lf you're curious enough about the Five Americans
to want more than a greatest hits collection, this 1966 album is a
worthwhile supplement. Ten of the 12 cuts are group originals, and they
lean toward the gutsier side of what this sometimes pop-oriented act
could offer, with occasional influences of Beau Brummels-like folk-rock. Most of the songs are not on their CD best-of (Western Union), and this disc adds previously unreleased alternate takes of "The Train" and "Good Times."(R.Unterberger, allmusic.com)
In 1966-1967, this Dallas group enjoyed some modest
national success with the number five hit "Western Union," as well as a
few other Top 40 entries, "I See the Light," "Zip Code," and "Sound of
Love." Dominated by high bubbling organ lines and clean harmony vocals,
the group favored high-energy pop/rock far more than British Invasion or
R&B-inspired sounds, although a bit of garage/frat rock raunch
could be detected in their stomping rhythms -- and their
guitar-dominated tracks offered something else again, the harmonies and
texture of "The Train" (which was very nearly their debut single)
recalling the punchier work of Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers from the same period. Recording prolifically throughout the last half of the '60s (often with ex-rockabilly star Dale Hawkins
as producer) and writing much of their own material, they were
ultimately too lightweight and bubblegum-ish to measure up to either the
era's better pop/rock or garage bands. Their 1966 hit "I See the Light"
is their toughest and best performance.
Though they officially hailed from Dallas, the Five Americans had their origins in Oklahoma. Mike Rabon
grew up in Hugo, the county seat of Choctaw County, in southeastern
Oklahoma, founded in 1902 (and named after Victor Hugo, the novelist),
25 miles north of Paris, Texas, and 15 miles west of Fort Towson, site
of the last Confederate surrender of the Civil War. He became interested
in playing the guitar when he was eight years old, and saved up to buy a
homemade instrument at a local pawn shop. He got a start on a few
chords learned from his grandmother and quickly got the hang of the
instrument. When rock & roll broke nationally, he was swept right
in, and became a big fan of Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins, and later added singers such as Frankie Ford to his list of influences. He joined a local high-school band called the Rhythm Rebels, who played mostly instrumentals and whose gigs included some local radio appearances. While Rabon was honing his guitar skills and learning what he could from the playing of Carl Perkins, Scotty Moore, et al., John Durrill,
who was a few years older, was living Bartlesville, OK -- near the
Kansas border, originally part of Indian Territory, and the birthplace
of Phillips Petroleum -- and already learning a lot by listening to Jerry Lee Lewis, whose playing inspired him to dress up his already freewheeling approach to the piano even more flamboyantly.
Durrill
entered Southeastern Oklahoma State College in the early '60s as an
English major, and played frat parties and the like in his spare time.
It was at one such event, playing for Sigma Tau Gamma, that he crossed
paths with Rabon, who had started attending the school in 1962.
By that time, Rabon had in his mind the idea of putting together a group, and he approached Durrill. The others -- Norman Ezell (guitar), Johnny Coble (drums), and Jim Grant (maracas and later bass) -- fell into place quickly. The quintet, named the Mutineers, had a repertory built on the music of Duane Eddy and Bo Diddley,
and played events around campus, including a regular Monday night gig
at the student union. They were good enough to take a chance on
recording, cutting their debut in Dallas in 1963 with "Jackin' Around,"
an instrumental that got some play on their college station. The British
Invasion caused them to add some Beatles numbers to their set list and change their look slightly, as well as emphasize their singing a little bit more. Durrill also added a Wurlitzer electric piano -- purchased by Rabon's
father, Smiley (who had also financed their first recording sessions)
-- to their sound, though the big change came later, when he acquired a
Vox organ, which became part of the group's signature sound when the
band started recording.
By the summer of 1964, they felt ready to try competing in Dallas, but Coble backed out at the last minute, and they recruited drummer Jimmy Wright on a couple of hours' notice. The bandmembers spent a few weeks crashing at the pad of Durrill's girlfriend, and picked up their first serious gig -- appropriately enough, for a band called the Mutineers
-- at a club called The Pirates' Nook, where they bumped an established
band out of their spot there, mostly with their stage antics. They did
well enough so that they decided to stick it out for a while longer,
past the end of the summer. The Mutineers were booked into a club called
Lou Ann's, where they chanced to be heard by John Abdnor, Jr.,
whose multimillionaire father owned a record label. He invited them to
audition, and they were duly signed up to his Abnak label. The latter
also involved a name change, and that was how the Five Americans got their new name, at Abdnor's insistence.
Their first single, "I See the Light," cut in late
1965 in Dallas, showed just how powerful a performing unit they'd become
in the previous year, their instrumental attack resembling the best
elements of such much-vaunted British bands as the Yardbirds and the Nashville Teens, with Durrill's singing supported by Rabon and Ezell.
The single, which was leased to the HBR label -- a unit of
Hanna-Barbera Studios, the cartoon producers -- reached number 26
nationally, and the group got the go-ahead to work on a debut LP.
Equally important, the licensing deal got the Five Americans
a trip to Los Angeles to meet the executives of the national label.
That in itself was highly instructive to five Oklahoma boys who hadn't
been anywhere more sophisticated than Dallas -- where their "long hair"
(not nearly to the shoulders) made them "freaks" -- and their musical
ambitions as well as the quintet's visual presentation advanced by leaps
and bounds across early 1966, even as they made the rounds of venues
such as the Whisky a Go Go and various TV music showcases such as
Shivaree and The Woody Woodbury Show, turning into a national-level act
in a matter of weeks. Oddly enough, at the time of its release, the band
and its label hadn't been certain of "I See the Light"'s appeal,
especially as its other side, "The Train," had some merit of its own.
Not too many bands coming off the college circuit by
scarcely a year could have led with that kind of strength. There were
similarly high expectations for their follow-up single, "Evol -- Not
Love," a harmony-based rocker that seemed to carry them to the next
step. Alas, it didn't do nearly as well, essentially dying in the womb
in Dallas, owing to a local business-related "political" dispute
involving Abdnor.
But their next single, "Western Union," soared from the moment it
reached the public, reaching the Top Ten. It also marked the beginning
of Dale Hawkins,
the guitarist/singer/composer of "Susie Q" fame, working as their
producer. This should have been the beginning of a new phase in the
group's history, and a leap in their fortunes and prospects, but
differences with Abdnor
and the limitations inherent in not being signed to a major label
combined to sap whatever momentum the song generated. This was all
especially tragic, as the Five Americans
were generating music that was not only superb AM bubblegum pop, but
also credible garage rock on occasion, and excellent pop/rock overall,
with killer harmonies and excellent playing, filled with the kinds of
hooks that most bands would kill for on their records.
Indeed, there are moments on "Now That It's Over"
and "If I Could" where their mix of nicely woven harmonies and clean,
sophisticated playing recall the work of the Beatles or the Searchers.
"Sound of Love" and "Zip Code" -- issued in 1967 -- charted far lower
than the records that had preceded them, despite hooks and harmonies
that made them eminently hummable and memorable (especially "Zip Code").
They were doing work of at least the caliber of the Monkees
without the Screen Gems publishing/arranging/producing factory backing
them up, and if some of it was a bit derivative -- "Sympathy" did seem
to recall the Beatles'
"You Like Me Too Much" at times -- the music was presented with enough
fresh twists to easily justify the purchase and the listening time.
The differences with Abdnor
were worsening, however, and the members felt he was now compromising
the music and any chance for growth by his insistence that they continue
to record in Dallas. By 1968 Durrill and Ezell were both gone, replaced by Lenny Goldsmith and Bobby Rambo.
The group continued on through 1969, but by then even their name was
starting to sound quaintly out of date amid the burgeoning influence of
the counterculture; they could probably have gone on indefinitely in
Dallas, but their chances for national exposure were receding by the
week. Among their last efforts was a double LP (credited to "Michael Rabon & the Five Americans"),
before the remaining members went their separate ways. The band has
mostly been remembered across the decades for its two biggest hits,
"Western Union" and "I See the Light." In the 21st century, however,
Sundazed Records reissued a big chunk of their catalog, giving the Five Americans
their biggest exposure in decades, and revealing an astonishingly fine
legacy, far beyond their best-known hits and all well worth hearing.
Very strong garage pop band with a good feeling for melodies. Despite the pop success you always could hear their garage roots.
Enjoy
SB1
Flac p1 &
Flac p2 mp3@320
