FIVE PENNIES - FOUR JOKERS - CHIMES (4) - FOUR PENNIES
The Five Pennies (Knoxville, Tennessee)
aka The Four Jokers aka The Four Pennies (2) aka The Chimes (4)
Personnel :
Clifford Curry (Lead Tenor)
James Myers (First Tenor)
Herbert Myers (Second Tenor)
John Myers (Baritone)
Charles Holloway (Bass)
John Gibbs (Tenor and Piano)
Discography :
The Five Pennies
Single:
1955 - All Is Well /Try To Understand (Savoy 1181)
1955 - Mr Moon / Let It Rain (Savoy 1182)
1956 - My Heart Trembles / Money (Savoy 1190)
Unreleased:
1956 - The Wedding Bells (Savoy)
1956 - Be Mine For A Lifetime (Savoy)
The Four Jokers
1958 - Written In The Stars / The Run Around (Sue 703)
Freddie Scott & The Chimes (4)
1958 - Please Call / The Letter Came This Morning (Arrow 724)
The Chimes (4)
1958 - Lovin' Baby / A Faded Memory (Arrow 726)
The Four Pennies (2)
1966 - You Have No Time To Lose / You're A Gas With Your Trash (Brunswick 55304)
1967 - Tis The Season / Shake A Hand (Brunswick 55324)
Biography :
The Five Pennies -- Clifford Curry, Benjamin Washington, Charles
Holloway, Herbert Myers, and John and James Myers (twins) -- met in high
school in Knoxville, TN. Prior to Curry's involvement, they recorded
four years earlier as the Echos (unreleased) and backed Faye Adams on
her number one smash "Shake a Hand." Things started poppin' after Curry
joined, their manager, Fred Logan (a big bootlegger in Knoxville), got
them a deal with Savoy Records in Newark, NJ. Savoy's owner Herman
Lubinsky renamed them the Five Pennies (though there were actually six
members) to avoid confusion with another group.
Out the box they backed Big Al Miller on "All Is Well" b/w "Try
to Understand" (1955), credited as Big Al Miller & the Five Pennies.
Savoy followed with the first released credited solely to the Five
Pennies "Mr. Moon" b/w "Let It Rain" (1955); the A-Side "Mr. Moon," a
Curry composition, is quintessential '50s doo wop with a southern
flavor. Their final Savoy release, "My Heart Trembles" b/w "Money," made
a little noise but not much, a consortium of Curry, Holloway,
Washington, and Herbert and James Myers collaborated on both sides.
They cut six tracks for Savoy but only 2 singles surfaced. Herald
Records acquired the masters and rights to two tracks ("Wedding Bells"
and "Put This Ring on Your Finger") in 1956 but shelved them; they
didn't see daylight until King Tut Records exposed them in the '80s.
According to Curry, the group also recorded his "Mine for a Lifetime"
(unreleased) for Savoy. The members splintered. John Myers banded with
the Chimes for two Arrow Records' singles in 1957, and then the Four
Jokers for one Sue single in 1958. In 1964, he revived the Five Pennies
as the Four Pennies on Brunswick Records.
