The Five Keys Part One : The Aladdin Years ©2002JCMarion
In 1946 in the Tidewater area of Virginia, in particular the shipbuilding town of Newport News, a pair of brothers got together and formed a musical quartet to sing gospel music. The four members were Rudy and Bernie West, and Ripley and Raphael Ingram. Practicing often after school and in their local church, they were originally known as The Harmonizing Four. After a number of months they began to try their hand at pop music and soon turned their attention to that field. They changed their name to the Sentimental Four and began to make personal appearances in their home area. They had entered the local weekly amateur nights held in the Jefferson Theater with great success and soon the manager of that theater Isaac Burton became the manager of the group.
Raphael Ingram had gotten his "greetings" from Uncle Sam, and was
replaced by Maryland Pierce a high school classmate of Rudy West's. Soon lead
singer Dickie Smith also joined and the new group was rechristened The Five
Keys. Burton brought the group to New York to do battle at the most famous of
all amateur nights, the one at the New York Apollo Theater on 125th Street in
Harlem. The Keys hit the stage and gave a snappy rendition of the pop standard
"Them There Eyes" and knocked 'em dead and took the win. They returned
to the Newport News-Portsmouth-Norfolk area of Virginia and did many local club
dates. They were spotted by Irving Miller who produced the traveling all Black
Revue called "Miller's Brown Skinned Models" which played southern
dates at carnivals, fairs, and expositions. This experience let the Keys get
lots of practice on the road and how to handle the business end of their chosen
profession.
In early February of 1951, Eddie
Messner head of Aladdin Records in Los Angeles, on a talent scouting trip to
the Eastern part of the country, signs the Five Keys to his label. After some
practice and song choices, the first release by the group was set in late April
on Aladdin #3085 - "With A Broken Heart" and "Too Late".
The initial offering for the label did not do much but it did not take long
for the Five Keys to hit their stride with their second release during the summer
on Alladin #3099 of the pop standard "The Glory of Love" and the flip
side was a jump tune called "Hucklebuck With Jimmy". The ballad side
takes off immediately on the West Coast and soon is the hottest selling R &
B record in Los Angeles. The well known Shaw Agency takes over booking and management
of the group and the are set to open for a week during Labor Day at Philadelphia's
Club Harlem. Soon after the Keys sign on for a series of one nighters in the
South and Midwest with Joan Shaw and Billy Ford's band. In late September the
Messner Brothers of Aladdin Records declare "Glory Of Love" the label's
biggest seller ever. The Hollywood Four Flames record a cover version of the
song for the Recorded In Hollywood. In October the group is threatened with
legal action over their name said to be originated by a group called The Keys
consisting of the four Furness brothers. At years end, the Five Keys have a
seasonal release on #3113 with "It's Christmas Time" and the flip
side of "Old MacDonald".
The year 1952 started out with "Old MacDonald" getting a new flip
side on #3118, the old time tune "Yes Sir That's My Baby". The group
also does in person appearances in the Boston area, and follows it with a tour
of the South along with Varetta Dillard, Billy Wright, and Hot Lips Page and
his band. In early May the group does a week at New York's Apollo Theater along
with Big Joe Turner. About this time the newest release by the group is out
on Aladdin#3127 - "Red Sails In The Sunset" / "Be Anything But
Be Mine" this time pairing two pop music standard ballads. Following quickly
was #3131 - "How Long" and "Mistakes" in late May. The Five
Keys are booked with The Griffin Brothers combo for a river cruise on the Potomac
River in August. Saul Richfield was now the manager of the group and in July
the group continues with a spate of pop standards on #3136 with "I Hadn't
Anyone Till You". The flip side is the ballad "Hold Me" which
was a hit for The Larks. Later in the year during November, The Five Keys are
honored by Aladdin Records president Eddie Mesner for their success on the label.
The group finished up a very successful week at Detroit's Plantation night spot
and are headed for a week at the Sportsman's Club in Newport Kentucky. "I
Cried For You" and "Serve Another Round" are released on Aladdin
#3158 in mid November. For the Christmas season the group will appear with Charlie
Barnet and his orchestra in Providence, Rhode Island, at the Arcadia Club. At
the end of the year Rudy West and Dickie Smith were slated to do service for
the U.S. Army, and so replacements Ulysses Hicks and Ramon Loper were added
to the five voices.
In February of 1953 the Keys continued on Aladdin with #3167 - "Can't Keep
From Crying" and "Come Go My Bail Louise". When that release
showed little promise the group followed it up with an answer record to Ruth
Brown's massive Atlantic hit "Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean" in
late March. The Five Keys tune was called "Mama Your Daughter Told A Lie
On Me" and was coupled with "There Ought To Be A Law Against Breaking
My Heart". In May The Five Keys are the first act to appear at a new night
spot in Jacksonville, Florida called The El Sambo Room. Over the Memorial Day
weekend, the Keys return to the standard ballad approach with their version
of "These Foolish Things" on Aladdin #3190. The flip side of the new
release is "Lonesome Old Story". In July the group does a week at
Weeke's Lounge in Atlantic City with Milt Buckner and Freddie Cole. In October
The Five Keys are signed to do a number of one nighters in the Mid Atlantic
states. The unique bill will also headline the Woody Herman Orchestra. Aladdin
#3204 by the group is released. The record features the songs "Teardrops
In Your Eyes" and "I'm So High". The Keys do a number of one
nighters in the Northeast starring with Chuck Willis and Milt Buckner's Combo.
The group rounds out the year with their new Aladdin release "My Saddest
Hour" and "Oh Babe" on # 3214.
Beginning in 1954, it seems that "My Saddest Hour" is the best selling
Five Keys record since "Glory Of Love". Also in January Dickie Smith
former Keys lead singer has signed a recording contract with Bruce Records in
New York to perform as a solo act, and soon has "A New Kind Of Love"
out on his new label. In March the Keys new Aladdin release on #3228 is "Someday
Sweetheart" and "Love My Loving". The quintet is booked at many
night spots along the Eastern seaboard throughout the spring with such stops
as Odd Fellows hall in Wilmington, Delaware, and Elk's Lodge in Alexandria,
Virginia. Although sales have been spotty for the group on Aladdin they continue
to be a good draw on the road owing to their two big hits "Glory Of Love"
and "My Saddest Hour". In late May #3245 is released featuring "Deep
In My Heart" and "How Do You Expect Me To Get It?". On June 25
The Five Keys appeared at Moondog's Birthday Ball in Akron, Ohio. The show mc'd
by Alan Freed also starred Joe Turner, Faye Adams, Al Savage, and the Joe Morris
band. The complete sellout (many were turned away) was also noteworthy for the
fact that more than one-third of the audience was White, a fact not lost on
representatives of eastern radio station WINS in New York which is mulling over
plans to bring Freed and his show to the big apple. Meanwhile the group saw
the end of its association with Aladdin Records coming to an end. The group
was originally set to go to RCA Victor and its subsidiary label X (soon changed
to Groove), but that deal was soon buried. On August 29, Dave Cavanaugh A &
R rep for Capitol Records announces the signing of The Five Keys to the Hollywood
based major label. This is a breakthrough for the group and one of the very
few instances of an R & B act getting a shot with a national major. Recording
sessions for the group are set up for mid-September.
After the move to Capitol, there were two further releases on Aladdin by the
group. The first was #3263 - "My Love" and "Why Oh Why"
in November of 1954, and a re-release of "Glory Of Love" (called "The
Story Of Love" in some ads) b/w "Serve Another Round" on #3312
in January of 1956. But in September of 1954, the rock 'n roll tidal wave was
about to be unleashed and the veteran Five Keys with seven years of professional
experience behind them were poised to become a part of the biggest musical explosion
the world had ever seen.