Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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DRIFTERS, The

Classic R&B/soul vocal group with career spanning 30 years and at least that many members. Original lineup formed to back Clyde McPhatter included Bill Pinkney (b 15 August 1925, Sumter SC), bass; Gerhard and Andrew Thrasher, tenor and baritone (b Wetumpka AL); all had gospel background. First six discs all top ten R&B '53-5 including 'Money Honey', later covered by Elvis Presley, two-sided hit 'Such A Night'/'Lucille'. McPhatter's military conscription led to changes; Johnny Moore (b 1934, Selma AL; d 30 December 1998) sang lead but the group disbanded '58. Manager George Treadwell owned the name and selected the Crowns to be the new Drifters: lineup Ben E. King, lead baritone; Doc Green, baritone; Charles Thomas, tenor; Elsbeary Hobbs (d 31 May 1996), bass; with the songs of Leiber and Stoller success was immediate.

'There Goes My Baby' had King's plaintive lead with a Latin baion rhythm, five violins and a cello, a profound influence on the soul music of the following decade, but almost didn't get released. The timpani was played by a drummer who didn't know how to tune it and the result was 'this weird charismatic sound' like a radio tuned to two stations at once. Leiber and Stoller played it for Jerry Wexler: 'We call this the tuna-fish story. Jerry's got this tuna-fish sandwich on his desk. He put this tape on, the song started and the timpani came on. He had a mouthful of tuna fish, and all of a sudden he goes, ''What the fuck is this?'' Tuna fish goes all over the wall. ''What is this shit?'' ' (quoted in Rolling Stone '90). It was no. 1 R&B and no. 2 pop '59; smash hits 'Dance With Me', 'This Magic Moment', 'Lonely Winds', 'Save The Last Dance For Me' followed before King left to go solo late '60; the Drifters had taken the style from the ghetto to a universal world of romance.
 
Leiber and Stoller used Brill Building material and Pomus/Shuman tunes to continue the trend with Rudy Lewis (ex-Clara Ward Singers), who sang lead on seven top '40 hits including 'Up On The Roof' and 'On Broadway' (both top ten) before his death from drugs in 1964. Moore had rejoined '63 and took the lead; 'Under The Boardwalk' recorded the day after Lewis's death was no. 4 '64, but that year's 'Saturday Night At The Movies' was their last top 40. Motown took over black pop and the Drifters drifted into the supper-club circuit; their Atlantic contract expired '72. Reissues showed in UK charts (e.g. 'At The Movies' was no. 3 UK '72); Moore took the group to the UK, signed with Bell, used UK songwriters Cook/Greenaway, Barry Mason, Tony Macauley for top ten hits 'Like Sister And Brother', 'Kissin' In The Back Row Of The Movies', 'Down On The Beach Tonight', five more top 30s '73-6; none hit in USA. Not as innovative as earlier lineups, Moore's Drifters had every right to profit from the genre they'd helped to create; when he left in 1980 King returned as lead. The Drifters '97 on Sequel was a seven-CD trawl through the Atlantic years; another 8-CD set compiled the solo work of McPhatter and Ben E. King (see their entries).