The Rainbow and Old Town Recordings

The Five Crowns' claim to fame, of course, is that they turned into the Drifters in 1959, but these recordings were made four-to-seven years earlier, and they feature only one singer, bass-baritone Doc Green, who was also a member of the later ensemble. When the Five Crowns made their first single, "A Star"/"You're My Desire" for Rainbow Records in July 1952, their lineup consisted of Green, Wilbur "Yonkie" Paul, and the three Clark brothers — James "Papa" Clark, Claudie "Nicky" Clark, and John "Sonny Boy" Clark — with Paul singing lead on the up-tempo songs and "Papa" Clark taking over for the ballads. Both sides of the single, along with the contents of the group's three subsequent Rainbow singles, are included here, along with seven more tracks from Rainbow, three of which — "Good Luck Darling," "You Win Again," and "The Man on the Moon" — are previously unreleased. The Five Crowns then moved to Old Town Records for two singles, both sides of which are heard here (among them a second recording of "Good Luck Darling"), along with the previously unreleased "Oh Lovely One." In addition to the historical significance of these recordings, they prove to be impressive vocal group tracks with impassioned singing. They don't sound much like the late-'50s Drifters, but they are powerful early examples of the kind of music the later group specialized in, and doo wop collectors' interest in them is more than justified by this valuable release.