Dee Dee Sperling

Dee Dee Phelps
Dee Dee Phelps and Michael Dunn of Dick and Dee Dee
Background information
Birth name	Mary Sperling
Origin	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Genres	Pop, R&B
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, author
Years active	1961–1969 2008–present
Labels	Warner Bros. Records, Liberty Records, Dot Records
Associated acts	Dick and Dee Dee
Website	www.DickandDeeDee.com

Dee Dee Phelps (born Mary Sperling) is a singer-songwriter and author from Santa Monica, California, best known as half the popular 1960s musical duo Dick and Dee Dee. She became a professional writer in 2007, publishing her award-winning memoir Vinyl Highway. In 2008, Dee Dee joined with singer/actor Michael Dunn to revive the Dick and Dee Dee act live. More recently, in 2013, Dee Dee is now teamed with Deke Detanna, lead singer of Deke and the Blazers. The duo performs all over the country, singing classic Dick and Dee Dee hits.

Phelps was born as Mary Sperling in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When her father was transferred to California, she arrived in Los Angeles by train at the age of eight. After attending University High School in West Los Angeles, she transferred to Santa Monica High. While there she wrote a regular column for the Santa Monica Evening Outlook, and began singing and writing songs in her senior year.

While attending college and working at a See's Candy store in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, Sperling re-encountered Dick St. John, an old junior high classmate. Both realized they were singer songwriters, and together they began writing songs and harmonizing.

The first Dick and Dee Dee 45 RPM release was on Lama Records, a small company started by their record producers, The Wilder Brothers. Without telling her, the record producers changed her name to Dee Dee, something she didn't discover until the record was released. "The Mountain's High" became a smash hit in the Bay Area, eventually becoming number two on the Billboard Top 100 in the United States. Sperling took time off from college so they could tour Texas.The Mountain's High was re-issued on Liberty Records for national distribution.