The Drifters Album: “Let the Boogie-Woogie Roll: Greatest Hits 1953-1958”

Today it is the Drifters of the early 60's that are remembered by the masses and recognized by most as the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Famers, but the original group's first string of hits in the early to mid-50's was their most dominating run as well as being the most influencial put out by any aggregation using that name over the years. That's not to say the Ben E. King or Rudy Lewis editions weren't great too, but their ancestors led by Clyde McPhatter were more consistantly better and this two-disc set proves it.

In 1953 McPhatter had just left the Dominoes, one of the premier R&B groups in the country, and was immediately offered the chance to form his own group for Atlantic. It was one step closer to rock 'n' roll and with their first release "Money Honey" in '53 they just might have launched the boat. At his peak no singer could touch McPhatter's tenor and they released nothing but hits in his two years at the helm before the Army and then an uneven solo career took him away from the group he founded.

The first disc here is all Clyde, every master take he cut with them, six more than are found on the "Rockin' & Driftin" box set which tries to cover all the Drifters work from '53-'74 and in the process of trying to squeeze it all onto three discs (including some solo McPhatter and Ben E. King sides) it becomes a somewhat muddled and surprisingly less thorough collection.

Their first replacement on lead, David Baughan, delivers a dead on Clyde imitation on the terrific "Honey Bee" but his volatile personality made him a short lived member. Enter Johnny Moore who would ironically become the longest standing member, the only one to serve in both stylistic versions of the Drifters - here from '55 through '57 and then returning years later in 1964 to replace Rudy Lewis, starting with "Under The Boardwalk", cut just after Lewis's death. Moore led them through the late 70's when they were scoring hits in England and was a truly versatile singer, at home with the gospelish 50's or the soulful 60's. Once he too was called into the service in late '57 his place was taken briefly by Bobby Hendricks, ex-Sparrows member and soon to be solo star with "Itchy Twitchy Feeling, who scored this edition's final big hit "Drip Drop" before the Drifters manager George Treadwell got tired of the group's demands for higher salaries amidst declining sales and canned them all before realizing he had contractual obligations to fill and brought in the Five Crowns for that purpose alone and struck gold when they were turned into the hitmaking pop-soul outfit under Leiber & Stoller's direction.

Regardless of who was on lead during these mid-years, be it Baughn, Moore or Hendricks, or sometimes other original members Gerhart Thrasher or Bill Pickney, the music didn't suffer. Thanks to the consistant production of Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler, good songwriting by many people including Leiber & Stoller's first efforts with them, R&B great Chuck Willis, or veteran R&B songwriters Otis Blackwell, Jesse Stone and frequently the Drifters guitarist Jimmy Oliver, the material remained first rate but for some reason no one was listening much after McPhatter left. As a result the "Rockin' & Driftin" box set snubs these years giving only seven selections from that time, whereas here you'll get twenty including some great ballads (Disc Two - cuts 4, 7-9 in particular and the magnificent "It Was A Tear" featuring a powerhouse lead from Moore, which were all inexplicably left off the box), along with storming rockers like "No Sweet Lovin" and the terrific "Sadie My Lady" which for some reason was never even released as a single back then, despite it being on par with the best sides McPhatter had done.

The booklet is excellent with 6 pages of Peter Grendysa notes giving an in-depth look at McPhatter's life, his early career with the Dominoes and the formation of the Drifters, plus the many singers who accompanied him. Each song is delved into as well and it comes with a full sessionography, release dates and writing credits. There are no pictures but the contents of this album should more than convince you to grab it at all costs if it can still be found before these early years are swept aside completely.

Oh, and rather than the Rockin' & Driftin' box set which is curiously both too ambitious and yet too small at just three discs to be considered completely successful, pick up the still available two-disc companion set to this "Their All-Time Greatest Hits And More" which covers the '59-'65 years in depth and you'll have a truly comprehensive look at both worlds.

This is the one, folks! Although Clyde McPhatter made some memorable songs in the early '50s as lead singer for the Drifters (songs later covered successfully by other name artists), the Drifters we most remember had Ben E. King or one of the seven others (count them) who followed him as lead singer. They are all in this compilation. Everybody has a favorite of these; although I like all the "A" sides (and many of the B's), I have always been fond of "Please Stay" (Don't Go) which is virtually never played on the radio. Today many of the Drifters are gone and various groups travel the country singing their songs (sometimes alternately appearing as The Coasters). If you want the real deal, though, this is it. By the way, in case you didn't know, Ben E. King "left" the group because the other members of the group failed to show up for a recording session and his product was released under his name only. Do you remember the name of it?

For those of us who were teenagers when this music first appeared (40 years ago!), it was a grand time. The Drifters were the first R&B/RnR group to use string instruments as a signature. Lead singer Ben E. King continued that innovation in his solo career, where he recorded "Stand By Me" and "Spanish Harlem", among others. I bought this CD for its "B" sides, including "I Don't Want to Go on Without You." These guys preceded the Temptations and Boyz II Men. But their music is as fresh and powerful as ever. Listening to it is still a grand time well spent.

I cannot believe the other reviewers are talking about the same album. This lamentable rip-off is chock full of terribly done re-recordings. I was a disc jockey in the late-60s and early-70s and I know what the originals sound like ... and this ain't them.

If you're looking for the real thing, you have to go to the source: Atlantic Records (

).

This marvelous collection includes the ORIGINAL recordings of great Drifters songs, as well as many other Atlantic performers such as Ben E. King, Don Covay, Sam & Dave and Otis Redding.

It is not cheap, but the real thing seldom is.

The Drifters are alway good. This album is good. I purchased it.

But,

those that are looking for the very late fifties and early sixties singing, will take exception with some of the songs of old provided.

Why?

The Drifters had featured singers and background vocals changing even with the same song (there were at least 12 different performers). The melodies and harmonics can be very easy or hard to distinguish -they sound a little different- with these changes.

Solution,

Take advantage of the "MP3 Downloads" here and select your individual choice or recollation of the songs. Also do a "bing" on "drifters original recordings" for assistance.