The 5 Royales

Biography

Early Life

The Five Royales trace their origins to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where brothers Lowman "Pete" Pauling Jr. and Clarence Pauling, along with William Samuels, Otto "Jeff" Jeffries, and Curtis Pauling, formed the Royal Sons Quintet around 1942. Rooted in the African American jubilee gospel quartet tradition, the group built a regional following performing on local Winston-Salem radio stations WSJS, WAIR, and WAAA. Their sound was deeply shaped by Black church music — passionate call-and-response vocals, fervent harmonies, and the emotional heat of revival preaching. By 1950, key lineup changes brought in Johnny Tanner and his brother Eugene Tanner, who would become the twin lead vocalists of their classic period. In April 1952, the group sent a demo tape to Apollo Records in New York, beginning their crossover from sacred to secular music.

Career

Signed to Apollo Records in 1952 and re-branded "The 5 Royales" by label head Carl LeBow, the group immediately scored with gospel-inflected R&B. Lowman Pauling's "Baby Don't Do It" hit No. 1 R&B for three consecutive weeks in early 1953, followed by "Help Me Somebody," which topped the R&B chart for five consecutive weeks. When LeBow moved to King Records in Cincinnati, the Royales followed, entering their most productive era. At King they recorded "Think" (1957, No. 4 R&B) — later covered by James Brown as his breakthrough pop hit — and "Dedicated to the One I Love" (1957), co-written by Pauling and producer Ralph Bass, which became a Top 5 hit for The Shirelles in 1961 and a No. 2 hit for The Mamas & the Papas in 1967. "Tell the Truth" (1958) was subsequently covered by Ray Charles and Ike and Tina Turner. After disputes with King Records, the group recorded for Home of the Blues and other smaller labels before disbanding around 1964–1965, having released 59 singles across their career.

Musical Style

The Five Royales synthesized jubilee gospel quartet harmonics with jump blues energy, pioneering what would become soul music before the genre had a name. Johnny Tanner's preacher-style lead — raw, urgent, drenched in church fervor — and Eugene Tanner's smoother counter-leads gave the group a dynamic vocal range rarely heard in early 1950s R&B. But the group's most singular voice was Lowman Pauling's guitar. He pioneered a call-and-response approach between guitar and vocals, weaving fills into the spaces left by the singers — a technique that Steve Cropper later identified as the foundation of the Stax guitar style. Rock critic Dave Marsh credited Pauling with recording the first intentional use of guitar feedback on "The Slummer the Slum" (1958), predating The Beatles, The Yardbirds, and Jimi Hendrix by years. Pauling's playing combined rhythmic comping with sudden biting leads, rendered with physical showmanship — he wore an extra-long guitar strap and sometimes played with the instrument positioned near his knees.

Legacy

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 in the Early Influence category — inducted personally by Steve Cropper, who called Pauling's work transformative — and into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009, The Five Royales are increasingly recognized as foundational architects of soul music. James Brown explicitly modeled his Famous Flames after them, and their influence runs through the Stax sound, the British Invasion, and indirectly into Motown via Clarence Pauling's second career as Motown producer Clarence Paul, who guided Stevie Wonder's early recordings. Their songwriting catalog generated far larger hits for other artists than for themselves — a testament to compositions that transcended era and genre. Cropper released a full tribute album, Dedicated: A Salute To The 5 Royales (2011), honoring their legacy. Despite Lowman Pauling spending his final years as a night watchman at a Manhattan church and dying largely unheralded in 1973, his innovations in rhythm guitar technique remain among the most consequential in American music history.

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Fun Facts

• The quotation marks around '5' in the group's official name were an intentional joke — the Five Royales rarely had exactly five members, frequently performing as a six-piece. The scare quotes acknowledged the discrepancy with a wink.
• Lowman Pauling's guitar work on 'The Slummer the Slum' (1958) is credited by rock critic Dave Marsh as the first intentional use of guitar feedback on a commercial recording — predating The Beatles, The Yardbirds, and Jimi Hendrix by several years.
• Despite generating three of the most-covered songs in 1950s R&B ('Dedicated to the One I Love,' 'Think,' 'Tell the Truth'), the Five Royales never saw any of those songs become major pop hits during their own career — their biggest commercial moments belonged to the artists who covered them.
• Clarence Pauling, Lowman's brother and an early Royal Sons member, reinvented himself as Motown producer Clarence Paul and became the primary mentor guiding Stevie Wonder's early recordings — making the Five Royales a hidden genealogical link between Winston-Salem gospel and Motown soul.
• Despite his foundational influence on soul and rock guitar — with Steve Cropper, Eric Clapton, and an entire generation of Stax and British Invasion guitarists citing him — Lowman Pauling spent his final years working as a night watchman at a Manhattan church and died on December 26, 1973, nearly unknown to mainstream audiences. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 42 years later.

Musical Connections

Influences

• James Brown - James Brown explicitly modeled his first vocal group, The Famous Flames, after The Five Royales and closely monitored their releases. He covered their 1957 single 'Think,' transforming it into a breakthrough pop hit (No. 7 Pop / No. 4 R&B, 1960), though a royalty dispute followed. ('Think' (covered 1960)) [late 1950s–1960s]
• Steve Cropper - Steve Cropper credited Lowman Pauling as transformative to his guitar style, stating Pauling 'changed my style and my life.' Cropper personally inducted The Five Royales into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 and recorded an entire tribute album to their catalog. ('Dedicated: A Salute To The 5 Royales' (2011 tribute album)) [1950s–2015]
• Ray Charles - Ray Charles recorded a cover of The Five Royales' 'Tell the Truth' (1958), drawing on the group's early gospel-soul crossover vocabulary that paralleled his own musical development. ('Tell the Truth' (covered 1960)) [late 1950s–1960s]
• Eric Clapton - Eric Clapton cited Lowman Pauling as a key guitar influence, recognizing his pioneering call-and-response technique and innovative use of feedback as foundational to electric blues guitar. [1960s onward]
• Mick Jagger - Mick Jagger covered 'Think' on his 1993 solo album Wandering Spirit, reflecting the enduring reach of the Five Royales' songwriting and the Rolling Stones generation's debt to early R&B. ('Think' on Wandering Spirit (1993))
• Stevie Wonder - The Five Royales' influence reached Motown indirectly through Clarence Paul (born Clarence Pauling), Lowman's brother, who produced and mentored Stevie Wonder during his formative years at Motown. [1960s]
• The Temptations - Through Clarence Paul's A&R work at Motown guiding early Temptations recordings, the vocal group arranging tradition the Five Royales helped pioneer fed indirectly into the Motown sound. [1960s]

Associated Artists

• Hank Ballard - Hank Ballard led a Detroit group also called The Royals, creating a booking mix-up that prompted the Five Royales to adopt their distinctive stylized name with scare quotes around '5.' Both groups operated in parallel in the R&B vocal group tradition. [early 1950s]
• Ike Turner - Ike and Tina Turner recorded a cover of the Five Royales' 'Tell the Truth,' contributing to the song's long afterlife and the Royales' reputation as originators of gutbucket soul-R&B. ('Tell the Truth' cover) [1960s]
• The Shirelles - The Shirelles covered 'Dedicated to the One I Love' in 1961, turning the Five Royales' modest R&B entry into a No. 3 pop smash and dramatically expanding the song's cultural reach. ('Dedicated to the One I Love' (1961 cover, No. 3 Hot 100))

Collaborators

• Ralph Bass - Producer Ralph Bass co-wrote 'Dedicated to the One I Love' with Lowman Pauling and produced key sessions for the group at King Records, shaping some of their most enduring recordings. ('Dedicated to the One I Love' (1957)) [1954–1959]

Family

• Clarence Paul - Clarence Pauling — Lowman's brother and an original Royal Sons member — went on to become Motown Records producer and A&R director Clarence Paul, shaping Stevie Wonder's early career and carrying the Royales' musical DNA into the Motown sound. [1942–1960s]

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia