The Showmen
The Showmen were a New Orleans-based pop group formed in 1961. They will be most remembered for their classic track "It Will Stand".
Unlike the majority of artists that recorded for New Orleans labels controlled by Joe Banashak, The Showmen were not from Crescent City or close surrounds. They all came from Norfolk, Virginia, motovating to New Orleans in May 1961 and April 1962 to record fifteen titles under the studio supervision of the then barely known Allen Troussent.
General Norman Johnson was born in the Huntersville region of Norfolk on May 23 1943. He began singing gospel in public at the age of six. It is said that, like Solomon Burke up in Philadelphia, he was billed locally as the Boy Wonder. At the age of twelve, he formed the group The Humdingers that would eventually become The Showmen with school friends the the same neighbourhood.
- General Norman Johnson, lead singer
- Milton 'Smokes' Wells, bass guitar
- Dorsey 'Chops' Knight, second tenor
- Gene 'Cheater' Knight, first tenor
- Leslie 'Fat Boy' Felton, baritone