The Five Keys were an American
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
vocal group who were instrumental in shaping this genre in the 1950s.
They were formed with the original name of Sentimental Four in
Newport News, Virginia, US, in the late 1940s, and initially consisted of two sets of brothers - Rudy West and Bernie West, and Ripley Ingram and Raphael Ingram.
Raphael Ingram left in 1949 and Maryland Pierce (March 25, 1932–July 22, 2021) and Thomas 'Dickie' Threatt became members in his place. At this juncture the name of the group was changed to The Five Keys.
[
They were signed to Aladdin Records in 1951, and in 1952 Rudy West left to join the ]United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
, and he was replaced by Ulysses K. Hicks. When Hicks died of a heart attack in Boston in 1955, Rudy West returned to the group. In 1954 Dickie Smith left and was replaced with Ramon Loper. At this point the Five Keys were signed to Capitol Records, and their popularity increased, although more instrumentation was used.[
The group was inducted into the ]Vocal Group Hall of Fame
The Vocal Group Hall of Fame (VGHF) is an American-based hall of fame that honors vocal groups throughout the world in every genre of music. Headquartered in the Columbia Theatre in Sharon, Pennsylvania, it includes a theater and a museum.
It was ...
in 2002.
Ramon Loper died on October 16, 2002, after a short illness.
Discography
Albums
*''The Best of the Five Keys'' (Aladdin 1956)
*''The Five Keys on the Town'' (Score 1957)
*''The Five Keys on Stage'' (Capitol 1957)
*''The Five Keys'' (King 1960)
*''Rhythm and Blues Hits Past and Present'' (King 1960)
*''The Fantastic Five Keys'' (Capitol 1962)
Singles
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Five Keys, The
American rhythm and blues musical groups
American vocal groups
Doo-wop groups
Groove Records artists