THE VAN DYKES

The group formed in the early 1960s at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas. Its members were Rondalis Tandy, Charles Puryear, Lafeyette Williams, and Lawrence Spikes. Their repertoire consisted mainly of doo-wop songs.

When he returned to civilian life in 1964, the Kentucky-born Tandy settled in Fort Worth, Texas. There, he formed a new Van Dykes group with Eddie Nixon, Wenzon Mosley, and James Mays. Inspired by Tandy’s idol, Curtis Mayfield, they mixed in the emerging soul sound with their doo-wop singing. Nixon left the group in 1965, reducing the Van Dykes to a trio.

They appeared in talent shows at the Araby nightclub in Fort Worth. They came to the attention of Charles Stewart, who would go on to produce all their sessions. Tandy wrote both sides of their debut single, “No Man Is an Island” / “I Won’t Hold It Against You.” It came out on Stewart’s Hue label in the fall of 1965.

Stewart subsequently met Larry Uttal, president of the Bell-Amy-Mala family of labels. Uttal reissued “No Man Is an Island” on Mala in December 1965. Four months later, it peaked at #24 on Billboard magazine’s R&B singles chart. All subsequent Van Dykes releases, though produced in Fort Worth by Charles Stewart, appeared on Mala. The sole exception was the group’s 1967 LP, Tellin’ It Like It Is, which came out on the parent label, Bell.

In 1968, the Van Dykes were slated to appear at the Howard Theater in Washington, DC, and the Apollo in New York. However, James Mays and Wenzon Mosley, who had both married, decided to remain in Fort Worth with their wives. Rondalis Tandy recruited two new members, Lafayette Garrett and Lawrence Mosley (brother of Wenzon), who played the Howard together. However, Mosley quit the act before the Apollo gig, forcing Tandy and Garrett to appear as a duo.

After years of handling all the details for the group—writing, arranging, rehearsing, bookings, etc.--an exhausted Tandy disbanded the Van Dykes and moved to Los Angeles. There, he performed as a solo act, sang in a church choir, and became a lighting technician at Paramount Studios.

In 1982, the Solid Smoke reissue label put out an album on the Van Dykes, containing all but one of their Mala tracks. That same year, when an interviewer asked Tandy about his times with the Van Dykes, he replied, “I loved it! I would do it all again.”

In 1984, at the behest of his former colleagues Wenzon Mosley, James Mays, and Lafayette Garrett, Tandy went to Forth Worth to record a Van Dykes LP (produced by his old friend, Charles Stewart). Return Engagement contained eight tracks—seven new songs and a re-recording of “Tears of Joy,” which the Van Dykes had first done in 1967. However, the album was a one-shot deal. When it was done, Tandy returned to Los Angeles. The reunited Van Dykes never toured or recorded together again.

In 2000, Sundazed, another reissue label, put out a CD of the Tellin’ It Like It Is album. It featured the original cover art and four bonus tracks, comprising all of the group’s Mala output.

Wenzon Mosley died in December 2010. As far as I know, the other group members are all still alive.

Charted singles:

“No Man Is an Island” (1965-66) R&B #24, Pop #94
“I’ve Got to Go On Without You” (1966) R&B #28
“Never Let Me Go” (1966) R&B #25
“You Need Confidence” (1967) R&B #24