The Five Swans

Group from Berkley, CA
Consisted of Lamont Scott (lead), Delmar Neely (1st tenor, d. 1966), Phil Shaw (baritone), Curtis Marshall (bass) and George Brown solely on piano accompaniment and musical arrangements.

They made their performing and vocalizing debut while still in junior high school, when the five boys signed a recording contract with the former owner of Music City Records, Ray Dobard.

They were originally named the Swans (after the Swan department store where they probably purchased uniforms) but Dobart changed it to the Five Swans to avoid a mix-up with other Swans groups. The Swans recorded one long session from late lunch to late dinner and cut nine songs, seven of which were "held back". Dobard had a habit of filling tapes with material and only using a fraction of them.

The Five Swans toured with the Gaylarks and the Four Deuces. LA R&B labels Aladdin and Dootone approached the group to sign them, but Music City's head, Ray Dobard, would not let that take place. The quintet soon tired of Dobard's shoddy treatment and disbanded.