The Leaders

A product of Newport News, Virginia's thriving postwar R&B scene, the Leaders formed in 1952. According to Marv Goldberg's profile in the April 1996 issue of Discoveries, tenors/siblings Harry and James Burton, second tenor Edward "Snipper" Alston, baritone Buster Moore, and bass Charles Simpson met while in high school and originally performed as the Pokenoes, borrowing the name from a card game. By 1953 the group billed itself as the Five Swans, a nod to local heroes the Five Keys. That same year, baritone Ronald Judge replaced Moore, and when James Burton was called for mil...