Category Archives: 3 – Soul

A new up beat sound 1962-1989

Soul Blog #21 – Drifters #1

The Drifters #1

 

Clyde McPhatter Era

The Drifters started out as a group for Clyde McPhatter in 1953, the lead tenor who had a lot of success singing in Bill Ward’s The Dominos since 1950. Initially Clyde McPhatter wanted to have the Mount Lebanon Singers, a gospel group to sing back up, McPhatter was intentionally trying to blend gospel with secular music. The gospel group consisted of William “Chick” Anderson, Charlie White, and Dave “Little Dave” Baugham as the tenors, David Baldwin baritone (Author James Baldwin’s brother), and James “Wrinkle” Johnson as bass. They attempted a recording session of four songs June 29, 1953, but the idea was aborted by Ahmet Ertegun and recruitment for the Drifters re-commenced.

After some trial and error the line-up of the new group became gospel vocalists, Bill Pinkney (first tenor) of the Jerusalem Stars gospel group, Andrew Thrasher (second tenor), his brother Gerhart Thrasher (baritone), and Willie Ferbee (bass) with Walter Adams on guitar. The Drifters went into the studio a second time to record “Money Honey” backed with “The Way I Feel” with much success.

 

Money Honey”

“Money Honey” – R&B #1 – 10/31/1953

“Money Honey” was the Drifters very first top 10 R&B hit on Halloween 1953. A catchy R&B ditty, “Money” is a splendid example of early rock & roll.  It’s all there, the tinkling and banging piano, the sparse horn accompaniments, the “ooh-bop-shoo-wop”, the blaring tenor sax solo and the vocal shouting.

 

The bass singer Ferbee left the group; Walter Adams the accompanist died and was replaced by Jimmy Oliver. Gerhart Thrasher went up to tenor, Andrew Thrasher went down to baritone and Pinkney dropped all the way down to bass. This line-up released “Such a Night” an R&B #2 hit in March – 3/13/1954,

 

Such a Night” b/w “Lucille”

“Such a Night”– R&B #2 – 3/13/1954

“Such a Night” another great R&B classic featuring Clyde McPhatter’s range was a great follow up to “Money Honey”.  The b-side of “Such a Night”, “Lucille” would go on to be a fundamental influence on future-genre soul music.

b/w “Lucille” – R&B #7 – 3/6/1954 – “Lucille”, the b-side to “Such a Night”, was a song recorded during a session with an older group of back-up singers who are not the same as those on the A-side. The songs tempo is in triple or 6/8 meter which chugs along like a typical R&B ballad yet the vocals are sung in a strong gospel manner hinting to where the future of R&B was heading. McPhatter’s vocals are truly gospel inspired, just check out the gospel styled embellishments that Clyde takes liberty on almost every phrase, either verse or chorus, its inspirational!

 

“Honey Love” topped the R&B charts in June – 6/19/1954, “White Christmas” an R&B #2 – Christmas of 1954 – 12/18/1954 (which peaked again R&B #5 – 12/24/1955 and crossover US #80 – 12/31/1955 and R&B #12 – 12/29/1956), “Whatcha Gonna Do” R&B 2 – 3/26/1955.

 

 

Clyde McPhatter was drafted into the army November 1954, Clyde’s first solo song “Everyone’s Laughing” backed with “Hot Ziggity” which he recorded at the (Pinkney) Drifters last recording session for “Whatcha Gonna Do”. Upon departure McPhatter mistakenly sold his share of the Drifters to the groups’ manager George Treadwell (former trumpeter and husband of Sarah Vaughan). With Treadwell in full ownership of the Drifters, he was able to higher the singers as hired workers and no share in the profits of the vocal group. The band became a revolving door for many, many under paid singers.

After McPhatter left he was replaced by David Baughan, the singer who was stepping in for McPhatter’s live performances as he was stationed in Buffalo. Baughan left in 1955 to form the Harps and then eventually joining Bill Pinkney’s Original Drifters.

“Everyone’s Laughing” backed with “Hot Ziggity”

 

Johnny Moore Era

Johnny Moore joined the Drifters as lead tenor September 1955. He was formerly of vocal group the Hornets and a native of Selma Alabama. So at the end of 1955 the Drifters line-up was Johnny Moore – lead tenor, Gerhart Thrasher – 2nd tenor, Andrew Thrasher – baritone, Bill Pinkney as bass and guitar by Jimmy Oliver. This line-up recorded “Adorable” an R&B number 1 hit, backed with b-side “Steamboat” a #5 R&B hit. Then they released “Ruby Baby” R&B #10 – 5/12/1956 backed by “Your Promise to Be Mine”, “I Gotta Get Myself a Woman” R&B #11 – 9/8/56, B-side “Soldier of Fortune” (the arrangement is similar to the Platters “Great Pretender”.

 

“Adorable” R&B # 1 – 11/5/1955, b-side “Steamboat” R&B #5 – 11/12/1955

“Ruby Baby” R&B #10 – 5/12/1956 b-side “Your Promise to Be Mine”

“I Gotta Get Myself a Woman” R&B #11 – 9/8/56, B-side “Soldier of Fortune” – Arrangement similar to the Pretenders “The Great Pretender”

 

 

Bill Pinkney Departs

The Drifters were a very hard group to be in, they had all the pressures in fame as all the other acts did but they were as assembly line workers as an internal organization with Treadwell being an exploitive owner. As a musician you would think he would understand, maybe all too well. In any event bass man Bill Pinkney and baritone Andrew Thrasher left the group to form a short lived group called the Flyers with Bobby Hendricks. Tommy Evans (from the Ravens who was incidentally Jimmy Ricks’ replacement) replaced Bill Pinkney while Charlie Hughes replaced Thrasher.

The line-up of 1st tenor Johnny Moore, 2nd tenor Gerhart Thrasher, baritone Charlie Hughes and bass Tommy Evans were the last of the Johnny Moore era Drifters to record. They recorded “Fools Fall in Love” US #69 – 3/9/1957; R&B #10 – 3/9/1957 b-side “It Was a Tear”.

 

“Fools Fall in Love” US #69 – 3/9/1957; R&B #10 – 3/9/1957 b-side “It Was a Tear”.

 

 

The draft caught up with Johnny Moore and Charlie Hughes in 1957, so Moore was replaced by Bobby Hendricks and Hughes was replaced by Jimmy Millender. This new line-up of Bobby Hendricks as lead tenor, Gerhart Thrasher – 2nd tenor, Jimmy Millender – baritone and Tommy Evans as bass with Jimmy Oliver on guitar recorded “Drip Drop” a #58 – 8/11/1958 crossover hit.

The Drifters started doubling for other group names, capitalizing on their legacies as The Coasters or the Ravens in the summer of 1958. During a gig at the Apollo an argument broke out with Apollo owner Ralph Cooper, manager Treadwell then fired the entire group. George Treadwell then owner of the name Drifters impulsively hired a group called the Five Crowns on the spot and dubbed them the new “Drifters”.

Bill Pinkney would later sue for the use of the name “The Original Drifters” which survived as a performing entity for many years thereafter with ex-Drifter members like the Thrashers or Bobby Hendricks joining and then leaving over the years. At many points since Clyde McPhatter’s departure there was confusion and heated moments because of the Drifters name and ownership of it. Now there would be two different Drifters names contending for attention, manager Treadwell’s the new “Drifters” and Bill Pinkney’s “Original Drifters”. This would cause a lot of problems and/or trouble in the future for many of the parties involved.

 

60s Soul Top 10 – 50’s Gospel Influences

60s Soul Top 10  –  50’s Gospel Influences

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Gospel Influences in the age of Rock & Roll

Soul slowly grew out of “rhythm & blues” with its mixing with gospel music during the hey day of the fifties, the rock & roll era. There are many examples of early soul coming out of gospel music that never made the charts. (For a listing of these, please see the expanded page for 60’s Soul – Gospel Influences).

 

 

It was Ray Charles the “Father of Soul” who first took a nice spiritual gospel type of song and then, oh no, he added, well, shall we say… non-secular lyrics to create and record the epic song “I Got A Woman”. The song was a first in many ways. It was Ray’s first  R&B #1 hit in the beginning of the year late in January, nineteen fifty-five, when all the ruckus was started. The controversial song would go on to be named #235 of the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest songs of all time.

Almost sixteen months later, James Brown the “God Father” of soul and the “Founder of the Funk” came out with this, begging on his knees, “Please, Please, Please”. The song was a #5 hit on the R&B charts in April of 56′. James Brown would go on to shape and develop pop music for the next 30 years.

Clyde McPhatter went solo after being in the hit groups the Domino’s and the Drifters, he got into the top 20 pop charts with the hit “Treasure of Love” in the early summer of fifty-six. He would be known as one of the “Founders of Soul”

The “Rocking Roll Icon” and “Founder of Rock & Roll“, Little Richard had a soulful side to his singing, like this early hit “Send Me Some Lovin’” in mid-April in 1957. Little Richard would explore gospel music and other spirituals after his semi-retirement in late 1957.

Another rising star behind Sam Cooke was “Mr. Excitement”, Jackie Wilson and his pioneering soul classic”Reet Petite” in November of 1957. Jackie Wilson would go on to be considered one of the “Founders of Soul”.

The “King of Soul” Sam Cooke would have a top 40 hit soul song triumvirate in the late fifties starting with “You Send Me” when it hit the top of both charts (US and R&B) at the end of 1957.

 

“The Iceman” cometh, “For Your Precious Love” this top 20 hit, coming in at #11 on the Billboard & top 10 in the R&B charts in the summer of 58′, Jerry Butler & the Impressions sang quite lovely and melodically precious song with this favorite.

One of the first few successful Lady’s of Rhythm & Blues was LaVern Baker. She had a top ten mainstream hit with this soulful ditty “I Cried A Tear”, early in fifty-nine.  Along with Etta James and Ruth Brown, LaVern Baker would make a one of a trio of “Ladies of Early-Soul”.

After singing in Billy Ward’s Dominos, and starting the Drifters, Clyde McPhatter had another top ten hit on which he sang on, except this was his second solo hit in the beginning of 1959, as well as topping the R&B chart a third time.  “A Lover’s Question” made Clyde to be, one of the “Founders of Soul” along with Cooke, Butler, Ballard, Little Richard and Jackie Wilson.

Jackie Wilson hit the top ten again in February of 59′ and topped the R&B chart, as well. The song “Lonely Teardrops” was considered a soul classic and #335 of the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest songs of all time.

The Drifters, in their second incarnation, came back with the Ben E. King penned and sung “There Goes My Baby“. The song was a smash hit in the summer of 59′ going to #2 on the main charts and number one on the R&B charts. The Drifters were a vocal R&B group that was not only one of the 2 most successful vocal groups of the rock & roll era, but also one of the pioneering groups of soul with many great lead singers moving through their ranks such as Founder of Soul, Ben E. King.

For this beginning section and intro to soul music, it is quite appropriate that we should end with the Ray Charles. This next song is one of the greatest most fun songs of all times for all ages. The song utilizes call and response that is tremendous fun. “What’d I Say” was a top ten crossover hit at the end of the summer of 1959 after topping the R&B chart.