THE FIVE KEYS: "IT'S A CRYIN' SHAME" (CAPITOL F-3830, REL.11/1957); "BOOM-BOOM" (CAPITOL F-3786, REL.8/1957)

The Five Keys were Capitol Records' most successful Black vocal group in the 1950s. The California-based label dabbled in vernacular music but, like RCA-Victor, concentrated on mainstream pop, country and what was once called "good music"--unexceptional big-band style instrumentals as delivered by Les Baxter. (To his credit, Baxter created a series of moody, evocative albums in the exotica vein; that was his most sincere and invested work, and it shows.)

This talented group, who began on the indie label Aladdin Records, might have seen the move to Capitol as a betterment of their lot, but it came with a price. The Keys were encouraged to embrace the mainstream pop market. Their forte was the r&b ballad, which lead singer Rudy West delivered with utmost soul and conviction. (After they moved from Capitol to King Records, West was able to realize this style in killer songs like "Dream On.") Alas, Capitol's insistence that they record often-stupid songs, with grating, brassy big-band-ish arrangements did the Keys no favors. 

The quality of their Capitol singles varies from release to release. A powerful pairing of hard-edged r&b items might follow a tepid "good music" ballad paired with an irksome novelty song. There's little consistency, but when this group was allowed to do their thing, they were excellent. Capitol's forays into rock 'n' roll were similar. An artist like Gene Vincent might deliver a blazing rocker on one release and a cutesy teener ballad on the next. No thought was given to the performers' preferences. They considered themselves lucky if they got to make, from time to time, a record in their real style.

Amongst The Five Keys' singles of 1957--a mixed bag of styles--come two hard-hitting rockers both consigned to the B-sides of singles. This is how the group really sounded when given their way. No one thought about the big picture of consistency, artist image and what made a performer or group special. The music they made was tolerated by most labels because it sold; one pictures the executives holding their nose as they dropped rock 'n' roll and r&b releases into the market.

"It's a Cryin' Shame," penned by Aaron Schroeder and Guy Wood, sounds like it may have been written with Elvis Presley in mind. Its shuffle rhythm, and the song's phrasing, have that "Elvis" vibe big-time. The song works wonders in the Keys' hands. Rudy West delivers his lead with mucho feeling, with the other Keys in superb support. The session drummer (Panama Francis?) gives a shuffle-beat to die for, and the sax solo (by King Curtis) is spot-on. Guitarist George Barnes is heard strumming chords; he does one little flourish, near the end of the song, that IDs him to these ears. This sounds like a hit to me; to Capitol, it was just another record by artists they didn't understand.

On the B-side of a ballad called "The Face of an Angel," eccentric songsmith John Leslie McFarland's intense, bizarre "Boom-Boom" made the late summer of 1957 special for the three people who heard it. McFarland was a singular dude. Mental issues combined with a 24/7 party lifestyle led to numerous stories by those who knew him and witnessed them. McFarland had an ear for a hit song, and his work was recorded by Elvis ("Stuck on You") UK pop vocalist Billy J. Kramer ("Little Children") and Aretha Franklin, whose debut album for Columbia Records is almost all McFarland songs. 

"Boom-Boom" uses an odd, intense patois on its choruses; the results are endearing on this bluesy bopper with the same session cats as on "Cryin' Shame" save the sax man, who might be Sam "The Man" Taylor. Once heard, "Boom-Boom" is never forgotten.

Had this group been given more say-so in what they recorded, they'd be better-appreciated now. Their Capitol singles are a mixed lot, but the good sides are tops and I'll never turn down a record of theirs I don't have.

Tomorrow: The Blossoms, with Darlene Love, deliver a sassy putdown song coupled with a churchy ballad that is one of Ms. L's career masterpieces. A Challenge Records 45 from 1962.