The Five Americans

The Five Americans were a rock group formed in Durant, Oklahoma, in 1962. The band members were Mike Rabon (guitar / vocals), John Durrill (keyboards / vocals), Norman Ezell (guitar / vocals), Jimmy Wright (drums) and Jim Grant (bass / maracas). Founding members Rabon and Durrill first met at a frat party at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. The group initially called themselves The Mutineers before changing their moniker to The Five Americans (this was done as a direct response to the plethora of British Invasion bands prevalent at the time). The Five Americans moved to Dallas, Texas, in the summer of 1964. They performed regularly at a local dive named The Pirate's Nook prior to being discovered and signed by Abnak Records. The band released the single "I See the Light" in 1965. The extremely catchy and punchy song peaked at #26 on the Billboard pop charts in January 1966. The even catchier follow-up single, "Western Union", did even better--it soared all the way to #5 on the Billboard pop charts in 1967 and sold a million copies. The songs "Zip Code" and "Sound of Love" also cracked the Top 40 in 1967. The Five Americans appeared on American Bandstand (1952), Where the Action Is (1965) and The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1956) at the height of their mid-'60s heyday. Despite a lack of additional hit songs and several personnel changes in the late '60s, the group stayed together and recorded over 20 singles before breaking up in 1969. The various members went on successful solo careers: Mike Rabon became a high school music teacher, John Durrill was an organ player for the famous instrumental group The Ventures and penned the hit songs "Dark Lady" for Cher and "Misery and Gin" for Merle Haggard, Norman Ezell became a teacher and preacher in Northern California, Jim Grant formed his own logo company in Dallas, Texas (Grant sadly passed away on November 29, 2004); and drummer Jimmy Wright has played on occasional commercial jingles.