This excellent compilation on the French Grand Prix label - which shows a highly-suspect "1985" copyright date! - is essentially a reissue of the 1989 English Detour LP 33-010 with the addition of four songs by the Avalons. The CD contains almost the complete output (whether or not originally released) of all three groups on RCA's Groove subsidiary. It is a classic example of fine R&B material in the RCA vaults (and those of other major labels) that would never see the light of day but for enterprising minor reissue labels in Europe.
Regrettably, no liner notes accompany the CD, just a card insert. This review attempts to cover that omission.
The Newport News, Virginia, based Five Keys - Maryland Pierce, Bernie West, Ramon Loper, Ripley Ingram and Ulysses Hicks (Rudy West was in the army at the time) - are too well-known by R&B and Rock 'N' Roll aficionados to require an introduction. They had one "Groove" session on July 1, 1954, apparently a "one-off" between their Aladdin and Capitol contracts, recording five tracks:
Teeth And Tongue Will Get You Hung
When Will My Troubles End (2 takes)
Lawdy Miss Mary
I'll Follow You
Groove assigned record number 0031 to two sides from the session (Lawdy Miss Mary / I'll Follow You), and released DJ copies. However, since the Keys were in the process of signing a contract with Capitol (announced on August 29), the DJ copies were recalled, and it is alleged that only one copy survives. RCA's files indicate that both release and recall occurred on August 9, 1954.
To learn more about the Five Keys, see Marv Goldberg's in-depth article about them.
In this reviewer's opinion, the crowning glory of this collection is the 11 cuts (3 originally unreleased) by Detroit's underrated Nitecaps; Eugene Hamilton, Bob Hamilton, Al Kent and Freddy Price. However, I may be a bit biased, having been a Nitecaps fan since the days of Slim Rose's original Times Square Record Shop (early 1960s). All of their Groove sides from 1955-56 are extremely fine ballads and jump tunes. The Nitecaps also backed up Varetta Dillard on a few Groove releases (uncredited), but the Dillard tracks do not appear in this compilation.
1955 - Groove 0134 - A Kiss And A Vow / Be My Girl
1955 - Groove 0147 - Sweet Thing / Tough Mama
1956 - Groove 0158 - You May Not Know / Bamboo Rock And Roll
1956 - Groove 0176 - In Each Corner Of My Heart / Let Me Know Tonight
The unreleased Nitecaps recordings from 1956 are:
Snap Crackle And Pop,
You're Gonna Be Sorry, and
Oh, You Sweet Girl
Finally there are four sides by the Avalons (the same group that did Heart's Desire / Ebb Tide on Unart in 1958), James Dozier, Charles "Bobby" Crawley, Raphael Ingram, George Cox and Bernard Purdie, who came from Newport News, Virginia, and were closely associated with The Five Keys.
1955 - Groove 0141 - Chains Around My Heart / Ooh She Flew
1956 - Groove 0174 - It's Funny But It's True / Sugar Sugar
According to a report published in 1972, the Avalons also cut the following unreleased tracks for Groove, which are not on this CD:
I Follow The Stars
Little Cutie, and
You Do Something To Me
The list of musicians playing on all these Groove sessions reads like a New York R&B "Who's Who":
Mickey Baker on guitar,
Sam "The Man" Taylor and King Curtis on tenor sax,
Panama Francis on drums, etc.
Track listing:
1. Teeth & Tongue Will Get You Hung - Five Keys
2. When Will My Troubles End (Take B) - Five Keys
3. Lawdy Miss Mary - Five Keys
4. I'll Follow You - FiveKeys
5. Let Me Know Tonight - Nitecaps
6. Oh You Sweet Girl - Nitecaps
7. In Each Corner of My Heart - Nitecaps
8. Sweet Thing - Nitecaps
9. Be My Girl - Nitecaps
10. Tough Mama - Nitecaps
11. A Kiss And A Vow - Nitecaps
12. Bamboo Rock & Roll - Nitecaps
13. You're Gonna Be Sorry - Nitecaps
14. You May Not Know - Nitecaps
15. Snap Crackle & Pop - Nitecaps
16. Chains Around My Heart - Avalons
17. Ooh She Flew - Avalons
18. It's Funny But True - Avalons
19. Sugar Sugar - Avalons
20. When Will My Troubles End (Take A) - Five Keys
