The Showmen

The Showmen emerged in the early 1960s as one of the R&B acts that connected doo wop traditions with the rising soul sound, blending buoyant vocal harmonies with driving rhythmic momentum. Their catalog produced only a single national success, the track “It Will Stand,” which registered on the charts in both 1961 and 1964, yet frontman General Johnson later achieved wider recognition fronting the 1970s soul ensemble Chairmen of the Board.

Organized in Norfolk, Virginia, during the opening years of the decade, the lineup comprised Johnson (born Norman Johnson on May 23, 1943), Leslie Felton, Gene Wright, Dorsey Wright, and Milton Wells. The ensemble joined Minit Records, headquartered in New Orleans, in 1961. Their debut release, the rock & roll anthem “It Will Stand,” appeared in fall of that year and gained traction along the East Coast and throughout the New Orleans region, although it reached only number 61 on the pop listings. Sustained regional interest prompted a 1964 reissue on the Imperial label, where the single climbed to number 80 on both the R&B and pop surveys.

While awaiting the second chart run of “It Will Stand,” the group continued to record and tour, securing no further national entries yet scoring a notable regional success with “39-21-46.” A 1965 move to Swan Records yielded several singles that failed to register nationally. Johnson departed in 1968, relocating to Detroit and assembling Chairmen of the Board, whose early-1970s releases included the hits “Give Me Just a Little More Time,” “(You’ve Got Me) Dangling on a String,” and “Everything’s Tuesday.” Over the three decades following the Showmen’s dissolution, both “It Will Stand” and “39-21-46” endured on the East Coast “beach music” circuit, where Johnson himself later settled and sustained a career as a regional performer.