Cap-Tans

Washington, D.C.-based R&B group the Cap-Tans formed in 1948 -- according to Marv Goldberg's profile in the December 1976 issue of Yesterday's Memories -- tenor lead Sherman Buckner, first tenor Floyd Bennett, second tenor Alfred Slaughter, and baritone Lester Fountain initially teamed as the Buddies, one of several groups managed by local impresario Lillian Claiborne. Upon backing local radio personality Paul Chapman on his 1948 D.C. Records label release "Coo Coo Jug-Jug," the Buddies renamed themselves the Cap-Tans; following a second collaboration with Chapman, 1949's "Goodnight Mother," the group added lead Harmon Bethea, an alumnus of the Claiborne-managed spiritual group the Progressive Four. In early 1950, the Cap-Tans negotiated a new deal with Claiborne and partner Winfield Adams, agreeing to record exclusively for the duo, who would then license the masters to interested labels; the result of the deal is one of the most fractured and convoluted discographies in the annals of postwar R&B, beginning with "My My Ain't She Pretty," issued on the Gotham label that spring. The record fared so poorly that Gotham owner Ivin Ballen rejected the Cap-Tans follow-up effort "I'm So Crazy for Love" without so much as a listen. The single instead surfaced on Dot in August 1950, and was a big enough local hit to inspire the Ravens to cover the song for Columbia. Dot also released the Cap-Tans' third single "Chief, Turn the Hose on Me" by year's end, heralding the end of the group's tenure with the label. After the Cap-Tans cut several unreleased sides for King Records, Claiborne struck a new deal with Gotham, but while the group recorded several sessions for the label, only one single -- 1951's "Yes" -- ever materialized at retail. Lester Fountain was drafted into military...