Rock History

2007 – Bill Pinkney, the last surviving member of the original Drifters passed away on July 4th from unknown causes. He was 81.

He’s up on the roof now!  God Bless!

1989 – Doc Green of the Drifters dies of cancer. Age 54. Famous songs include “Up on the roof” and “Boardwalk”.

1988 – The Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Drifters, Bob Dylan and the Supremes are among those inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Drifters, Berry Gordy Jr., the Supremes, Les Paul, Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly. Beach Boys singer Mike Love gives a rambling speech in which he insults Paul McCartney, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen and even Mick Jagger. Paul McCartney himself does not attend, refusing to play with George Harrison or Ringo Starr due to business differences.

1960 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Save the Last Dance for Me,” The Drifters.

1960 – Vicki Peterson, guitarist with the Bangles and the Continental Drifters, is born in Los Angeles.

1959 -  The Drifters release their single “There Goes My Baby.” Not so big a deal, you might think, except that this is the first recording of the rock era to feature a string section.

Bio

Formed in 1953 in New York, USA, at the behest of Atlantic Records, this influential R&B vocal group was initially envisaged as a vehicle for ex-Dominoes singer Clyde McPhatter (Clyde Lensley McPhatter, 15 November 1932, Durham, North Carolina, USA, d. 13 June 1972, New York City, New York, USA). Gerhart Thrasher, Andrew Thrasher and Bill Pinkney (b. 15 August 1925, Sumter, North Carolina, USA) completed the new quartet which, as Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters, achieved a million-selling number 1 R&B hit with their debut single, “Money Honey”. Follow-up releases, including “Such A Night” (number 5 R&B), “Lucille” (number 7 R&B) and “Honey Love” (a second chart-topper), also proved highly successful, while the juxtaposition of McPhatter’s soaring tenor against the frenzied support of the other members provided a link between gospel and rock ‘n’ roll styles. The leader’s interplay with bassist Pinkey was revelatory, but McPhatter’s induction into the armed forces in 1954 was a blow that the Drifters struggled to withstand.

The vocalist opted for a solo career upon leaving the services, and although his former group did enjoy success with “Adorable” (number 1 R&B 1955), “Steamboat” (1955), “Ruby Baby” (1956) and “Fools Fall In Love’ (1957), such recordings featured a variety of lead singers, most notably Johnny Moore (b. 1934, Selma, Alabama, USA, d. 30 December 1998, London, England). Other new members included Charlie Hughes, Bobby Hendricks (who came in as lead tenor when Moore was drafted in 1957), Jimmy Millender and Tommy Evans. A greater emphasis on pop material ensued, but tension between the group and their manager, George Treadwell, resulted in an irrevocable split. Having fired the extant line-up in 1958, Treadwell, who owned the copyright to the Drifters” name, invited another act, the Five Crowns, to adopt the appellation. Charlie Thomas (b. 7 April 1937; tenor), Doc Green Jnr. (b. 8 November 1934, d. 10 March 1989; bass/baritone) and lead singer Ellsbury Hobbs (b. 4 August 1936, d. 31 May 1996, New York, USA; bass), plus guitarist Reggie Kimber, duly became “the Drifters”. Hobbs was drafted and replaced by Ben E. King (b. Benjamin Earl Nelson, 28 September 1938, Henderson, North Carolina, USA). The new line-up declared themselves with “There Goes My Baby”. Written and produced by Leiber And Stoller, this pioneering release featured a Latin rhythm and string section, the first time such embellishments had appeared on an R&B recording. The single not only topped the R&B chart, it also reached number 2 on the US pop listings, and anticipated the “symphonic” style later developed by Phil Spector.

Further excellent releases followed, notably “Dance With Me” (1959), “This Magic Moment” (1960) and “Save The Last Dance For Me”, the latter a million seller which topped the US pop chart and reached number 2 in the UK. However, King left for a solo career following “I Count The Tears” (1960), and was replaced by Rudy Lewis (b. 27 May 1935, Chicago, Illinois, USA) who fronted the group until his premature death from drug-induced asphyxiation in 1964. The Drifters continued to enjoy hits during this period and songs such as “Sweets For My Sweet”, “When My Little Girl Is Smiling”, “Up On The Roof” and “On Broadway” were not only entertaining in their own right, but also provided inspiration, and material, for many emergent British acts, notably the Searchers, who took the first-named song to the top of the UK chart. Johnny Moore, who had returned to the line-up in 1963, took over the lead vocal slot from Lewis. “Under The Boardwalk’, recorded the day after the latter’s passing, was the Drifters” last US Top 10 pop hit, although the group remained a popular attraction. Bert Berns had taken over production from Leiber and Stoller, and in doing so brought a soul-based urgency to their work, as evinced by “One Way Love” and “Saturday Night At The Movies” (1964).

When he left Atlantic to found the Bang label, the Drifters found themselves increasingly overshadowed by newer, more contemporary artists and, bedevilled by lesser material and frequent changes in personnel, the group began to slip from prominence. However, their career was revitalized in 1972 when two re-released singles, “At The Club” and “Come On Over To My Place’, reached the UK Top 10. A new recording contract with Bell was then secured and British songwriters/producers Tony Macaulay, Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway fashioned a series of singles redolent of the Drifters” “classic” era. Purists poured scorn on their efforts, but, between 1973 and 1975, the group, still led by Moore, enjoyed several UK Top 10 hits, including “Like Sister And Brother”, “Kissin’ In The Back Row Of The Movies”, “Down On The Beach Tonight”, “There Goes My First Love” and “Can I Take You Home Little Girl”. This success ultimately waned as the decade progressed, and in 1982 their stalwart lead singer Moore briefly left the line-up. He was replaced, paradoxically, by Ben E. King, who in turn brought the Drifters back to Atlantic. However, despite completing some new recordings, the group found it impossible to escape its heritage, as evinced by the numerous “hits” repackages and corresponding live appearances on the cabaret and nostalgia circuits. They were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1988, a year after McPhatter’s posthumous award.

Discography
Up On The Roof / Under The Boardwalk
Up On The Roof
There Goes My Baby
Sweets For My Sweet
This Magic Moment
Mexican Divorce
Stranger On The Shore
What To Do
Save The Last Dance For Me
Lonliness Or Happiness
Another Night With The Boys
(If You Cry) True Love, True Love
Room Full Of Tears
When My Little Girl Is Smiling Ruby Baby
Under The Boardwalk
One Way Love
On Broadway
Didn’t It
I Feel Good All Over
Vaya Con Dios
Rat Race
In The Land Of Make Believe
If You Don’t Come Back
Let The Music Play
I’ll Take You Home

Two original early ’60s LPs are combined here and the result is a virtual Drifters Greatest Hits. “Up on the Roof,” Carole King’s gorgeously romantic ode to working class escape and freedom, is here in both the hit single and slightly longer LP versions (the single is in mono, the LP version is stereo with a longer intro). Elsewhere, you’ll find a real embarrassment of riches, with song after brilliant hit song from the fertile imaginations of the great Brill Building writers of the pre-Beatle era, including Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill (“On Broadway”), Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman (“Sweets for My Sweet,” “This Magic Moment,” “Save the Last Dance for Me”), plus lesser known but equally evocative songs from Burt Bacharach and Otis Blackwell. Timeless stuff.

Save The Last Dance For Me / The Good Life
Save The Last Dance For Me
I Count The Tears
Somebody New Dancin’ With You
Jackpot
No Sweet Lovin’
Sweets For My Sweet
Some Kind Of Wonderful
Mexican Divorce
When My Little Girl Is Smilin’
Please Stay
Nobody But Me
Room Full Of Tears
Quando Quando Quando
On The Street Where You Live
I Wish You Love
Tonight
More
What Kind Of Fool Am I
The Good Life
Desafindo
As Long As She Needs Me
Who Can I Turn To
Saturday Night At The Movies
Temption

Two classic Atlantic albums from ’61 and ’65, featuring some of the Drifters’ biggest hits—including ‘Save the Last Dance for Me; Some Kind of Wonderful; I Count the Tears; Sweets for My Sweet; Please Stay; Saturday Night at the Movies; Mexican Divorce; Tonight; Temptation’, and more. 24 tracks, over an hour of music!

Very Best Of Drifters
There Goes My Baby (If You Cry)
True Love, True Love
Dance With Me
This Magic Moment
Save The Last Dance For Me
I Count The Tears
Some Kind Of Wonderful
Up On The Roof
On Broadway
Under The Boardwalk
I’ve Got Sand In My Shoes
Saturday Night At The Movies
Please Stay
Sweets For My Sweet
When My Little Girl Is Smiling
I’ll Take You Home

All the great hits!

1959 – Re-formed Drifters release There Goes My Baby, with Ben E. King on lead vocal for first time.

1958 – It’s bye bye to the original Drifters as manager George Treadwell fires the entire vocal group. He then hires the Five Crowns – whose number include Ben E. King – to take their place.

1955 – Disc jockey Alan Freed holds his first Rock `n’ Roll Party stage show in New York. Acts include the Clovers, Fats Domino and the Drifters.

1954 – Drifters peak at No. 5 on US R&B chart with Such a Night, the follow up to Money Money.

1953 – The Drifters record “Lucille.” this day in rock history!

1936 – Drifters vocalist Rudy Lewis is born in Philadelphia.

The Drifters were a long-lived American doo wop/R&B vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1962, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed by Clyde McPhatter (of Billy Ward & the Dominoes) in 1953. Rolling Stone magazine states that The Drifters were the least stable of the vocal groups due to being low-paid hired musicians of The Drifters’ management.[1] The Treadwell Drifters website states that there have been 60 vocalists in the history of the Treadwell Drifters line.[2] Several splinter groups by former Drifters members add to the count. Nevertheless, there are two iterations of The Drifters which are notable. The first classic Drifters formed by Clyde McPhatter was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as The Drifters or The Original Drifters.[3] The second Drifters formed by Treadwell featuring Ben E. King was separately inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as Ben E. King and The Drifters.[4] In their induction, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame eclectically selected four members from the classic Drifters, two from the second Drifters, and one from the post-King Treadwell Drifters. According to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, “Through turmoil and changes the (original) Drifters managed to set musical trends and give the public 13 chart hits, most of which are legendary recordings today.”