Biography
R&B vocal ensemble the Five Red Caps came together in New York City during 1943. Marv Goldberg’s November 1991 Discoveries article recounts that the ensemble had operated earlier as the Four Toppers, an all-star Los Angeles quartet whose original members—tenor/drummer Jimmy Springs, second tenor David Patillo, baritone/bass player Richard Davis, and bass singer/guitarist Steve Gibson—drew the finest singers from four separate local acts. The Four Toppers recorded the 1940 singles “Carry Me Back to Old Virginia” and “Jumpin’ Jive” for Otis Rene’s Armor label, appeared in several Hollywood films, and then moved to New York. When Davis departed in 1942, bassist Doles Dickens and baritone/pianist Romaine Brown joined, prompting the name change to Five Red Caps, taken from the caps traditionally worn by railway porters. Manager/producer Joe Davis signed the quintet, which released its Beacon debut “I’m the One” in 1943; additional Beacon sides such as “There’s a Light on the Hill,” “No Fish Today,” and “Just for You” followed rapidly, yet only the ballad “I Learned a Lesson I’ll Never Forget” achieved notable success, reaching the pop Top 20 in early 1944.
The Five Red Caps renewed their agreement with Davis in spring 1944, generating further singles including “Somebody’s Lyin’,” “Don’t You Know,” and “Sugar Lips.” Roughly twenty Beacon releases appeared within little more than a year before the Five Red Caps—now six members after second tenor/saxophonist Emmett Matthews joined—moved to Savoy late in 1944. Their solitary Savoy single, “If Money Grew on Trees,” was issued under the Toppers name after Davis sued to retain rights to the Red Caps identity. Once Savoy released the act, the musicians returned to Davis and the litigation ended. In mid-1945 the Five Red Caps cut additional material such as “You Thrill Me” and “My Everlasting Love for You,” none of which gained significant airplay, though the group continued headlining theaters and supper clubs nationwide. Their final Davis session in spring 1946 yielded the Beacon single “Words Can’t Explain,” after which new manager Murray Weinger secured a Mercury contract that required the billing Steve Gibson & the Red Caps.
At Mercury the Red Caps performed ballads and jump blues akin to their earlier output, yet both songs and production values improved markedly. Their Mercury debut “You Can’t See the Sun When You’re Cryin’” surfaced in early 1947, and “Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine” became a major hit the following year. Springs briefly exited soon afterward, replaced by tenor Earl Plummer; over subsequent years Springs and Plummer each rejoined at intervals, sometimes performing together. The Red Caps appeared in the 1949 Rudy Vallée television special Excess Baggage and the 1950 film Destination Murder, while also performing regularly on variety programs hosted by Ed Sullivan, Arthur Godfrey, and Jackie Gleason. After issuing “Steve’s Blues” in mid-1950 they left Mercury for RCA, releasing “Am I to Blame” before year’s end. Its follow-up, “I’m to Blame,” arrived in March 1951 and introduced singer Damita Jo du Blanc, who became a permanent member, sang lead on the 1952 hit “I Went to Your Wedding,” and married Gibson in 1954.
Plummer departed permanently in 1952; Romaine Brown followed a year later to form the Romaines, whose later lineup included Plummer. The Red Caps stayed popular on the concert circuit, frequently before white audiences, yet their postwar-R&B style fell out of step with newer vocal groups. RCA proved unable to adapt the act’s direction; after “Big Game Hunter” in 1953 the Red Caps remained out of the studio for more than two years, and their final RCA singles “Feelin’ Kinda Happy” and “Bobbin’” failed to chart. The label parted ways with the group in late 1955; ABC Paramount then issued “Love Me Tenderly” the next summer. Four ABC singles appeared, most prominently “Flamingo” in 1957, before the Red Caps moved to Hi-Lo for the 1958 release “Itty Bitty.” Brown rejoined in 1959 after dissolving the Romaines, in time for the Rose single “Bless You” and its Casa Blanca follow-up “Where Are You.” The Red Caps even returned briefly to ABC for a 1960 remake of “I Went to Your Wedding.”
Brown and Damita Jo du Blanc both left in 1960, the latter scoring a solo hit with the answer record “I’ll Save the Last Dance for You.” A rotating cast of male and female singers passed through the lineup, and founding member David Patillo formed a competing Modern Red Caps in 1961. By the time of the Red Caps’ final single—the 1962 Band Box release “No More”—only Gibson and Emmett Matthews remained from the classic roster. The act continued performing in supper clubs and, for a period in the mid-1960s, featured rising vocalist Tammy Montgomery, later known as Tammi Terrell. Gibson disbanded the Red Caps around 1968, concluding a twenty-five-year career; he later joined the New Ink Spots in 1980. Gibson died in 1995, having been predeceased by Patillo (1970), Brown (1987), and Springs (also 1987); du Blanc died in 1999.
The Five Red Caps renewed their agreement with Davis in spring 1944, generating further singles including “Somebody’s Lyin’,” “Don’t You Know,” and “Sugar Lips.” Roughly twenty Beacon releases appeared within little more than a year before the Five Red Caps—now six members after second tenor/saxophonist Emmett Matthews joined—moved to Savoy late in 1944. Their solitary Savoy single, “If Money Grew on Trees,” was issued under the Toppers name after Davis sued to retain rights to the Red Caps identity. Once Savoy released the act, the musicians returned to Davis and the litigation ended. In mid-1945 the Five Red Caps cut additional material such as “You Thrill Me” and “My Everlasting Love for You,” none of which gained significant airplay, though the group continued headlining theaters and supper clubs nationwide. Their final Davis session in spring 1946 yielded the Beacon single “Words Can’t Explain,” after which new manager Murray Weinger secured a Mercury contract that required the billing Steve Gibson & the Red Caps.
At Mercury the Red Caps performed ballads and jump blues akin to their earlier output, yet both songs and production values improved markedly. Their Mercury debut “You Can’t See the Sun When You’re Cryin’” surfaced in early 1947, and “Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine” became a major hit the following year. Springs briefly exited soon afterward, replaced by tenor Earl Plummer; over subsequent years Springs and Plummer each rejoined at intervals, sometimes performing together. The Red Caps appeared in the 1949 Rudy Vallée television special Excess Baggage and the 1950 film Destination Murder, while also performing regularly on variety programs hosted by Ed Sullivan, Arthur Godfrey, and Jackie Gleason. After issuing “Steve’s Blues” in mid-1950 they left Mercury for RCA, releasing “Am I to Blame” before year’s end. Its follow-up, “I’m to Blame,” arrived in March 1951 and introduced singer Damita Jo du Blanc, who became a permanent member, sang lead on the 1952 hit “I Went to Your Wedding,” and married Gibson in 1954.
Plummer departed permanently in 1952; Romaine Brown followed a year later to form the Romaines, whose later lineup included Plummer. The Red Caps stayed popular on the concert circuit, frequently before white audiences, yet their postwar-R&B style fell out of step with newer vocal groups. RCA proved unable to adapt the act’s direction; after “Big Game Hunter” in 1953 the Red Caps remained out of the studio for more than two years, and their final RCA singles “Feelin’ Kinda Happy” and “Bobbin’” failed to chart. The label parted ways with the group in late 1955; ABC Paramount then issued “Love Me Tenderly” the next summer. Four ABC singles appeared, most prominently “Flamingo” in 1957, before the Red Caps moved to Hi-Lo for the 1958 release “Itty Bitty.” Brown rejoined in 1959 after dissolving the Romaines, in time for the Rose single “Bless You” and its Casa Blanca follow-up “Where Are You.” The Red Caps even returned briefly to ABC for a 1960 remake of “I Went to Your Wedding.”
Brown and Damita Jo du Blanc both left in 1960, the latter scoring a solo hit with the answer record “I’ll Save the Last Dance for You.” A rotating cast of male and female singers passed through the lineup, and founding member David Patillo formed a competing Modern Red Caps in 1961. By the time of the Red Caps’ final single—the 1962 Band Box release “No More”—only Gibson and Emmett Matthews remained from the classic roster. The act continued performing in supper clubs and, for a period in the mid-1960s, featured rising vocalist Tammy Montgomery, later known as Tammi Terrell. Gibson disbanded the Red Caps around 1968, concluding a twenty-five-year career; he later joined the New Ink Spots in 1980. Gibson died in 1995, having been predeceased by Patillo (1970), Brown (1987), and Springs (also 1987); du Blanc died in 1999.