The Five Royals Biography
The 5 Royales were hugely successful exponents of southern vocal R&B throughout the 50s, although they started their career in a different style as the Royal Sons Gospel Group of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. This quintet variously featured Clarence Pauling (19 March 1928, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA, d. 6 May 1995, Los Angeles, California, USA), Curtis Pauling and Lowman Pauling (d. 26 December 1973, Brooklyn, New York, USA), Otto Jeffries, Johnny Tanner (b. John L. Tanner Snr., 28 November 1926, Forsyth County, North Carolina, USA, d. 8 November 2005, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA), Obediah Carter (d. July 1994, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA), Johnny Moore and William Samuels. The Paulings had started out supporting Lowman Pauling Snr., on local North Carolina stages, while his namesake son reputedly built his first guitar out of cigar-boxes. Lowman Pauling Jnr. was the group's musical arranger and springboard, while Tanner usually handled lead vocals. At the suggestion of local radio producer Robert Woodward, the group contacted New York label Apollo Records, headed by Bess Berman and Carl Le Bowe. There the group sang spirituals as the Royal Sons Quintet, until Le Bowe re-christened them 5 Royales for the purposes of recording R&B music. Having elected to pursue the latter style, Johnny Holmes, the final member of the Royal Sons who graced their "Bedside Of A Neighbor" debut, departed. This left a core 5 Royales line-up of Lowman Pauling (guitar), Johnny Tanner (lead), Johnny Moore (tenor), Obediah Carter (tenor) and Otto Jeffries (baritone). Typical of their background, their first single, "Give Me One More Chance" (coupled with "Too Much Of A Little Bit"), was a spiritual standard energized into a raunchy R&B number. By 1953 Eugene Tanner (b. 1936, d. 29 December 1994, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; baritone/bass) had replaced Jeffries, the oldest member of the group by over 10 years, who was no longer capable of performing their energetic stage routines, instead becoming manager. Together they achieved their first major success with "Baby Don't Do It", which made number 1 in the US R&B charts in January 1953. The follow-up single, "Help Me Somebody", stayed at number 1 on the same chart for five weeks, while the group's powerful and frequent live performances, now completely divorced from their gospel background, built them a formidable reputation. Their new-found fame also resulted in a lawsuit when they discovered that the Royals of Detroit were the first of several groups to impersonate them. The 5 Royales made their first appearance at the Apollo in January 1953, performing for a week alongside Willy Mabon and Gene Ammons. "Crazy, Crazy, Crazy" and "Too Much Lovin'" were also sizeable R&B hits, although it was the latter's b-side, "Laundromat Blues", with its sexually suggestive lyric, that provoked most attention. By 1954 the group had signed to King Records, following Le Bowe's defection to that label. However, the 5 Royales were never as successful again. Though over 40 singles were issued under their name up to 1965, usually of good quality, they seldom reached the charts. "Tears Of Joy" and "Think", both from 1957, were two notable exceptions. "Think" was their first national US pop chart success, at number 66, although "Dedicated To The One I Love", later covered by the Shirelles and Mamas And The Papas, also reached number 81 on the same chart in 1961. This was a revised version of a Chester Mayfield composition, "I Don't Want You To Go", which Mayfield had written while a member of fellow North Carolina R&B group the Casanovas, also signed to Apollo. Their membership included William Samuels, Lowman Pauling's brother-in-law and formerly of the Royal Sons himself. However, after leaving King Records in 1960 the group failed to reach the charts again, despite recording for several labels with variable line-ups. Lowman Pauling left the group between stints at Home Of The Blues Records and Todd Records, replaced by Robert "Pee Wee" Burris on guitar. Tanner also departed in December 1963, and was replaced by Eudell Graham. Graham, who became the focus of the touring 5 Royales, was later jailed for armed robbery. The group broke up in 1965 although various line-ups would continue to use the 5 Royales name well into the next decade. The 5 Royales' influence on R&B proved fundamental to the music of James Brown, with whom the group had frequently worked in their heyday. Lowman Pauling, whose uninhibited guitar style was also a major influence on the style of Eric Clapton, died in 1973 while working as a custodian at a Brooklyn synagogue. Clarence Pauling, who left the Royal Sons before they became the 5 Royales, re-named himself Clarence Paul and later became the A&R director at Motown Records where he helped shape the careers of Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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