The '5' Royales--Classic, Don't 'Dud' It!

http://www.motherjones.com/files/the5royalessoulswagger630x354.jpg

Inspired by my purchase today for $5 of a Public Domain box set of their 'Complete Singles 1952-1962' (on the UK Real Gone label), which, weighing in at 99 tracks over 4 discs is secretly a complete or almost complete discography for the period.

Falling through the cracks of history despite giving us "Tell The Truth", "Think", and "Dedicated To The One I Love"; providing inspiration for a great piece of fanfic by Ed Ward in Stranded (in addition to Greil Marcus' wonderfully bitchy line about Eric Clapton paying to hold guitarist Lowman Pauling's coat in his discography); and late career patronage by both James Brown and Willie Mitchell, they certainly deserved better. The cause has been rectified a bit by recognition from the RRHOF; a tribute album I haven't heard by Pauling disciple Steve Cropper & Friends; and a lavish 5-disc box set on RockBeat amongst some other reissues that easily outdo those cheapie authorized LP CDs King/Starday had out and the more thorough but for a while hellaciously expensive Rhino collection.

Something to say about 'em? Why don't you...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BHxu71WIsM

All I had was that Stranded line.

i've fallen hard for this group in recent weeks, easily some of the best music i've ever heard.

I love Ward's Stranded piece, but when I bought a couple of King reissues many years ago--one a compilation (17 Hits), the other a studio album with a chessboard on the cover--I didn't like them as much as all the other doo-wop I was immersed in at the time, including labelmates the 5 Keys. I'll give them another try.

so much more than a doo-wop group! i think the "dedicated to you" LP is front-to-back classic. still doing my research but i might post more at length when i start to get a grasp on the discography / personnel / etc.

in the meantime here are some favs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2amu_UPFQeU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F231Hmgp_xo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fFE-rD5oxw

What I wrote about them 15 years ago: "The Five Royales were the only doo-wop group to get a chapter in Stranded, but I never liked them as much as my other favourite doo-wop music. To me, they seemed closer to jump-blues or something like that, although I'd have to give them another listen before saying that with any certainty. I'd also need to find out if I have any idea what I'm talking about when I say 'jump-blues.'"