The band had an earnest, boy-next-door image similar to British invasion contemporaries such as Herman's Hermits and Gerry and the Pacemakers.

[1] They were hired on the spot, audiences at Disneyland quickly accepted them, and the Playboys were soon playing to a full house every night.

After listening to the band, Garrett thought using Gary's famous name might sell more records, and convinced them to add "Lewis" into their name.

Garrett brought them to a recording studio with the song "This Diamond Ring" in a session financed by Jerry Lewis' wife Patti.

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.

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).

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.

By 1985, he was well enough to join the nine month “Happy Together” tour, with other groups, including the Turtles, the Buckinghams and the Grass Roots.

Despite the group's U.S. success, they made virtually no impact at all in the U.K.;[1] their only UK Singles Chart appearance occurred in 1975, when a reissue of 1966's "My Heart's Symphony" peaked at No.