Wednesday, October 28, 2020

The Drifters - Discography

The Drifters


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. Their place in history is as complex as their role in it, by virtue of the fact that there are two distinct phases to their music and the continuity of their membership, and their extraordinary longevity -- only the Platters could claim as great a span of years as an active recording unit, though the latter group, due to major differences in the way they were organized, were far more stable in their membership and output. The Drifters can also claim a unique place in popular music history, as a major R&B group founded at the instigation of a record-label chief.

Their story began in early 1953, when Clyde McPhatter, the soaring high-tenor lead singer in the Dominoes, a vocal quintet formed by Billy Ward three years earlier, quit that group. The Dominoes were playing a scheduled gig at the New York club Birdland, one of their first performances without McPhatter, when one of the audience members present asked after the singer backstage. That fan was Ahmet Ertegun, a one-time record collector who had started Atlantic Records in the late '40s; as soon as he learned of McPhatter's having left the Dominoes, he contacted the singer and signed him to Atlantic.














1988 - All-Time Greatest Hits & More 1959-1965


1988 - Let the Boogie-Woogie Roll_ Greatest Hits 1953-1958










7 comments:

puw said...

Thanks for these - the earlier stuff is sooo good :)

Unknown said...

Links is dead ,are You repair? Thanks,fantástico blog.thanks ,thanks

Ozzieguy said...

Yes Unknown I will repair for you.
Give me a few days.
Thanks
Ozzieguy

Tel said...

Cheers Ozzieguy,A Couple Here I Didnt Have

mlc said...

Thanks brings back many good memories

Ozzieguy said...

Hi Tel
Enjoy them my friend.
Regards
Ozzieguy

Ozzieguy said...

Hi mlc
Good to know.
Enjoy them all my friend.
Regards
Ozzieguy