JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS
THE FIVE ROYALES
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The "5" Royales were a relatively unheralded, but significant, link between early R&B and early soul in their combination of doo wop, jump blues, and gospel styles. Their commercial success was relatively modest -- they had seven Top Ten R&B hits in the 1950s, most recorded in the span of little over a year between late 1952 and late 1953. A few of their singles would prove extremely popular in cover versions by other artists, though -- James Brown and Aretha Franklin tore it up with "Think," Ray Charles covered "Tell the Truth," and the Shirelles (and later the Mamas & the Papas) had pop success with "Dedicated to the One I Love." Almost all of their material was written by guitarist Lowman Pauling, who influenced Steve Cropper with his biting and bluesy guitar lines, which at their most ferocious almost sound like a precursor to blues-rock.
Pauling's guitar is pretty muted on their early sides, though, which sometimes walk the line between gospel and R&B. The gospel elements aren't surprising, given that the Royales were originally known as the Royal Sons Quintet when they formed in Winston-Salem, N.C. In fact, they were still known as the Royal Sons Quintet when they began recording for Apollo in the early '50s, although they had six members. They would change their name to The "5" Royales in 1952, although they would, confusingly, remain a six-man outfit for a while; the quotes around the 5 in their billing were designed to alleviate some of the confusion. The Apollo singles "Baby Don't Do It" and "Help Me Somebody" made number one on the R&B charts in 1953, and they had a few other hits for Apollo before being lured away to King Records in 1954.
Although the group would remain on King for the rest of the 1950s, they would only enter the R&B Top Ten two more times, with "Think" and "Tears of Joy" (both in 1957). Their later sides, however, are their best, as Pauling became much more assertive on the guitar, dashing off some piercing and fluid solos. Some of these solos are among the heaviest and wildest in '50s rock, on both relatively well-known cuts like "Think," and virtually unknown numbers like "The Slummer the Slum." Greil Marcus once wrote something to the effect that a young Eric Clapton would have once paid to hold Pauling's coat. They remained primarily a harmony vocal group, though, and if their late-'50s sides are considerably more modernized than their early Apollo hits, they're still a lot closer to doo wop than soul.
Even when their records weren't selling, The "5" Royales were a popular touring band. Their constant activity at King Records, in all likelihood, had some influence on the young James Brown, then starting his career on the same label; one of Brown's first big R&B hits was a frenetic cover of "Think." They couldn't sustain themselves without more hits, though. After leaving King and recording some more sides in the early '60s, they finally broke up by 1965.
-- of All Music Guide.
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01. Think 02. Someone Made You For Me 03. Just As I Am 04. Don�t Be Ashamed 05. Come On And Save Me 06. I�d Better Make A Move |
07. Dedicated To The One I Love 08. Right Around The Corner 09. Say It 10. Messin� Up 11. Tears Of Joy 12. Thirty Second Lover |
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01. Your Only Love 02. The Real Thing 03. Don�t Let It Be In Vain 04. Do The Cha Cha Cherry 05. Double Or Nothing 06. Mohawk Squaw 07. How I Wonder 08. I Need Your Lovin� Baby |
09. The Feeling Is Real 10. Tell The Truth 11. My Wants For Love 12. The Slummer The Slum 13. Do Unto You 14. I Ain�t Getting Caught 15. When I Get Like This 16. Monkey Hips And Rice |
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01. I Know It�s Hard But It�s Fair 02. Miracle Of Love 03. My Sugar Sugar 04. When You Walked Through The Door 05. School Girl 06. Get Something Out Of It |
07. Tell Me You Care 08. Wonder Where Your Love Has Gone 09. It Hurts Inside 10. Mine Forevermore 11. One Mistake 12. Women About To Make Me Go Crazy |
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01. Think 02. I Know It�s Hard But It�s Fair 03. School Girl 04. Women About To Make Me Go Crazy 05. Don�t Give No More Than You Can Take 06. My Sugar Sugar 07. Right Around The Corner 08. Something Moves Me Within My Heart 09. Dedicated To The One I Love |
10. Tears Of Joy 11. One Mistake 12. When You Walked Through The Door 13. Miracle Of Love 14. Tell Me You Care 15. Wonder Where Your Love Has Gone 16. I�m With You 17. I Can�t Stand Losing You |
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01. Baby Don�t Do It 02. Baby Take All Of Me 03. Put Something In It 04. All Righty 05. Too Much Of A Little Bit 06. I Am Thinking 07. I Like It Like That |
08. Help Me Somebody 09. Crazy, Crazy, Crazy 10. I Wanna Rest 11. Let Me Come Back 12. I Do 13. Cry Some More 14. Let Nothing Separate Me |
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01. Laundromat Blues 02. What�s That! 03. I Wanna Thank You 04. Six O�Clock In The Morning 05. See, Hear And Know Nothing 06. So God Can Use Me 07. Too Much Lovin� |
08. With All Your Heart 09. Courage To Love 10. You Know I Know 11. Give Me One More Chance 12. Good Things 13. Come Over Here |
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01. Monkey Hips And Rice 02. I�m Gonna Run It Down 03. One Mistake 04. How I Wonder 05. I Need Your Lovin� Baby 06. Women About To Make Me Go Crazy 07. Someone Made You For Me 08. Right Around The Corner 09. My Wants For Love 10. Come On And Save Me 11. Just As I Am 12. Mine Forevermore 13. Thirty Second Lover |
14. Tears Of Joy 15. Think 16. Dedicated To The One I Love 17. The Feeling Is Real 18. Tell The Truth 19. Don�t Let It Be In Van 20. Your Only Love 21. The Slummer The Slum 22. Miracle Of Love 23. I know It�s Hard But It�s Fair 24. I�m With You 25. Don�t Give No More Than You Can Take |
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01. You Didn�t Learn It At Home 02. School Girl 03. When You Walked Through The Door 04. Monkey Hips And Rice 05. When I Get Like This 06. Right Around The Corner 07. How I Wonder 08. Come On And Save Me 09. Get Something Out Of It 10. Messin� Up 11. Someone Made You For Me 12. Don�t Be Ashamed 13. Devil With The Rest |
14. Do The Cha Cha Cherry 15. Double Or Nothing 16. Don�t Let It Be In Vain 17. The Real Thing 18. Tears Of Joy 19. Thirty Second Lover 20. I�d Better Make A Move 21. Miracle Of Love 22. My Sugar Sugar 23. Just As I Am 24. Tell Me You Care 25. Wonder Where Your Love Has Gone |
