THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 20, 1995 TAG: 9508170236
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: John Harper
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
When producer George Treadwell named his newly formed rock/gospel group ``The Drifters,'' he must have known something.
Since that first incarnation of The Drifters in 1953, there have been at least 10 Drifters groups, with as many as 75 men drifting in and out of the bands. One such outfit is TFC, The Sounds of The Drifters, which plays the Ramada Inn in Kill Devil Hills on Tuesday.
The Drifters' history is as rich as any in popular music. Treadwell put the first group together to back the lead voice of Clyde McPhatter. From 1953-55, The Drifters recorded a number of sides for Atlantic Records, including ``Money Honey,'' ``Lucille'' and ``Honey Love.''
But in 1955, McPhatter joined the army. For the next three years, the group used a number of lead singers, with little success. Treadwell fired the quartet in 1958 and immediately began looking for replacements.
He didn't have to look far.
Treadwell was in the legendary Apollo in Harlem the night he fired the group. On the same bill was an act known as The Crowns. Since Treadwell owned The Drifters name, he could give it to any group.
He liked what he heard. After the concert, Treadwell christened The Crowns the ``new'' Drifters. The lead voice belonged to Ben E. King, whose rich baritone would give The Drifters their first top 10 hit with ``There Goes My Baby'' in 1959.
The song, written by King (from Henderson, N.C.) was turned into a minor symphony. It featured pounding kettle drums and lilting violins. It was the first rhythm-and-blues hit record to feature strings.
For the next four years, The Drifters were the most successful act on Atlantic Records and one of the most successful in all of rock 'n' roll. Many of the era's best and brightest songwriters - Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller among them - wrote songs especially for the group.
With Leiber and Stoller producing and Ben E. King on lead vocal, The Drifters would score another top 20 hit with ``This Magic Moment,'' plus the No. 1 song, ``Save the Last Dance for Me.''
King would leave in 1961. But no matter; the hits kept coming. Treadwell, Leiber and Stoller had created a hit-making machine. Their mission was to create R&B flavored pop, Latin-tinged music for the masses.
Rudy Lewis, who had been second tenor, moved up front. His husky, gospel-trained voice propelled such hits as ``Some Kind of Wonderful,'' ``Up on the Roof'' and the haunting ``On Broadway.'' The latter featured a guitar solo by one of Leiber and Stoller's studio musicians, soon to be rock 'n' roll's premier producer, Phil Spector.
Lewis' stint was short; he died of a heart attack in 1963. The other Drifters were told of his death as they were preparing to record ``Under the Boardwalk.'' But instead of canceling the session, another tenor, Johnny Moore, took the lead.
Moore would later say that the circumstances probably helped him to give the song a special reading. His soaring tenor quivers, belying the song's happy lyrics.
Moore would stay on as lead singer until the group splintered in 1971. Moore would form his own Drifters group. Bass singer Bill Pinkney also put together a group of Drifters. Sometime lead voice Charlie Thomas formed yet another Drifters group.
Johnny Moore would have the most success. He moved to England and placed five songs in the top 10 during the 1970s and early '80s. Two of the records, ``Kissing in the Back Row of the Movies'' and ``You're More than a Number in My Little Red Book,'' are now considered classics by the shaggers on the North and South Carolina coasts.
The group that will play here has been together 20 years. Several of the members have played in other Drifters groups. TLC plays most of The Drifters' big hits, but they also play other shag and beach music. ``These guys are more high-energy than the other groups,'' says D.C. Ammon, the band's longtime booking agent.
``In addition to The Drifters stuff, they play The O'Jays and Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes.''
Don't look for Ben E. King or Johnny Moore in this group. But that's OK. The Drifters' music has always been more about heart and soul.
The singers change, but once the band cranks up ``Under the Boardwalk,'' the song remains the same. by CNB