Biography
The Five Pennies formed when Clifford Curry joined forces with Benjamin Washington, Charles Holloway, Herbert Myers, and the twins John and James Myers, all of whom had first crossed paths as high school students in Knoxville, TN. Before Curry’s arrival the lineup had already cut four unreleased sides as the Echos and supplied backing for Faye Adams on her chart-topping “Shake a Hand.”
Once Curry came aboard, their manager Fred Logan, a prominent Knoxville bootlegger, secured a contract with Savoy Records of Newark, NJ. Label owner Herman Lubinsky gave the six-man group the name Five Pennies to sidestep any mix-up with an existing act. Their initial Savoy outing found them supporting Big Al Miller on the 1955 coupling “All Is Well” b/w “Try to Understand,” issued under the credit Big Al Miller & the Five Pennies. Savoy next released the first single billed solely to the Five Pennies, the 1955 pairing “Mr. Moon” b/w “Let It Rain”; the A-side, a Curry original, stands as a textbook example of 1950s doo wop tinged with southern inflections. The group’s last Savoy single, “My Heart Trembles” b/w “Money,” stirred modest local interest; both tracks were jointly written by Curry, Holloway, Washington, and Herbert and James Myers.
Although six masters were recorded for Savoy, only the two aforementioned singles appeared at the time. In 1956 Herald Records purchased the rights to two further titles, “Wedding Bells” and “Put This Ring on Your Finger,” yet left them unreleased until King Tut Records finally issued them in the 1980s. Curry also recalled cutting his own “Mine for a Lifetime” for the label, though that recording likewise remained vaulted.
The members soon went separate ways. John Myers first recorded two singles with the Chimes on Arrow in 1957 and one more with the Four Jokers on Sue in 1958. In 1964 he reactivated the Five Pennies name, now shortened to the Four Pennies, for a lone Brunswick release that paired his own “You’re a Gas With Your Trash” with “You Have No Time to Lose,” written by Bill Buie, Johnny Ellis, and Joseph Myers.
By the early 1960s John Myers had relocated to Tampa, FL. In 1970 he assembled a new Tampa-based group, the Hearts of Stone, which issued an album and two singles on Motown’s VIP imprint under producer Hank Cosby. Herbert and James Myers remained in Knoxville, confining their performances to gospel and taking no part in the Hearts of Stone project. Benjamin Washington and Charles Holloway both settled in New York, NY, where Holloway eventually vanished from public view. Curry launched a solo career that yielded the 1967 Elf Records hit “She Shot a Whole in My Soul.” He stayed busy in the studio; in January 2000 he hurriedly tracked a Toyota commercial.
Once Curry came aboard, their manager Fred Logan, a prominent Knoxville bootlegger, secured a contract with Savoy Records of Newark, NJ. Label owner Herman Lubinsky gave the six-man group the name Five Pennies to sidestep any mix-up with an existing act. Their initial Savoy outing found them supporting Big Al Miller on the 1955 coupling “All Is Well” b/w “Try to Understand,” issued under the credit Big Al Miller & the Five Pennies. Savoy next released the first single billed solely to the Five Pennies, the 1955 pairing “Mr. Moon” b/w “Let It Rain”; the A-side, a Curry original, stands as a textbook example of 1950s doo wop tinged with southern inflections. The group’s last Savoy single, “My Heart Trembles” b/w “Money,” stirred modest local interest; both tracks were jointly written by Curry, Holloway, Washington, and Herbert and James Myers.
Although six masters were recorded for Savoy, only the two aforementioned singles appeared at the time. In 1956 Herald Records purchased the rights to two further titles, “Wedding Bells” and “Put This Ring on Your Finger,” yet left them unreleased until King Tut Records finally issued them in the 1980s. Curry also recalled cutting his own “Mine for a Lifetime” for the label, though that recording likewise remained vaulted.
The members soon went separate ways. John Myers first recorded two singles with the Chimes on Arrow in 1957 and one more with the Four Jokers on Sue in 1958. In 1964 he reactivated the Five Pennies name, now shortened to the Four Pennies, for a lone Brunswick release that paired his own “You’re a Gas With Your Trash” with “You Have No Time to Lose,” written by Bill Buie, Johnny Ellis, and Joseph Myers.
By the early 1960s John Myers had relocated to Tampa, FL. In 1970 he assembled a new Tampa-based group, the Hearts of Stone, which issued an album and two singles on Motown’s VIP imprint under producer Hank Cosby. Herbert and James Myers remained in Knoxville, confining their performances to gospel and taking no part in the Hearts of Stone project. Benjamin Washington and Charles Holloway both settled in New York, NY, where Holloway eventually vanished from public view. Curry launched a solo career that yielded the 1967 Elf Records hit “She Shot a Whole in My Soul.” He stayed busy in the studio; in January 2000 he hurriedly tracked a Toyota commercial.