"5" Royales To Be Inducted Into The Rock Hall Of Fame

A pioneering Winston-Salem band will be honored at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The “5” Royales were active for 20 years starting in the mid-40s. Now, almost 50 years after breaking up, the band is finding the widespread recognition that eluded them in their heyday.

The “5” Royales formed as a gospel harmony group. But they made their biggest impact in the early days of rock and roll when they moved over to secular music and incorporated elements of jump blues and doo-wop. Brothers Johnny and Eugene Tanner provided the vocals, while Lowman Pauling wrote songs and developed an influential guitar-playing style.

Ed Bumgardner is a local musician and music writer. He says the “5” Royales were the best-kept secret in R&B music for years.

"They had the multi-harmonies of a doo-wop group, but at the same time they were kind of loose," he says. "They weren't that real tight sort of seamless background. They sound like a band performing instead of a band recording."

The band had a string of R&B hits on their own, but their songs are now better known through remakes. James Brown, for example, had a hit with their song “Think.” Both the Shirells and the Mamas and The Papas reached the top 5 with versions of “Dedicated to the One I Love.”

But the “5” Royales never garnered the success that others had with their music. Bumgardner says the group couldn't get their music on white radio or in front of white audiences. The “5” Royales labored in relative obscurity before breaking up in the mid-60s and settling into lives far from the limelight.

"When I was able to meet several of them and run them down, they were all working as janitors, bus drivers, crossing guards. Lowman had died years before - broke," he says. 

Bumgardner is hoping the Rock Hall induction will generate some interest in the band. But it's far from the only belated recognition.

There's now a box set featuring their music. And noted R&B guitarist Steve Cropper released a tribute album in 2011 that includes performances by such stars as B.B. King and Steve Winwood. Locally, the band is also commemorated with a street that bears their name in downtown Winston-Salem.