The group began life as Gary & the Playboys. Gary Lewis started the band with four friends of his when he was 18. Joking at the lateness of his bandmates to practice, Lewis referred to them as "
playboys", and the name stuck. They auditioned for a job at
Disneyland without telling Disneyland employees about Lewis' celebrity father. Garrett wanted to maximize the chances for a hit, so he insisted on using experienced
session musicians for the overdubs, which included guitar and keyboard solos, additional bass and drum overdubs, and timpani. These musicians included
Mike Deasy and
Tommy Allsup on guitars,
Leon Russell on keyboards,
Joe Osborn on bass, and
Hal Blaine on drums, members of the larger group known as
The Wrecking Crew. Session singer
Ron Hicklin did the basic vocal track. Garrett then added Lewis's voice twice, added some of the Playboys and more of Hicklin. "When I got through, he sounded like
Mario Lanza", Garrett commented. Garrett got airplay in
New York City for "This Diamond Ring" by making a deal with
WINS disc jockey "
Murray the K" Kaufman, who ran a series of all-star concerts at theaters around the New York area. Garrett promised that if Kaufman played Lewis' record, the Playboys would do his shows. Garrett then had Jerry Lewis use his contacts to get his son onto
The Ed Sullivan Show. However, Sullivan had a general policy that all acts appearing on his show were to perform live. Since so many studio tricks had been used on the record, the Playboys could not recreate its sound. In compromise, Lewis sang along with pre-recorded tracks as the Playboys pretended to play their instruments. The January 1965 broadcast made Gary Lewis and the Playboys instant stars. "This Diamond Ring" went to No. 1, sold over one million copies by April 1965, and became a
gold disc. However, by the end of 1965 only West and Lewis remained in the band. Other later band members included Tommy Tripplehorn, father of actress
Jeanne Tripplehorn;
Carl Radle (died 1980); Jimmy Karstein; Randy Ruff; Pete Vrains; Bob Simpson; Adolph Zeugner; Les John; Wayne Bruno; and Dave Gonzalez. The group was one of only two acts during the 1960s whose first seven releases on the
Billboard Hot 100 reached that chart's top 10 (
The Lovin' Spoonful was the other). The singles were "This Diamond Ring" (No. 1), "
Count Me In" (the only non-
British Commonwealth record in the Hot 100's Top 10 on May 8, 1965, at No. 2), "
Save Your Heart for Me" (No. 2), "
Everybody Loves a Clown" (No. 4), "
She's Just My Style" (No. 3), "
Sure Gonna Miss Her" (No. 9), and "
Green Grass" (No. 8). Lewis was
drafted into the
U.S. Army in January 1967, with previously made recordings continuing to reach the Hot 100, but with decreasing success. The line-up on this special consisted of
Gary Lewis (vocals, guitar), Tom Tripplehorn (guitar),
Carl Radle (bass), John West (cordovox) and Jim Karstein (drums). In all, Lewis had eight gold
singles, 12 Top 40 hit singles (but only 15 Hot 100 entries (U.S.)), and four gold albums. In addition to
The Ed Sullivan Show, he appeared on
American Bandstand,
Shindig!,
Hullabaloo,
The Sally Jessy Raphaël show,
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,
The Mike Douglas Show,
Nashville Now and
Wolfman Jack. Despite the group's U.S. success, they made virtually no impact at all in the
U.K.; their only
UK Singles Chart appearance occurred in 1975, when a reissue of 1966's "
My Heart's Symphony" peaked at No. 36. Nevertheless, at a time when
British groups were dominating the American music scene, Gary Lewis & the Playboys were one of the few successful 1960s homegrown groups. == Former Playboys later lives ==