The 5 Dollars

By Marv Goldberg

Based on interviews with Charles Evans,
Lonnie Heard, and Jay Johnson


© 2004, 2009 by Marv Goldberg

The story of the 5 Dollars is a symphony; a symphony of missed opportunities, songs that shouldn't have been recorded, and songs that shouldn't have been released.

Back in the fall of 1953, friends Charles Evans and James Drayton began singing together on one side of Gratiot Street (which separates the East Side of Detroit from its Lower East Side). "We were singing on the corner, drinking 59¢ wine," said Charles. Unbeknownst to them, Lonnie Heard and Eddie Hurt were also singing together, but on the other side of Gratiot. Lonnie added: "Edward Hurt and I, who started the group, were singing on the corner of Dubois and Pierce, as so many of the young guys at the time were. James Drayton, Jr., who had relatives in the neighborhood, heard us singing and joined in. So it began with Lonnie Heard, Edward Hurt, and James Drayton, who brought in a bass named Gerald Walker. We called ourselves the Shamrocks. But Gerald Walker had asthma so bad that he couldn't perform sometimes. James said he knew another bass singer, and he brought us Charles Evans, and then we became the Del-Torros."

Therefore, the lineup of the Del-Torros was: Eddie Hurt (lead tenor and falsetto), Lonnie Heard (tenor), James Drayton (lead baritone and tenor), and Charles Evans (bass). James was about 20; the others were around 16.

The Del-Torros practiced all the songs they heard by the Clovers, the Orioles, the Dominoes, the Drifters, the Imperials (the local Detroit group that recorded for Great Lakes), the 5 Jets, and the Royals/Midnighters. "They were the only songs we knew," says Charles.

Along the way, the Del-Torros picked up a manager, Sandy St. Amour. They were playing at the Roosevelt Lounge (on Mack Street) along with the Tops (the future 4 Tops) and Dave Hamilton & the Peppers, when he approached them to go out to his house and sing for his girlfriend. At first they were skeptical, because he looked like a common laborer. Then he pulled out a wad of bills and gave them $100 each! Sandy offered to manage them, and had only two rules: (1) don't embarrass me in public, and (2) don't mess with my girlfriend. We'll see where this led to a bit later on.

The guys had a friend from the neighborhood named Arnold Jackson, who had access to a car. In order to be driven around, they fooled him into thinking he would be part of the group. In fact, he "borrowed" his mother's car and drove them all down to Chicago to audition for Chess Records. While they didn't get a contract, Lonnie remembers that "one of the Spaniels heard us and said he liked us very much and had a great name for us: 'the 5 Dollars.' While in Chicago, broke as usual, we sang at the Kitty Kat Bar for a talent show. The first prize was $100 and the second prize $25; we came in second." The 5 Dollars had been born.

In late 1954, another neighborhood friend, Richard Lawrence (baritone and tenor) was added as a real fifth member (goodbye to Arnold), and the 5 Dollars were ready to go.

Finally, in mid-1955, they decided to audition for Fortune Records, home of Detroit's most popular group, the Diablos (who'd won every amateur contest at the Warfield Theater, right up until the time they started recording). So they trekked down to 11629 Linwood (off Elmhurst) to the garage-like Fortune studios. They thought that there would be a whole formal process which would require a manager (or at least an introduction), but they found that they could just walk in and ask Jack and Devora Brown for an audition. "They signed us right up," says Charles (even though most of them were underage). The signing was announced in August, along with, significantly, that of Andre Williams.

Unfortunately, Fortune is one of those companies which assigned master numbers at pressing time, so it's impossible to figure out which songs were recorded when, but Charles remembers that the first time they recorded, they only did two songs: "Harmony Of Love" and "Doctor Baby." "With 'Harmony Of Love,' we tried to be a little different," he says. The entire song consisted of harmony, with no lyrics at all. "Doctor Baby" was a more conventional tune, led by Richard Lawrence, with Charles Evans as the doctor.

"Harmony Of Love" and "Doctor Baby" were issued in August 1955. The record was reviewed the week of September 3, along with the Royal Jokers' "You Tickle Me Baby," Charlie & Ray's "Oh Gee Oo-Wee," B.B. King's "Ten Long Years," the Jewels' "Natural, Natural Ditty," the Du Droppers' "I Wanna Love You," and the Tangiers' "Tabarin." That was the same week that Smiley Lewis' "I Hear You Knockin'" was taking off in New Orleans, Atlanta, St. Louis, Nashville, Chicago, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Cleveland, and Baltimore.

It must have been a shock the day they realized that the moment they came into the studio and started singing, Devora Brown turned on the recorder. Thus, everything that the 5 Dollars (and presumably all of Fortune's other acts) ever sang in the studio was recorded, even if they were just fooling around or were practicing a song for the first and only time. Many of these poorly-developed songs were subsequently released (without the consent or knowledge of the group), which accounts for a big part of the crude, low-quality "Fortune sound."

But all the 5 Dollars wanted to do was record. "We didn't question the quality of the work," said Charles. If you had a record out, the girls would be impressed, and that was what really counted.

After their first session, Richard Lawrence was drafted. Now they were the "5 Dollars" with four members. Fortunately, there was a guy named Arnold Oliver, a guitarist, who wanted to be their accompanist. Since he fit into Richard's uniforms, they used him for a few months and were thus able to logically maintain the name. Actually, guitar player or not, the 5 Dollars, from then on, usually appeared with only four singers.

Enter Andre Williams. Eddie Hurt and Andre were brothers-in-law, having married a pair of sisters. At the time he was introduced to the rest of the 5 Dollars, he claimed to be on leave from the Navy (actually he'd been AWOL for about six months). Even though, according to Charles, "he couldn't hold a tune," Devora Brown and Andre were making deals behind closed doors, and Andre ended up as "part" of the 5 Dollars. "Devora just stuck him in front." But there wasn't much they could do about it: "We were easily led," admits Charles. "Andre always acted like the boss, but we let him take over. He was a showman. We couldn't dance a lick." According to Charles, Andre was so bad on harmony, that they told him to just pretend to sing when he was in the background. (In fact, many of Andre's songs have him talking, rather than singing.) The guys never really considered Andre part of the group, and, in fact usually appeared without him.

The first songs they recorded with Andre were "Going Down To Tia Juana" (a tune which the 5 Dollars had been working on - "It was supposed to be our record") and "Pulling Time," (a hard-hitting jailhouse number). When the record was released, however, it didn't say "5 Dollars," but "Andre Williams and the Don Juans" (a name that the Browns had invented). A 1984 Fortune Andre Williams album ("Jail Bait"), claims that Williams "moved to Detroit [from Alabama], and in the early 50s he formed The Five Dollars who also were known as the Don Juans when they backed him up on recordings.... The name The Don Juans was actually chosen by Devora Brown who thought it a good idea to have a name that would relate to the style and charisma that Andre evoked."

"Going Down To Tia Juana" and "Pulling Time" were released in October 1955, and reviewed the week of October 29. Other reviews that week were the Diablos' "The Way You Dog Me Around," Shirley & Lee's "Lee's Dream," the Cadillacs' "Speedoo," the Turks' "Emily," Little Richard's "Tutti Fruitti," the Rolling Crew's "Home On Alcatraz," the Orioles' "Please Sing My Blues Tonight," the Medallions' "My Pretty Baby," the Sh-Booms' "Could It Be," and the Meadowlarks' "This Must Be Paradise."

Next, they got to back up bandleader/pianist/singer Joe Weaver (as "Joe Weaver and the Don Juans") on "Baby I Love You So" and "It Must Be Love." The sides were released in January 1956, and reviewed the week of January 28. That week's other reviews: Chuck Berry's "No Money Down," the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall In Love," the 5 Keys' "You Broke The Rules Of Love," Buddy Johnson's "Doot Doot Dow," Mr. Bear's "The Bear Hug," Ruth McFadden's "Darling, Listen To The Words Of This Song," the 5 Keys' "Serve Another Round," the 4 Tunes' "Rock 'n' Roll Call," the Empires' "By The Riverside," the Victorians' "Heartbreaking Moon," the Orioles' "Angel," and the Marvellos' "Calypso Mama."

As it turned out, the "Don Juans" name was basically reserved for times when they were used as backup singers, there was only a single "Little Eddie [Hurt] & Don Juans" record ever released by them. (Note: the Don Juans on Onezy, from 1959, are a different group.) They occasionally appeared at shows as both the 5 Dollars and the Don Juans: they had special masks that they wore as the "Don Juans" (handkerchiefs with eyeholes) and most of the audience didn't know who they were. This wasn't very common, however; most of their appearances were only as the 5 Dollars.

And then they lost their manager. Sandy St. Amour caught Andre sneaking around with his wife (Sandy had married his girlfriend by that time). One night he was sitting there, crying, with a gun in his hand. He calmed down enough to order them to get out and never come back. Who knows what the 5 Dollars could have amounted to? Charles says he was trying to get them away from Fortune at the time.

Their next release, in March 1956, was something of a reprise of "Harmony Of Love": "So Strange" was another song with only harmony, and no lyrics. It was paired with "You Know I Can't Refuse" (with Eddie leading this remake of the Orchids' tune). The disc was reviewed the week of March 31, along with Fats Domino's "My Blue Heaven," Joe Turner's "Corrine, Corrina," the Moonglows' "We Go Together," the Cadillacs' "You Are," the Fi-Tones' "I Call To You," the Cadets' "Church Bells May Ring," and the Chromatics' "Devil Blues."

To keep with their "money" image, each of the 5 Dollars threw a dollar bill into the crowd after every show. (They had talked about using $5 bills, but soon decided that could get costly.)

For their next record, Fortune chose a couple of backups that they'd done behind singer Don Lane (whom Charles remembers as being Spanish). "Ooh! Ooh! Those Eyes" is a song that Fortune would also release by the Diablos on an album and by Jimmy Burke & the Sequins (in 1960). The flip, "Cha Cha Of Love," is the same tune as the Diablos' "Mambo Of Love," and, in fact was released prior to it (but with Fortune, you can't be sure which version was actually recorded first). Billed as "Don Lane and the Don Juans," the record was issued in April 1956, but doesn't seem to have been reviewed. Note that whenever the 5 Dollars/Don Juans backed up someone other than Andre, he wasn't part of the group.

August saw the release of "It's All Over" and "Bobby Jean," billed as "Andre Williams and the Don Juans." The disc was reviewed the week of September 8, 1956, along with Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business," the Sophomores' "Linda," the Turbans' "It Was A Night Like This," Amos Milburn's second version of "Chicken Shack Boogie," the Monarchs' "Pretty Little Girl," the Pearls' "Let's You And I Go Steady," the Harptones' "Three Wishes," and the Neons' "Angel Face." In September, Jack Brown reported that the record was doing well in Detroit, Cleveland, Memphis, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. He also claimed that "Baby I Love You So" was still selling. (I'm sure that their royalty checks just got lost in the mail.)

Also in August, the 5 Dollars were part of a package show touring the Windsor, Ontario area, along with the Nitecaps, the Diablos, and Stan Kenton.

September's release was "Cool As A Cucumber"/"Going Back To Chicago," on which they backed singer Chet Oliver (although this time they're not credited on the label). Andre wasn't present, and again, the record wasn't reviewed.

By the fall of 1956, Fortune had moved from its Linwood Avenue location to 3942 Third Avenue. Joe Weaver described it as being like an auto parts garage.

The 5 Dollars played a lot of clubs and theaters in Detroit, as well as the Circle Theater in Cleveland and the Akron Armory. There were also gigs in Chicago and East St. Louis. Most of their engagements, however, were in bars. At first, they didn't have any day jobs, but then there comes the time when you realize that you've got to eat, and then they only sang on weekends and holidays.

Sometime in 1956, there was a release on George Bennett's Jaguar label (out of New York City): "Baby, Don't You Care"/"Yum Yum," credited to "Lee Thomas and the Don Juans." Although there was also a Joe Weaver release on Jaguar, and a tie-in of some sort can be imagined, Charles says this wasn't them at all.

In October 1956, a new 5 Dollars record was released: "I Will Wait" (the old 4 Buddies tune), backed with "Hard Working Mama." Both sides were led by Eddie Hurt, and once again Fortune didn't send it out for review.

While the guys had backed Andre Williams on his recordings of "Bacon Fat" and "Just Because Of A Kiss," when those sides were released (in November 1956), the guys found that the songs had been re-recorded and there was a completely different group behind Andre! Billed as "Andre Williams and His New Group," "Bacon Fat" was something the 5 Dollars had written (although, in truth, Andre did work on the lyrics too). However, he had put out the word that he was looking for a "new" group. Here's how it came about:

Herman Duffy (first tenor), Steve Gaston (second tenor), Bobby Calhoun (baritone), and Jay Johnson (bass) were a group that called themselves the "Dexatones." Steve and Bobby broke up the group over money that they thought Herman was getting, and Jay kind of backed Herman. One day, Steve and Bobby heard that Andre Williams was looking for some singers, and they went to audition, taking someone else along as bass. Andre liked Steve and Bobby, but not the bass; he told them to find another singer. That's when they turned to Jay Johnson again, and he was enthusiastically accepted by Andre. The other member of the "New Group" was Andre's friend, Gino Purifoy. This group also backed Andre on "Mean Jean" (another song which the 5 Dollars had originally recorded with him). The New Group made several appearances with Andre, including the Flamingo Club in Memphis, and some gigs in Cleveland. (After Andre formed the "New Group," the 5 Dollars never recorded or appeared with him again. All subsequent releases by Andre Williams and the Don Juans were songs that had been recorded before this point.)

"Bacon Fat" (which everyone hoped would be a new dance craze) did well enough for Fortune to cut a deal with Columbia, which re-released a different take of the song on its Epic subsidiary in December.

The Epic version of "Bacon Fat" was reviewed the week of December 22, 1956, along with the Spaniels' "You Gave Me Peace Of Mind," the Jive Bombers' "Bad Boy," the Blue Chips' "Appointment With Love," the Twilighters' "Eternally," the Starlites' "They Call Me A Dreamer," the Crescents' "Everybody Knew But Me," the Raindrops' "I Found Heaven In Love," and the Enchanters' "True Love Gone."

On January 5, 1957, "Bacon Fat" was reported doing well in Cleveland. On the 19th, it was a Pick Of The Week in Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Boston, and Pittsburgh, although it took until February 23 to make the local charts in Los Angeles.

The next release for the 5 Dollars, issued in January 1957, was "Looka Here, Pretty Baby" and "Baby Chile," two songs on which they backed Joe Weaver (as the Don Juans). It, too, wasn't reviewed.

In March, the 5 Dollars tried to cash in on Andre's "borrowing" their song, by releasing "How To Do The Bacon Fat" (an instructional dance number). Since they needed something for the flip, Devora asked them if there was anything they were working on. Charles Evans said "I just wrote one ["You Fool"]. I'm just tinkering with it." Nonetheless, she made them record it (a single take, led by Charles) and, "I never got a chance to clean it up. We were just practicing that song. It wasn't ready for release. I'm ashamed of it today." This is one more instance of Devora keeping the tape rolling whenever the group [or any Fortune act] was in the studio. This was to happen again and again with the 5 Dollars, and Charles says about their output, "It's really a bunch of garbage to me. I'm not proud of it." In April, Fortune announced that it was setting up a "How To Do The Bacon Fat" contest in several areas, featuring local DJs. It sounded good, but the whole deal fell through and the dance never caught on.

"You Are My Sunshine" is another song that they were just fooling around with. "We didn't know she [Devora Brown] was recording it," laments Charles. All of a sudden (in March 1957), the song was released. The Don Juans got credit on that side (along with Andre and Gino Purifoy). The flip was Andre and the New Group's version of "Mean Jean."

Both of the prior platters were reviewed the week of April 27, 1957. While "You Are My Sunshine" got a "good" rating, the other three tunes were all ranked "poor." Other reviews that week went to: Fats Domino's "It's You I Love," Lavern Baker's "Jim Dandy Got Married," the Six Teens' "Arrow Of Love," the Tunedrops' "Rosie Lee," the Mello-Tones' "Rosie Lee," the 5 Keys' "Four Walls," the Hurricanes' "Now That I Need You," and Gene Mumford & the Serenaders' "When You're Smiling."

It was around this time that Eddie Hurt left for a while after a dispute with the rest of the guys. His place was filled temporarily by Larry Pringle, who never recorded with them.

The next record was released in July 1957: "This Is A Miracle," coupled with "Calypso Beat." Both sides were led by Eddie Hurt, and the disc was billed to "Little Eddie and the Don Juans" (the only time the name was used when they weren't backing someone else). The record was reviewed the week of August 19, along with the Chantels' "He's Gone," the Bachelors' "After," the Blue Notes' "Retribution Blues," and the Miller Sisters' "Crazy Billboard Song."

In August, Fortune released "My Tears." This had the 5 Dollars backing Andre, but with only his name on the label. The flip, an Andre Williams solo, was "Jail Bait," a cautionary tale about not getting involved with young girls. The record was reviewed the week of August 26, 1957 (with "Jail Bait" getting an excellent review), along with the Midnighters' "Let 'Em Roll," the Shells' "Baby Oh Baby," Don & Dewey's "Leavin' It All Up To You," the Cadets' "Hands Across The Table," the 4 Haven Knights' "In My Lonely Room," the Schoolboys' "Carol," the Starlites' "Tears Are Just For Fools," and the Guytones' "You Won't Let Me Go."

Around 1957, the 5 Dollars were ready to hook up with Berry Gordy, but once again Andre Williams got involved. Says Charles: "I can't forget how he ruined our group. Andre talked us away from Berry Gordy." Andre told them that Gordy (who was anxious to record the 5 Dollars at this point) would never amount to anything, and they ended up staying with Fortune.

It was also around this time that the 5 Dollars started playing the Twenty Grand Club, "the biggest night spot in Detroit," according to Charles. Appearing on weekends, their first stint lasted for about two years. In fact, they were such a fixture there, that they left their uniforms at the club; when it burned down, the manager bought them new ones. Once the club was rebuilt, the 5 Dollars continued appearing, for months at a time, over the next several years.

In November 1957, Fortune issued "Come On Baby," credited to Andre Williams and the Don Juans. The flip was the bizarre (but fun) "The Greasy Chicken," a duet between Andre and Gino Purifoy. Both sides received terrible reviews the week of December 2, along with Fats Domino's "The Big Beat," Chuck Willis' "Betty And Dupree," Jo Ann Campbell's "Wait A Minute," the Chantels' "Maybe," the Pastels' "Been So Long," the Teenagers' "Flip Flop," the Falcons' "Now That It's Over," the Cadets' "Ring Chimes," the Cadillacs' "Buzz, Buzz, Buzz," and the Enchanters' "Bottle Up And Go."

Fortune used the same record number (839) for Andre's delightful "Please Pass The Biscuits" (which was also paired with "The Greasy Chicken"). It was also used for a pairing of "Please Pass The Biscuits" with "Don't Touch" (and, as 839x, for "Pass The Biscuits Please," coupled with "Don't Touch"). "Don't Touch" was credited to Andre Williams and "Gino Parks," the new identity of Gino Purifoy. As far as can be determined, all four instances of number 839 were released in November 1957.

In May 1958, "My Last Dance With You," by Andre Williams & Don Juans came out; the flip was "Hey! Country Girl." ("Dance" would, of course, be redone by Fortune's Nathaniel Mayer in 1961.) It was reviewed the week of June 30, along with Chuck Berry's "Beautiful Delilah," the Monotones' "Tom Foolery," the Olympics' "Western Movies," the Ivytones' "Oo Wee Baby," the Cufflinx's "Lawful Wedding," and the Kings' "Angel."

Sometime in 1958, the 5 Dollars backed up soloist Jim Sands on "You Don't Know My Mind" and "We're Gonna Rock" (as "Jim Sands and the 5 Dollars"). It ended up on Hi-Q, a subsidiary of Fortune. They didn't know Sands, a guy who turned up at the studio to record one day, but since the 5 Dollars showed up at Fortune almost daily, when a group was needed for backup, they were generally there.

There was only a single record released in 1959: "My Mama Said," backed with "Yellow Moon." They were both led by Eddie Hurt, and credited to "Little Eddie and the Dollars." Charles has no idea why it wasn't the "5 Dollars."

In 1960, Fortune released two songs called "Movin'." One of these, "(Mmmm-Andre Williams Is) Movin'," had Andre, Gino Parks, and the 5 Dollars. However, whoever the "5 Dollars" were, they weren't our group; Charles is completely unaware of this song. The flip, pretty much the same tune with different lyrics, was "(Georgia Mae Is) Movin'," credited to Andre, Gino, and the Diablos.

1960 saw the last record by the 5 Dollars: "That's The Way It Goes," backed with "My Baby-O." Both sides were led by Eddie Hurt, and billed to the 5 Dollars.

Also, sometime in 1960, the guys (as the Don Juans) backed up Marsha Renay, "a neighborhood girl who pestered us to take her to Fortune." They did "Cha-Lypso Of Love" (another re-working of "Mambo Of Love; the Browns seemed to like to re-cut songs. Who knows, if they'd kept it up long enough, they probably could have done "Monkey Of Love," "Hustle Of Love," or "Macarena Of Love"). The flip of this Hi-Q release was "It's Nice."

The 5 Dollars struggled on, through the 60s, although they ceased recording. To the end, they had the same singing members: Eddie Hurt, Lonnie Heard, Charles Evans, and James Drayton. Around 1961, Don Davis became their guitarist for a short period (today he's the CEO of a bank in Michigan). Note that a 1961 release by "Lonnie Heard" on Arliss ("A Sunday Kind Of Love"/"Romance In The Park") is by a different singer with the same name.

So why didn't they try to hook up with Motown's Berry Gordy again at this point? According to Charles, they discussed it, but "we didn't feel we were qualified to go. With all the talent he had, Berry didn't need us then, and we were disillusioned anyway."

Around 1970, Richard Lawrence was involved in a car accident, which left him paralyzed; he died about 11 years later. In 1987, Eddie Hurt was found shot in the back of the head, but the circumstances around the shooting were never resolved in any way (Andre Williams gave out a couple of stories, but they're all unsubstantiated). Bandleader Joe Weaver passed away in July 2006, Lonnie Heard on February 23, 2010, and, most recently, Charles Evans, on March 28, 2013.

The 5 Dollars were too compliant for their own good. They were pushed around by the Browns, not having any say in what was released, and by Andre Williams, who more than once managed to queer things for them.


Discographies courtesy of Ferdie Gonzalez.


AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm not used to my articles generating controversy. They're mostly cut and dried recollections of events that happened 40 or 50 years ago. However, this one did. After the article appeared in the September 2001 issue of Discoveries, Andre Williams wrote a scathing letter to the editor. In the interest of fairness, that letter is reproduced here, as are the rebuttals [which were also printed in Discoveries] written by Charles Evans and Jay Johnson.

FORTUNE
821 Harmony Of Love (ALL)/Doctor Baby (RL/CE) - [5D] - 8/55
824 Going Down To Tia Juana (AW)/Pulling Time (AW) - [AW & DJ] - 10/55
825 Baby I Love You So (JW)/It Must Be Love (JW) - [JW & DJ] - 1/56
826 So Strange (ALL)/You Know I Can't Refuse (EH) - [5D] - 3/56
520 Ooh! Ooh! Those Eyes (DL)/Cha Cha Of Love (DL) - [DL & DJ) - 4/56
828 It's All Over (AW)/Bobby Jean (AW) - [AW & DJ] - 8/56
829 Cool As A Cucumber (CO)/Going Back To Chicago (CO) - [CO] - 9/56
830 I Will Wait (EH)/Hard Working Mama (EH) - [5D] - 10/56
831 Bacon Fat (AW)/Just Because Of A Kiss (AW) - [AW & NG] - 11/56    SEE NOTE 1
            Also released on Epic 9196 - 12/56
832 Looka Here, Pretty Baby (JW)/Baby Chile (JW) - [JW & DJ] - 1/57
833 How To Do The Bacon Fat (EH)/You Fool (CE) - [5D] - 3/57    SEE NOTE 2
834 You Are My Sunshine (AW)/Mean Jean (AW) - [AW, GP & DJ/AW & NG] - 3/57
836 This Is A Miracle (EH)/Calypso Beat (EH) - [LE & DJ] - 7/57
837 My Tears (AW)/[Jail Bait - no group] - [AW] - 8/57
839 Come On Baby (AW)/The Greasy Chicken (AW/GP) - [AW & DJ/AW & GP] - 11/57    SEE NOTE 3
842 My Last Dance With You (AW)/Hey! Country Girl (AW) - [AW & DJ] - 5/58

HI-Q (Fortune subsidiary)
5010 You Don't Know My Mind (JS)/We're Gonna Rock (JS) - [JS & 5D] - 58

FORTUNE
845 My Mama Said (EH)/Yellow Moon (EH) - [LE & D] - early 59
851 (Mmmm-Andre Williams Is) Movin' [AW, GP & 5D]/        SEE NOTE 4
        [(Georgia Mae Is) Movin'] - [AW, GP & Diablos] - 60
854 That's The Way It Goes (EH)/My Baby-O (EH) - [5D] - mid-60

HI-Q
5017 It's Nice (MR)/Cha-Lypso Of Love (MR) - [MR & DJ] - 60

OTHER FORTUNE SONGS BY THE 5 DOLLARS:
      I Wanna Know Why (AW)
      I'm Movin' On (AW)
      The Bells (EH)
      Weekend Man (AW)

827 Just Want A Little Lovin'/Mozelle - [AW] - 4/56
839 Please Pass The Biscuits/The Greasy Chicken - [AW/AW & GP] - 11/57    SEE NOTE 3
839 Please Pass The Biscuits/Don't Touch - [AW/AW & GP] - 11/57     SEE NOTE 3 & 5
839x Pass The Biscuits Please/Don't Touch - [AW/AW & GP] - 11/57    SEE NOTE 3 & 5
847 I'm All For You/Put A Chain On It - [AW & GP] - 59
856 Jailhouse Blues/I Still Love You - [AW & Inspirations] - 60

LEAD SINGERS:
      RL = Richard Lawrence; CE = Charles Evans; AW = Andre Williams;
      JW = Joe Weaver; EH = Eddie Hurt; DL = Don Lane; JS = Jim Sands;
      CO = Chet Oliver; MR = Marsha Renay

ARTIST NAMED ON LABEL:
      [5D] = The 5 Dollars
      [AW & DJ] = Andre Williams & Don Juans
      [JW & DJ] = Joe Weaver & Don Juans
      [DL & DJ] = Don Lane & Don Juans
      [CO] = Chet Oliver
      [AW & NG] = Andre Williams & His New Group
      [AW, GP, & DJ] = Andre Williams, Gino Purifoy & Don Juans
      [LE & DJ] = Little Eddie & Don Juans; LE & D = Little Eddie & Dollars
      [AW & GP] = Andre Williams & Gino Parks; JS & 5D = Jim Sands & 5 Dollars
      [MR & DJ] = Marsha Renay & Don Juans


NOTE 1: Although listed in this discography, the New Group is not the 5 Dollars/Don Juans (see text).

NOTE 2: Some copies of 833 accidentally paired "You Fool" with the 5 Jets' "I'm Wanderin'," instead of
               "How To Do The Bacon Fat." The label, however, always says "How To Do The Bacon Fat."

NOTE 3: #839 was used 4 times.

NOTE 4: Although the label lists the 5 Dollars, none of them is on "(Mmmm Andre Williams Is) Movin'."
               Fortune used some other group and billed them as the 5 Dollars.

NOTE 5: Starting with "Don't Touch," Gino Purifoy was known as "Gino Parks."

JAGUAR (Lee Thomas & Don Juans)
3020 Baby, I Don't Care/ Yum Yum - 56

ONEZY (The Don Juans)
101 Dolores/The Girl Of My Dreams - 59