TOUR NOTES BIOGRAPHIES
The Drifters
When Clyde McPhatter left the Dominoes in early 1953, Atlantic Records quickly signed him and gave him the impetus to start his own group. Clyde quickly incorporated a business entity under his name and manager George Treadwell.
Along with bass singer Willie Ferbee, and Walter Adams on the guitar, they became The Drifters. Their first hit, "Money Honey", hit the number one spot on the R&B chart by mid-fall of 1953.
During this success, Bass player Bill Pinkeney and guitarist Jimmy Oliver replaced Willie Ferbee and Walter Adams. In an attempt to realize his dream of becoming the next Nat "King" Cole, Clyde McPhatter parted with the group in 1954 to begin a solo career that would make him a success for the rest of the 1950’s. Since The Drifter’s was a business entity under McPhatter and Treadwell’s names, McPhatter simply sold his share to Treadwell; forever dooming the other members financially, causing them to become salaried employees, without royalty pay.
The rest of the Drifters, now without a lead vocalist, decided to find a new singer with a "McPhatter feel". After three attempts, Johnny Moore from a group called "The Hornets" was recruited and remained with the group in two different decades.
In 1955, the new Drifters recorded "Adorable" which became a number one R&B chart single and established their reputation once more.
The business relationships in the group, however, caused ruptures in the musical fabric of the Drifters. In late 1956, Bill Pickney approached manager George Treadwill with a request for a higher salary for every group member and was immediately fired. This dismissal drove Andrew Thrasher to leave the group with Bill. Thus a new Drifters group was re-formed. As bad luck would have it, lead singer Jimmy Moore was drafted and the group remained in limbo and upon escalating arguments with Treadwell, the whole group walked out (fired en masse).
Treadwill, contracted to future "Drifters" engagements, quickly approached the manager of a small Harlem group called "The Crowns" and bought the contracts of most of the individuals in the group. The new Drifters consisted on Charlie Thomas on lead, baritone Benjamin Earl Nelson (later known as Ben E. King), Dock Green and Elsbeary Hobbs (bass). This awkward line-up had to perform songs to audiences that knew they weren’t the original Drifters.
In 1959, the new Drifters began recording their own music, pushing boundaries by adding string sections, and Latin percussion – a first on any commercial recording. Their biggest hit on the pop charts was "There Goes My Baby" and impacted audiences overseas. "There Goes My Baby" became their trademark sound for the ten years that followed. Other songs released at this time were, "This Magic Moment", "I Count the Tears" and "Save the Last Dance". This post-1959 era was known as the "Ben E. King and Drifters" era, although King left the group by the end of the year. More musicians within that time, however, left the group and more were recruited.
After various chart attempts, The Drifters found Bert Berns, a songwriter with a feel for commercial soul music. The group was soon offered a new song by Art Resnick and Kenny Young called "Under the Boardwalk". The song was scheduled to record on May 21 1964. On the night of May 20th, however, Rudy Lewis was found dead in his apartment. Police say it was a drug overdose but his friends say that he choked to death because of his problems with binge eating. To this day, no one knows the true story. The Drifters quickly lost producer Bert Berns and struggled to jump back on the brand of soul music.
There were no more hits for The Drifters after the mid-sixties. The group continued to work on their own music up until the 1980’s and Collectable album CD’s are still being released to this day!
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