Pop Rock
The song was written by Al Kooper, Bob Brass, and Irwin Levine. They tried to have it performed by The Drifters, who turned it down. And then Bobby Vee, who also turned it down. Sammy Ambrose recorded it first and released it in late 1964. Then, Gary Lewis and the Playboys released their version in January, 1965. Both charted, but Ambrose made it to #117 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The track by Gary Lewis & The Playboys went all the way to #1 by February 20, 1965. It went to #6 in Australia. The record sold more than one million copies and earned an RIAA gold record.
Gary Lewis is the son of comedian Jerry Lewis. He and his friends put together a band. Because they were often late to practice, he called them “playboys.” They had a nice gig playing at Disneyland. To ensure that their record would be a hit, their producer Snuff Garrett used the fabulous musicians of the Wrecking Crew to provide the instrumentation with Gary Lewis and The Playboys on backing tracks. The Wrecking Crew for “This Diamond Ring” included Ron Hicklin, who supported the vocals, Hal Blaine (drums), Carol Kaye (bass), Mike Deasy and Tommy Allsup (guitars), and Leon Russell (keyboards and music arranger).
The original members of Gary Lewis and The Playboys were Gary Lewis (drums and vocals), David Walker (rhythm guitar), Allan Ramsay (bass), David Costell (lead guitar), and John West (Cordovox electronic accordion). They went on to have eight gold singles, 12 Top 40 hit singles, and four gold albums.