â Glory Of Loveâ Aboard The 2012 Doo Wop Cruise

The Five Keys are regarded as one of the finest groups to ever record in this ge
nre. They are best known for their Capitol recordings of "Glory of Love," "Close
Your Eyes," "Ling Ting Tong," "Wisdom of a Fool," and "Out of Sight, Out of Min
d." But in collectors' circles their earlier recordings for Aladdin such as "My
Saddest Hour," and "Red Sails in the Sunset."
New York, NY, May 31, 2011 -- Grant Williams CEO of Memory Lane Concert Cruises
today announced. The prestigious Five Keyes will be among the many groups appear
ing on its historic Oldies But Goodies Doo Wop Cruise. â The Five Keys were one of th
e first group's to sing in five-part harmony, making them a seminal pre rock and
roll vocal group, and one of the most influential acts of the 50â s.â said Williams
The Five Keys started out with brothers Rudy and Bernie West with Ripley and Rap
hael Ingram also brothers as a gospel group that called themselves the Sentiment
al Four. They were all students at Dunbar Elementary School Newport News, Virgin
ia. In 1948 the Sentimental Four had branched out into pop and r&b and entered a
nd won amateur contests in several local theaters. In early 1949, they decided
to change their sound, adding second tenor Edwin Hall as a fifth member. He was
from the same neighborhood, and a common friend recommended him to the group. As
the group's sound changed, Ripley Ingram became a key part with his ability to
"float" between first and second tenor and above, which is known as a "octave te
nor". Although they now had a fifth member, they strangely did nothing about the
ir name for a while billed as the Sentimental Four for a few more months.
With their changed sound, the Sentimental Four (plus one) won the Jefferson amat
eur show for five consecutive weeks, the prize for which was a trip to New York
to appear on the Apollo Theater amateur show. Just before the Apollo contest Raf
ael Ingram received his draft notice and quickly joined the Air Force to avoid t
he Army and sent to Korea, where he lost a foot to frostbite. When he returned
home, he became a member of the Avalons, another Newport News group. Rafael's re
placement was baritone/second tenor James "Dickie" Smith, a relative of Harptone
s' lead Willie Winfield. Dickie, at the time living in the East End area of Newp
ort News, was a neighborhood friend of the Sentimental Four. He had been singing
with a local group called the Virginia Brown Dots, which attended the same amat
eur shows as the Keys. Dickie was now the "baby" of the group, being a year youn
ger than Rudy.
Before their trip to New York, Jefferson Theater manager Isaac "Ike" Burton, who
had become the group's manager, decided that a name change was in order. They w
ere in his office when a key ring with five skeleton keys on it fell on the floo
r, and the "Five Keys" they became. They even jokingly toyed with "Five Skeleto
n Keys"; another name they had kicked around was the "Virginia Gentlemen". There
were around 30 other amateur acts that August Wednesday night at the Apollo in
1949; their regular shows headlined Billie Holiday. But the Five Keys came in f
irst singing the old standard, "Them There Eyes", and got a standing ovation. Be
cause of their Apollo victory, the group was booked to play a week at the Apollo
and another week at the Howard.
Soon after this, the Five Keys became six by adding guitarist Joe Jones. Joe was
from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, but was living in Newport News. In the early
spring of 1950, before the Brownskin Models tour, Edwin Hall, who had recently m
arried, left the group. He was replaced by second tenor Maryland Pierce, lead si
nger of a local group called the Four Bees. This group also attended the local a
mateur shows, and the Keys and the Bees had gone to school together although Rud
y, Dickie and Maryland were still in school the groups would "battle" each other
in the neighborhood. Now the "classic" line-up was in place: Rudy West (first
tenor), Maryland Pierce (second tenor), Ripley Ingram (octave tenor), Dickie Smi
th (baritone/second tenor), and Bernie West (bass), with guitarist Joe Jones. Th
ey also not only had different lead singers, but different kinds of lead singers
: Maryland had a bluesy voice for ballads and up-tempo. Rudy had the sweet Bill
Kenny-type ballad voice, and Dickie did rhythm and scat numbers.
In the spring of 1950, after Edwin had left, the Five Keys landed a radio show f
or a couple of months. It was a weekly 15-minute show on WVEC a station in neigh
boring Hampton, Virginia, each Sunday morning. Than in early 1951, the group sig
ned with Aladdin Records and in April, their first record was released: "With A
Broken Heart" / "Too Late". Sales were mediocre, but in July 1951, Aladdin issue
d "The Glory of Love" backed with "Hucklebuck With Jimmy. â The Glory Of Love" featur
ed Rudy West on lead with Dickie Smith taking the bridge - this use of two lead
voices became a feature of many Keys' recordings. By September, the Five Keys' v
ersion of "The Glory Of Love" was taking off in various territories throughout t
he U.S.A., holding off competition from versions by the Hollywood Four Flames, t
he Skylarks, and the Four Knights. The record would eventually reach #1 in the R
&B charts. Aladdin Records were reporting that "The Glory Of Love" had become th
e label's biggest seller ever.
In December 1953, Dickie Smith also received his draft notice, but enlisted in t
he Air Force. He was recruited a friend of his, baritone Ramon Loper who also h
ad a group the Bob-O-Links that performed around the Newport News area to be hi
s replacement in the group. In June 1954 the Five Keys appeared at Moondog's Bir
thday Ball in Akron, Ohio. The show, hosted by Alan Freed also starred Joe Turne
r, Faye Adams, Al Savage, and the Joe Morris band. The complete sell-out, also n
oteworthy for more than one-third of the audience was white, a fact not lost on
representatives of eastern radio station. WINS in New York which was mulling ove
r plans to bring Freed and his show to the Big Apple. Shortly there after the gr
oup saw its association with Aladdin Records ending. The group originally set to
go with RCA Victor and its subsidiary label X, later changed to Groove. In Au
gust, Dave Cavanaugh A&R representative for Capitol Records announced signing Th
e Five Keys to the Hollywood based major label. This was a breakthrough for the
group and one of the few instances of an r&b act getting a shot with a national
major. Their first session, held at Capitol's New York studios in 1954, produced
four tunes: "I'm Alone" (led by Maryland Pierce), "Ling, Ting, Tong" (also Mary
land), "Trapped, Lost, Gone" (Bernie West), and "I'm Just A Fool" (Ulysses Hicks
).
Than on October 1954, Rudy came home from the army. While in the service, he'd s
ung in good company; with him were Jesse Belvin and David McNeil, bass singer wi
th the Dominoes. He at once rejoined the Five Keys, who now had six singers. Uly
sses was being kept but with however plans of phasing him out. Meanwhile, he kne
w all the arrangements, including some that Rudy didn't know. However, there wer
e only "Five" Keys onstage at any one time; Rudy was usually out there, but he l
eft the stage when they did "Ling, Ting, Tong", and Ulysses came out to replace
him. Rudy had rejoined the Five Keys when they started a week's booking at the A
pollo Theater on 15 October, 1954. It was during this show that co-star Chuck Wi
llis gave them a song he'd just written. It had a two-voice lead, and he thought
it would fit the Keys' style; the song was "Close Your Eyes". When this beautif
ul song was recorded in November, Maryland Pierce took the lead and Rudy West sa
ng the "echo". "Ling, Ting, Tong" took off in late 1954, eventually peaking at #
5 in the R&B charts and even crossing over to reach #28 Pop. However, the Keys w
ere outsold by the kings of the black cover records, Otis Williams and the Charm
s, who peaked two places higher. With "Ling, Ting, Tong" doing so well, Capitol
tried to secure another hit by releasing "Close Your Eyes" (backed with "Doggone
It, You Did It") in January. At the same time, they issued an EP containing all
four released songs. "Close Your Eyes" peaked at #5 in the R&B charts, just as
"Ling, Ting, Tong" had done. Sadly, in January 1955, Ulysses Hicks collapsed and
died of a heart attack while the Keys were touring. He was aged just 25.
At the beginning of 1956, Aladdin issued the final Five Keys single on that labe
l - "Story Of Love", backed with a rerelease of "Serve Another Roundâ which was issu
ed in November 1952 on Aladdin. That April, Capitol issued "I Dreamt I Dwelt In
Heaven" / "She's The Most" and in June "Peace And Love"/ "My Pigeon's Gone". Als
o in June, Aladdin sued Capitol for breach of contract (two years after the grou
p had signed for Capitol by RCA Groove) - the magnet was a chunk of "Ling Ting T
ong". Capitol settled out of court. A session for Capitol in June 1956 heralded
a change of direction for the Five Keys. Full orchestral instrumentation and a s
yrupy, pop-sounding female chorus were added, no doubt in a try to grab some of
the Platters' market share. During this same session the beautiful song "Wisdom
Of A Fool" was performed and later released in November to become a strong selle
r.
The end of 1957 saw the beginning of the end for the original Five Keys. Rudy go
t married, left the group and was replaced by Dickie Threat (pronounced "Threet"
), also from Newport News. Shortly after that, Ramon Loper became another casual
ty. His mother was living in New York, and he decided to stay with her. He ended
up working with one of the many Ink Spots groups around. Ramon's replacement wa
s baritone Charles "Bobby" Crawley, who had sung with Maryland Pierce in the Fou
r Bees back in the late 40's. The group was now: Maryland Pierce, Dickie Threat,
Ripley Ingram, Bobby Crawley, and Bernie West. The last original Capitol releas
e was in November 1958: "One Great Love" and "Really-O, Truly-O". After this, it
was quiet on the Five Keys scene for a while, as Capitol allowed their contract
to lapse. In the summer of 1959, the Five Keys signed with Syd Nathan at King R
ecords where they returned, not before time, to their r&b roots. Several fine si
des were recorded "Ziggus", "Dream On", "Dancing Senorita", "I Took Your Love Fo
r A Toy", variously led by Maryland Pierce and Dickie Threat, but the group's ti
me in the spotlight had passed. Rudy followed the group to King as a solo artist
and had three releases in late 1959, but none of them sold well. Despite the hi
gh quality of the Keys' King recordings, the group was going in the wrong musica
l direction in 1959 and 1960. Various "Five Keys" groups played concerts through
the 60's and 70's but by then the glory days were but a memory.
In April, 1992, the Five Keys were inducted into the UGHA Hall Of Fame, where Ma
ryland and Rudy sang "Close Your Eyes". Ripley Ingram passed away in early 1995.
The beautiful voice of Rudy West was stilled on May 14, 1998. Ramon Loper, who
turned up in New York in 2001, passed away in October 2002. Today the Five Key a
re still performing with Maryland on lead also appearing are George Winfield, La
rry Jarvis, Oliver Sidney and Dempsey Spencer.
Be a part of this history-making event, sailing from New York City, New York abo
ard the New Norwegian Gem on a seven-day Bahamas cruise from May 12-19, 2012. â There
has never been an event this spectacular in the last fifty years.â said Williams
Memory Lane Concert Cruises is musical theme cruise operator providing world-cla
ss concerts of performing artists in an array of music styles aboard cruise ship
s.
http://www.mlccruises.com
Contact :
Grant Williams
Memory Lane Concert Cruises, LLC
Los Angeles, CA
541 879 6298
mlccruises@gmail.com
http://www.mlccruises.com