One lineup, called 'The Original Tams with R. L. Smith', features original member Robert Lee Smith, and the other lineup is under the leadership of Little Red, the son of longtime member Charles Pope and the nephew of group co-founder Joe Pope.
[2] The follow-up releases largely failed until 1964, when "What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)", reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
[2] The Tams had only one further major US hit (in 1968) when "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy", peaked at #26 on the US R&B chart, and subsequently made the UK top 40 in 1970.
[2] However, the track was banned by the BBC because the word "shag" means "to have sexual intercourse" in colloquial British English.
American singer-songwriter Tameka Harris, born in 1975, is the daughter of Dianne Cottle-Pope and Charles Pope.