Previous Vocal Group Record of the Week
#572 (Week of 6/14/08 - 6/20/08)

"Help Me Somebody"/"Crazy Crazy Crazy"
by The "5" Royales
on Apollo 446
released in 1953


[Above image provided by Paul Ressler.]

Above: Photo of The "5" Royales who consisted of Johnny Tanner (lead), Jimmy Moore (tenor), Obadiah Carter (tenor), Eugene Tanner (baritone/bass) and Lowman Pauling (guitar/bass). Eugene Tanner had replaced Otto Jeffries for their post-1953 records. Lowman Pauling and both Tanners started with a spiritual group named The Royal Sons Quintet, who had two records released on the Apollo label in 1951.

ROYALS CAN'T IMPERSONATE "5 ROYALES," COURT RULES
NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 1953 — A Superior Court injunction was granted last Saturday (7) at Muscogee County, Georgia, which prohibits the Royals, an r.&b. singing group, from further impersonating the Five Royales in the state of Georgia. A temporary injunction had been issued earlier in the case.

The Royals are prevented from using either the name Five Royals or Five Royales, and the group is also prohibited from using the pictures of the Five Royales in their promotion or inferring that they have recorded the songs "Baby, Don't Do It," the Five Royales' current hit, or any other of the latter group's disks.

The apparent misrepresentation was uncovered by Carl Lebo w, a.&r. head for Apollo and personal manager of the Five Royales, and Ben Bart, head of Universal Attractions, which is the booking agent for the Five Royales. The Royals had been doing a series of theater dates thru the South under the billing of the Five Royales and/or Five Royals. Newspaper ads and placards made use of the pictures of the Five Royales. The Royals are now packaged in a show which includes Anna Mae Winburn and her ork, the Fou Chez dancers and Bobby Wallace. The Royals have been the headline attraction.

The tour has been promoted by Spizzy Canfield. The road manager is Eustace Pilgrim, husband of Miss Winburn. When the impersonation was discovered, registered letters were sent to all the known theaters on the tour asking that the Royals' act be cancelled. One theater in Newport News is known to have done this. Others, however, followed thru with the booking. Canfield, along with D.P. Nesbitt, manager of the Liberty Theater in Columbus, Ga., were named as co-defendants, along with the Royals.

The hearing for a separate damage action against the Royals for $10,000 was set for the first Monday in June.

Trade Magazine Article (May 1953): Bess Herman, Apollo bosslady who's at Doctor's Hospital, Manhattan, recovering from a heart attack, has organized hospital staff into the "5" Interns and is teaching them the two Apollo smashes "Crazy, Crazy, Crazy" and "Help Me Somebody" as etched by her "5" Royales. Readers are invited to drop Bess a line...

Trade Magazine Article (June 1953): At the moment, the Five Royales on Apollo have the hottest waxing on the market with "Crazy, Crazy, Crazy" and "Help Me Somebody." Both sides of this disking are on the charts, making it the first double-sided r.&b. platter in a long, long time.

Trade Magazine Article (August 1953): AUTO CRASH KILLS BAND MEMBER: An auto accident in Cleveland, Tex., Thursday (13) that involved the car carrying Charlie Ferguson and his all-girl ork resulted in the death of the nineteen-year-old bass fiddle player and seriously injured Ferguson and the other members of the distaff ork. At last word, Ferguson was still on the critical list. The band has been touring the Southwest with the Five Royales. The troupe was on the way to Tyler, Tex., for a one-nighter. The Five Royales, traveling in another car, were not involved in the accident. Carl Lebow, Apollo Records, who manages both groups, left immediately for Texas to assist. The tour, which is booked solidly thru December by Universal, will continue, with the agency going into immediate action to find a substitute ork until the Ferguson aggregation can return to work....



[Above clipping provided by Richard Koloda.]
Above: Newspaper clipping from March 1953. A bargain ticket at $1.50!

Above: Label image for Apollo 446 released in April 1953. This was the fourth of ten records The "5" Royales had released on Apollo (1951-1955). In 1954, they left Apollo (due to a contract dispute) to record many records for the King label. As a result of the move, King's other "Royals" group (on subsidiary Federal) changed their name to "The Midnighters."

Listen to this week's selections by The "5" Royales on Apollo 446 from 1953:
[Audio restoration by Dave Saviet.]

(Top... Lowman Pauling... From Left... Obadiah Carter,
Johnny Tanner, Clarence Pauling, Jimmy Moore)

      

  A. Stream RealAudio (DO NOT USE...LISTEN USING DOWNLOAD REALAUDIO)...
 
       Help Me Somebody
       Crazy Crazy Crazy
 
       BOTH SONGS played in sequence

  B. Download RealAudio...
 
       Help Me Somebody
       Crazy Crazy Crazy
 
  C. Stream/Download Media Player...
 
       Help Me Somebody
       Crazy Crazy Crazy
 

    [To download files, right-click on link and then select "Save (Link) Target As..."]


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