The Drifters

A short history of The Drifters would actually be an impossibility as well over 60 performers have been “Drifting” at one point or another! For brevity’s sake let’s just say the original Drifters were formed as a back up band for Clyde McPhatter and released one album in 1956 aptly titled “Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters”. Fast forward to 1959 and we find the second band emerging from a group called The Five Crowns, led by one, Benjamin Earl Nelson, better known professionally as Ben E King. Along with three other Crowns, Charlie Thomas, Dock Green and Elsbeary Hobbs they became a four piece dropping an alcohol troubled fifth member James “Poppa” Clark along the way. This line up became arguably the classic Drifters group produced mainly by The Coasters producers, Leiber & Stoller. The dynamic “wunderkinds “of the fifties music scene would of course write many classic songs of the era, many included here on our set alongside another dynamic writing duo Pomus & Shuman. This era became known as “the true golden age of the group” but sadly was to last only a couple of years. Due to financial problems (all the group were certainly never paid what they were worth) rather than the other classic rock n roll break up reason “musical differences”, Ben E King left the group for a solo career in 1960 and here we include three classic albums by the great man. Ben scored his first hit the following year, 1961, with the stone classic “Spanish Harlem” followed by yet another “Stand By Me” not a bad start at all, we say! Many hit singles and albums would follow but arguably he never had a hit as big at these two all time classics! And as we know they would both re-appear on the charts down the years. In 1982 Ben E King returned to The Drifters for a British tour and stayed until 1986.

A short history of The Drifters would actually be an impossibility as well over 60 performers have been “Drifting” at one point or another! For brevity’s sake let’s just say the original Drifters were formed as a back up band for Clyde McPhatter and released one album in 1956 aptly titled “Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters”. Fast forward to 1959 and we find the second band emerging from a group called The Five Crowns, led by one, Benjamin Earl Nelson, better known professionally as Ben E King. Along with three other Crowns, Charlie Thomas, Dock Green and Elsbeary Hobbs they became a four piece dropping an alcohol troubled fifth member James “Poppa” Clark along the way. This line up became arguably the classic Drifters group produced mainly by The Coasters producers, Leiber & Stoller. The dynamic “wunderkinds “of the fifties music scene would of course write many classic songs of the era, many included here on our set alongside another dynamic writing duo Pomus & Shuman. This era became known as “the true golden age of the group” but sadly was to last only a couple of years. Due to financial problems (all the group were certainly never paid what they were worth) rather than the other classic rock n roll break up reason “musical differences”, Ben E King left the group for a solo career in 1960 and here we include three classic albums by the great man. Ben scored his first hit the following year, 1961, with the stone classic “Spanish Harlem” followed by yet another “Stand By Me” not a bad start at all, we say! Many hit singles and albums would follow but arguably he never had a hit as big at these two all time classics! And as we know they would both re-appear on the charts down the years. In 1982 Ben E King returned to The Drifters for a British tour and stayed until 1986.

Vocal groups and styles came and went from the 1950s through the 1980s, but somehow the Drifters evolved and persevered, spanning doo-wop and disco before being relegated exclusively to the oldies touring circuit. Rockin' & Driftin' collects highlights from the group's embryonic Clyde McPhatter-led era (beginning with 1953's "Money Honey") into the mid-'70s, when the group still had some standing in the U.K. "On Broadway," "There Goes My Baby," "Up on the Roof," "Under the Boardwalk"–they're all included in this handsome, thoroughly annotated three-disc box set. All told, there are 79 selections here; the 16-song Very Best of the Drifters is a viable option for more casual fans interested in a selection of '59 to '64 smashes. More thorough-minded fans of vocal groups will find that Rockin' & Driftin' satisfies their hunger for Drifters nuggets great and small.

The Drifters are an American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953.According to Rolling Stone magazine, the Drifters were the least stable of the great vocal groups, as they were low-paid musicians hired by George Treadwell, who owned the Drifters' name from 1955, after McPhatter left. There have been 60 vocalists in the history of the Treadwell Drifters line, including several splinter groups by former Drifters members (not under Treadwell's management). These groups are usually identified with a possessive credit such as "Bill Pinkney's Original Drifters", "Charlie Thomas' Drifters".

There's lots of good stuff on this double CD, which features 33 songs, including all six of the group's top-ten U.K. hits, and all the singles the Drifters recorded for the Bell, Arista, and Epic labels.

The history of rhythm and blues is filled with vocal groups whose names the Orioles, the Cadillacs, the Crows, the Flamingos, the Moonglows, the Coasters, the Penguins are held in reverence by fanatics and devotees. The Drifters are part of an even more exclusive fraternity, as a group that managed to carve out a place for themselves in the R&B firmament and also define that music, not only at its inception as a national chart phenomenon in the early '50s but also in the decade that followed.

The Drifters originally formed in 1953 and despite a number of line-up changes went on to become one of the most successful chart bands in American history. Songs like Save The Last Dance, Under The Boardwalk and Up On The Roof becoming massive hits both sides on the Atlantic. Signed to Atlantic records under the stewardship of producers Jerry Leiber & Mike Stroller the band featured one Ben E King as their lead vocalist for a period before he left and recorded the seminal Stand By Me .A track that was originally meant to be recorded by the Drifters themselves. Despite Ben E King being synonymous with the Drifters and the track Stand By Me being originally meant for the band they have never recorded it, UNTIL NOW.

More than 50 years after the original quartet assembled as The Drifters to accompany an up and coming young singer named Cliff Richard on stage and record - and after some changes of personnel, fallow years and successful comebacks - The Shadows are still statistically among the top raters in the overall history of the UK pop singles and albums charts. During the late 50s/early 60s period of this celebratory compilation they became for a while the most influential group in Britain, greatly boosting the sales of Fender guitars, Vox amps and mohair suits. Founders Hank Marvin (lead guitar) and Bruce Welch (second guitar) still front the group's intermittent sell-out revivals. Their original sidekicks Jet Harris (bass guitar) and Tony Meehan (drums) have been replaced over the years but the sound of The Shadows remains a distinctive reminder of where it all began - with the 66 tracks on this comprehensive 2CD set, the recordings that inspired a generation of young wannabes to pick up a guitar and kick a leg in tune and in step with the renowned 'Shads'.

More than 50 years after the original quartet assembled as The Drifters to accompany an up and coming young singer named Cliff Richard on stage and record - and after some changes of personnel, fallow years and successful comebacks - The Shadows are still statistically among the top raters in the overall history of the UK pop singles and albums charts. During the late 50s/early 60s period of this celebratory compilation they became for a while the most influential group in Britain, greatly boosting the sales of Fender guitars, Vox amps and mohair suits. Founders Hank Marvin (lead guitar) and Bruce Welch (second guitar) still front the group's intermittent sell-out revivals. Their original sidekicks Jet Harris (bass guitar) and Tony Meehan (drums) have been replaced over the years but the sound of The Shadows remains a distinctive reminder of where it all began - with the 66 tracks on this comprehensive 2CD set, the recordings that inspired a generation of young wannabes to pick up a guitar and kick a leg in tune and in step with the renowned 'Shads'.