THE LAMPLIGHTERS, "FIVE MINUTES LONGER" C/W "YOU HEAR," FEDERAL 45-12192 (REL. 8/1954)

The Lamplighters were a lot of groups. They were later The Sharps, frequent backup vocalists for soloist Thurston Harris; they went by The Crenshaws and, to greatest acclaim, The Rivingtons. Yep, these are those "Papa Oom Mow Mow" guys about a decade before the bird was the word.
In this phase, they were one element of King-Federal-De Luxe's incomparable Black music line-up. The Ohio label was home to James Brown and his Famous Flames, who were acolytes of King's top group, The "5" Royales--the greatest Black vocal group that ever was. Hank Ballard and The Midnighters, The Dominoes, Freddy King: one could fill paragraphs with the mention of Syd Nathan's stable of talent.

Whatever name you dropped on this talented quintet, they made energetic, stylish and well-sung recordings throughout the classic 45-rpm era. The group began their story in LA's Watts neighborhood, where they fell under the tutelage of Johnny Otis, a Greek-American r&b fanatic who passed for Black and encouraged a generation of talent to go pro and do well. The group first performed in Watts talent shows. At one such gig, they lost top honors to Thurston Harris (who sang a "5" Royales song for the win). The group members approached Harris and invited him to join.

It wasn't long before Ralph Bass, the talented master-of-all-trades for King and its other labels, caught the group, produced a contract and got them into an LA studio for the first of many fine outings on the Federal label. 

We catch them in this first peak period, as they deliver a pair of songs by the talented Rudy Toombs (one of the best Black songwriters of this era). Let's drop the needle on these great sides!

A light mambo-bop beat distinguishes "Five Minutes Longer," a racier variant on the Broadway standard "Five Minutes More." What that song's lyricist, Sammy Cahn, suggests with sly innuendo these guys lay flat on the table. They plan to make ev'ry second count, and their playful, flavorful vocals add appeal to this time-worn scenario.

Cash Box preferred the B-side, but both are tops!

"You Hear" continues this c'mon-baby-les'-go theme with a more straightforward rockin' vibe. Their harmonized vocals bend in an erotic leer, kin to the graphic contortions of horny 1940s cartoon wolves, and they're surrounded by top LA session talent. With all this going for them they could wear down any but the most stubborn with their hue of woo. "Ditty has a beat that could make time with the cat set," Cash Box says in the hipster argot of 1954. I can't argue that point one bit!

Thurston Harris left the group in 1956 to go solo; they changed name to The Tenderfeets but it just wasn't the same anymore. They left Federal and became The Sharps; they're heard on guitar twanger Duane Eddy's early sides for Jamie Records; the group worked with producer Lee Hazelwood at that time. They also sang behind Harris on some of his Aladdin Records hits.

In 1962, they became The Rivingtons, whose singles combine wild rhythm novelties with powerful deep-soul ballads on their B-sides. These guys are part of many beloved recordings of the 1950s and '60s.

Tomorrow: We haven't made up our minds yet! There's plenty to choose from, so it'll be good,