Biography
The Dallas ensemble known as the Five Americans secured modest national visibility during 1966 and 1967 through the number-five single “Western Union” together with additional Top 40 releases such as “I See the Light,” “Zip Code,” and “Sound of Love.” Their sound centered on effervescent organ parts and crisp vocal blends, favoring energetic pop-rock over British Invasion or R&B models, though traces of garage and frat-rock energy surfaced in the driving beats; guitar-focused cuts like the near-debut “The Train” displayed a different texture whose harmonies and attack echoed Gene Clark’s punchier recordings with the Gosdin Brothers. The musicians recorded extensively across the latter half of the 1960s, frequently under ex-rockabilly artist Dale Hawkins, and composed most of their own songs, yet remained too lightweight and bubblegum-oriented to rival the period’s stronger pop-rock or garage acts. Their 1966 single “I See the Light” stands as their hardest-hitting and finest performance.
Although they were identified with Dallas, the Five Americans originated in Oklahoma. Mike Rabon, raised in Hugo—the Choctaw County seat founded in 1902 and named for novelist Victor Hugo—lived twenty-five miles north of Paris, Texas, and fifteen miles west of Fort Towson, location of the Civil War’s final Confederate surrender. At age eight he developed an interest in guitar, purchasing a second-hand instrument at a local pawn shop; basic chords from his grandmother led to rapid proficiency. National rock-and-roll exposure drew him to Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins, later extending to Frankie Ford. He joined the Rhythm Rebels, a high-school combo focused on instrumentals that performed on local radio. While Rabon absorbed Carl Perkins, Scotty Moore, and similar players, John Durrill, several years his senior and then residing in Bartlesville near the Kansas border and Phillips Petroleum’s birthplace, drew inspiration from Jerry Lee Lewis and developed a more flamboyant piano style. In the early 1960s Durrill enrolled as an English major at Southeastern Oklahoma State College and performed at frat parties; one such engagement for Sigma Tau Gamma introduced him to Rabon, who had entered the school in 1962.
Rabon already envisioned forming a band and recruited Durrill; Norman Ezell on guitar, Johnny Coble on drums, and Jim Grant handling maracas and later bass completed the lineup. Initially called the Mutineers, the quintet built its repertoire around Duane Eddy and Bo Diddley numbers and performed regularly on campus, including Monday nights at the student union. Their debut recording, the instrumental “Jackin’ Around,” was cut in Dallas in 1963 and received college-station airplay. The British Invasion prompted additions of Beatles material, a slight image shift, and greater vocal emphasis. Durrill introduced a Wurlitzer electric piano—acquired by Rabon’s father, Smiley, who had also funded the first sessions—yet the decisive change occurred with the purchase of a Vox organ that later defined the group’s recorded identity.
By summer 1964 the musicians felt prepared to compete in Dallas, but Coble withdrew at the last moment; drummer Jimmy Wright was enlisted on short notice. The members briefly stayed at Durrill’s girlfriend’s apartment and secured their first substantial booking at the Pirates’ Nook club, displacing the resident act largely through onstage energy. Continued success at Lou Ann’s brought an audition with John Abdnor, Jr., whose father owned a record label; the group signed to Abnak, which required a name change that produced the Five Americans. Their first single, “I See the Light,” recorded in Dallas late in 1965, demonstrated a potent unit whose instrumental force recalled the Yardbirds and Nashville Teens while Rabon and Ezell supported Durrill’s vocals. Leased to the HBR label, a Hanna-Barbera subsidiary, the track reached number 26 nationally and authorized a debut album; the arrangement also arranged a Los Angeles trip that broadened the Oklahoma musicians’ horizons beyond Dallas, where their modest-length hair already marked them as outsiders. Appearances at the Whisky a Go Go and on programs such as Shivaree and The Woody Woodbury Show accelerated their national profile through early 1966. At release, neither band nor label had been certain of “I See the Light”’s potential, given the merits of its flip side, “The Train.”
Few college-circuit acts of such brief experience could have opened with comparable force. Similar hopes surrounded the follow-up, the harmony-driven rocker “Evol—Not Love,” yet local business disputes tied to Abdnor confined it to Dallas. The subsequent single “Western Union” immediately climbed to the Top Ten and inaugurated Dale Hawkins’s production role. This development should have elevated the group’s trajectory, but ongoing tensions with Abdnor and the constraints of an independent label eroded the momentum. The loss was especially regrettable because the Five Americans were producing first-rate AM bubblegum alongside occasional credible garage rock and consistently strong pop-rock, distinguished by memorable hooks and vocal blends. Passages on “Now That It’s Over” and “If I Could” display interwoven harmonies and polished execution reminiscent of the Beatles or the Searchers. “Sound of Love” and “Zip Code,” released in 1967, charted lower despite equally hummable qualities, particularly the latter. The band matched Monkees-level craftsmanship without Screen Gems’ institutional support; even when tracks such as “Sympathy” echoed the Beatles’ “You Like Me Too Much,” fresh touches justified repeated listens.
Relations with Abdnor deteriorated further, especially over his requirement that recording remain in Dallas. By 1968 Durrill and Ezell had departed, succeeded by Lenny Goldsmith and Bobby Rambo. The ensemble persisted through 1969, though its name increasingly appeared dated amid rising countercultural influences. National prospects dimmed weekly even while Dallas work remained available. A final double album appeared under the credit Michael Rabon & the Five Americans before the remaining members dispersed. Across later decades the band has been recalled chiefly for “Western Union” and “I See the Light.” In the twenty-first century Sundazed Records reissued substantial portions of the catalog, affording the Five Americans renewed visibility and exposing a richer body of work than the best-known hits alone suggest. Founding guitarist Mike Rabon died February 11, 2022, at age 78.
Although they were identified with Dallas, the Five Americans originated in Oklahoma. Mike Rabon, raised in Hugo—the Choctaw County seat founded in 1902 and named for novelist Victor Hugo—lived twenty-five miles north of Paris, Texas, and fifteen miles west of Fort Towson, location of the Civil War’s final Confederate surrender. At age eight he developed an interest in guitar, purchasing a second-hand instrument at a local pawn shop; basic chords from his grandmother led to rapid proficiency. National rock-and-roll exposure drew him to Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins, later extending to Frankie Ford. He joined the Rhythm Rebels, a high-school combo focused on instrumentals that performed on local radio. While Rabon absorbed Carl Perkins, Scotty Moore, and similar players, John Durrill, several years his senior and then residing in Bartlesville near the Kansas border and Phillips Petroleum’s birthplace, drew inspiration from Jerry Lee Lewis and developed a more flamboyant piano style. In the early 1960s Durrill enrolled as an English major at Southeastern Oklahoma State College and performed at frat parties; one such engagement for Sigma Tau Gamma introduced him to Rabon, who had entered the school in 1962.
Rabon already envisioned forming a band and recruited Durrill; Norman Ezell on guitar, Johnny Coble on drums, and Jim Grant handling maracas and later bass completed the lineup. Initially called the Mutineers, the quintet built its repertoire around Duane Eddy and Bo Diddley numbers and performed regularly on campus, including Monday nights at the student union. Their debut recording, the instrumental “Jackin’ Around,” was cut in Dallas in 1963 and received college-station airplay. The British Invasion prompted additions of Beatles material, a slight image shift, and greater vocal emphasis. Durrill introduced a Wurlitzer electric piano—acquired by Rabon’s father, Smiley, who had also funded the first sessions—yet the decisive change occurred with the purchase of a Vox organ that later defined the group’s recorded identity.
By summer 1964 the musicians felt prepared to compete in Dallas, but Coble withdrew at the last moment; drummer Jimmy Wright was enlisted on short notice. The members briefly stayed at Durrill’s girlfriend’s apartment and secured their first substantial booking at the Pirates’ Nook club, displacing the resident act largely through onstage energy. Continued success at Lou Ann’s brought an audition with John Abdnor, Jr., whose father owned a record label; the group signed to Abnak, which required a name change that produced the Five Americans. Their first single, “I See the Light,” recorded in Dallas late in 1965, demonstrated a potent unit whose instrumental force recalled the Yardbirds and Nashville Teens while Rabon and Ezell supported Durrill’s vocals. Leased to the HBR label, a Hanna-Barbera subsidiary, the track reached number 26 nationally and authorized a debut album; the arrangement also arranged a Los Angeles trip that broadened the Oklahoma musicians’ horizons beyond Dallas, where their modest-length hair already marked them as outsiders. Appearances at the Whisky a Go Go and on programs such as Shivaree and The Woody Woodbury Show accelerated their national profile through early 1966. At release, neither band nor label had been certain of “I See the Light”’s potential, given the merits of its flip side, “The Train.”
Few college-circuit acts of such brief experience could have opened with comparable force. Similar hopes surrounded the follow-up, the harmony-driven rocker “Evol—Not Love,” yet local business disputes tied to Abdnor confined it to Dallas. The subsequent single “Western Union” immediately climbed to the Top Ten and inaugurated Dale Hawkins’s production role. This development should have elevated the group’s trajectory, but ongoing tensions with Abdnor and the constraints of an independent label eroded the momentum. The loss was especially regrettable because the Five Americans were producing first-rate AM bubblegum alongside occasional credible garage rock and consistently strong pop-rock, distinguished by memorable hooks and vocal blends. Passages on “Now That It’s Over” and “If I Could” display interwoven harmonies and polished execution reminiscent of the Beatles or the Searchers. “Sound of Love” and “Zip Code,” released in 1967, charted lower despite equally hummable qualities, particularly the latter. The band matched Monkees-level craftsmanship without Screen Gems’ institutional support; even when tracks such as “Sympathy” echoed the Beatles’ “You Like Me Too Much,” fresh touches justified repeated listens.
Relations with Abdnor deteriorated further, especially over his requirement that recording remain in Dallas. By 1968 Durrill and Ezell had departed, succeeded by Lenny Goldsmith and Bobby Rambo. The ensemble persisted through 1969, though its name increasingly appeared dated amid rising countercultural influences. National prospects dimmed weekly even while Dallas work remained available. A final double album appeared under the credit Michael Rabon & the Five Americans before the remaining members dispersed. Across later decades the band has been recalled chiefly for “Western Union” and “I See the Light.” In the twenty-first century Sundazed Records reissued substantial portions of the catalog, affording the Five Americans renewed visibility and exposing a richer body of work than the best-known hits alone suggest. Founding guitarist Mike Rabon died February 11, 2022, at age 78.
Albums
