The Five Scalders

The Five Scalders (Detroit)

Personnel :

Johnny Mayfield (Tenor)

Sol Tilman (Tenor)

Gerald Young (Tenor)

Sir Mack Rice (Baritone)

James Bryant (Bass)

Discography :

1956 - If Only You Were Mine / There Will Come A Time (Drummond 3000/Sugar Hill 3000)
1956 - Girl Friend / Willow Blues (Drummond 3001)

Biography :

Mack Rice was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. In 1950, his family moved to Detroit, Michigan. He attended Detroit’s Northern High School, where he credited a music teacher with helping to hone his skills. Rice  began his work in the R&B field, performing with the Five Scalders in 1956. The Five Scalders, a group from Northern High. Called the Scalders because "we were so hot," they consisted of Johnny Mayfield (tenor), Sol Tilman (tenor), Gerald Young (tenor), Mack Rice (baritone), and James Bryant (bass). They won first prize in the school's amateur show singing the Clovers' "Hey Miss Fannie". The Five Scalders recorded a couple of records for the local Sugar Hill and Drummond labels in 1956.

 But after graduating, he was drafted into the Army and served several years in Germany. When he returned to Detroit in 1957, his mother mentioned an ad in the newspaper placed by a group looking for new members. The group Rice would join was the Falcons. From 1957–63, he performed with the Falcons, a group whose members included Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett and Joe Stubbs. He performed as a solo vocalist in the years to follow, but his biggest successes were as songwriter for other artists on labels like Stax and others in the 1960s and following decades. He began his solo vocalist career at Stax in 1967, recording on Atco Records beginning in 1968. Rice is one of the few musicians whose career touched both Motown and Stax Records. Rice continued to live in the Detroit area. He died at home in Detroit on June 27, 2016, aged 82, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.

Songs :

  
If Only You Were Mine                  There Will Come A Time

  
Willow Blues                                      Girl Friend


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