fast-selling album
There Is was issued in March 1970. The title track was written by
Miller and
Raynard Miner. The single, "There Is" b/w the Motown-ish "Show Me," peaked at number 11 R&B in early 1968. The hits continued with a majestic six-minute remake of "Stay in My Corner" (number one R&B for three weeks, number ten pop in summer 1968) and "Always Together" (number three R&B, fall 1968).
Miller wrote both songs for the double-sided hit "I Can't Do Enough" b/w "Hallways of My Mind" in spring 1969. Other hits were the medley "I Can Sing a Rainbow"/"Love Is Blue," which went to number five R&B in late spring 1969; "Oh What a Night" -- a respelled remake of their VeeJay hit -- that went to number one R&B in summer 1969; an up-tempo cover of
Otis Redding's "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay"; "Oh What a Day," which hit number ten R&B in early 1970; "Open Up Your Heart," which hit number five R&B b/w a remake of the Coronets' "Nadine" in spring 1970; a cover of Lee Andrews and
the Hearts' 1957 hit "Long Lonely Nights"; and "The Glory of Love" from early 1971.
In the fall of 1969,
Leonard Chess, one of the group's biggest supporters, suffered a fatal heart attack. The following year,
Bobby Miller left Chess for Motown and
Charles Stepney took over the production duties for
the Dells. ~ Ed Hogan