Jerry Leiber &
Phil Spector wrote
Spanish Harlem.
Released on the last day of 1960. Got up to #
10, #15 R&B; chart.
Romeo Penque does the nice touch of sax - a soprano sax (1:50). Out of favor for decades (think
Sidney Bechet), the soprano began making a comeback about this time.
Benjamin Earl King (born
September 28,
1938), better known as
Ben E. King, is an
American soul singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "
Stand by Me," a
U.S. top 10 hit in both
1961 and
1987 and a #1 hit in the UK in 1987, and as one of the principal lead singers of the R&B; vocal group
The Drifters.
King was born
Benjamin Earl Nelson in
Henderson, North Carolina and moved to
Harlem, New York City,
New York, at the age of nine.
In
1958, he joined a doo wop group called
The Five Crowns.
Later that year, The Drifters' manager fired the members of the group and replaced them with The Five Crowns, who had performed several engagements with the
Drifters.
Nelson co-wrote the first hit by the new version of the Drifters, "
There Goes My Baby" (
1959). He also sang lead, using his birth name, on "
Save the Last Dance for Me", a song written by
Doc Pomus and
Mort Shuman, "
Dance With Me", "
This Magic Moment", "
I Count the
Tears" and "
Lonely Winds". King only recorded ten songs with The Drifters, including a non-single called "
Temptation" which was later redone by
Johnny Moore. Ben E. King career was so brief with The Drifters, The Drifters manager
George Treadwell never gave Ben E. King a chance to perform with The Drifters on tour or in television. On television , A fellow Drifters member
Charlie Thomas usually lip sung the songs that Ben E. King recorded with the Drifters.
In 1960, he left the Drifters after failing to gain a salary increase and what he felt to be a fairer share of the group's royalties. At this
point he assumed the more memorable stage name Ben E. King in preparation for a successful solo career. Remaining on
Atlantic Records on its
Atco imprint, King scored his first solo hit with the ballad "Spanish Harlem" (1961). "Stand by Me" was his next recording. Written by King along with
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, "Stand by Me" was voted as one of the
Songs of the Century by the
Recording Industry Association of America. "Stand by Me", "There Goes My Baby" and "Spanish Harlem" were named as three of
The Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame's
500 Songs that Shaped
Rock and Roll and were all given a
Grammy Hall of Fame Award, as well as "
Save The Last Dance For Me". His other well known songs were "
Don't Play That Song (You Lied)" (which was covered by
Aretha Franklin in the
1970s), "
Amor", "
Seven Letters", "
How Can I Forget", "
On the Horizon", "
Young Boy Blues", "
I (Who Have Nothing)", "
First Taste of Love", "
Here Comes the Night", "
Ecstasy", That's
When It Hurts ,
Down Home ,
River of Tears ,
Do It in the
Name of Love , and
It's All Over .
In the summer of
1963, King had a top 30 national hit with "I (Who Have Nothing)", a song that reached the Top 10 on
New York's radio station,
WMCA. The song has been covered many times, notably by
Luther Vandross &
Martha Wash,
John Lennon,
Shirley Bassey,
Tom Jones,
Sylvester James, U2,
Bruce Springsteen,
Jedi Mind Tricks, and most recently by
American Idol contestant
Jordin Sparks, during the
March 20, 2007 and
May 15, 2007 telecasts.
King's records continued to place well on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart until
1965.
British pop bands began to dominate the pop music scene, but King still continued to make R&B; hits and minor
Pop hits. King's other hits were "
What is Soul?" (
1967), "
Supernatural Thing, Part 1" (
1975), and the re-issue in
1986 of "Stand by Me", following the song's use as the theme song to the movie
Stand By Me, and though the song is used numerous times throughout the film, the film itself has nothing to do with Ben E. King or the song.
Throughout his career he has achieved five number one hits, which were "There Goes My Baby", "Save The Last Dance For Me", "Stand By Me", "Supernatural Thing", and the 1986 re-issue of "Stand By Me". He also earned twelve Top 10 hits and
Twenty four Top 40 hits, from 1959 to 1986. He has also been inducted to the
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a Drifters member and nominated for his career as a solo artist but not yet accepted.
Currently, King is active in his charitable foundation, the Stand By Me
Foundation. He has been a resident of
Teaneck, New Jersey since the late
1960s.
More recently, King performed "Stand By Me" during a televised tribute to late comedian
George Carlin, as he was one of Carlin's favorite artists. ~
SOURCE:
Wikipedia
PLEASE
NOTE: I divided my uploads among multiple channels, Bookmark this link in your browser for instant access to an index with links to all of John1948's oldies classics.
LINK:
http://john1948.wikifoundry.com/page/John1948%27s+Youtube+
Index
- published: 18 Mar 2010
- views: 2607337