The Drifters - The Drifters' Golden Hits FLAC album

The Drifters once featured the brilliant vocals of the legendary Ben E. King, though as with so many R&B bands from the heyday of the 1960’s, they’ve gone through various incarnations as well … though I believe that with 37 past and present members, and slightly over 60 vocalists, makes The Drifters perhaps more of a concept than an actual group. The original members consisted of Clyde McPhatter, Charlie White, David Baughan, William Anderson, James Johnson, and David Baldwin (brother of the writer James Baldwin).Beginning their career in the early half of the 1950’s as the backup singers for Clyde McPhatter, as with many of the soul and R&B groups from this time, it was their delivery of singles that’s most remembered, where with the continual change in lineup, the music almost became generic, released under the unassuming name of The Drifters. The trademark for the name The Drifters was owned by various individuals in other countries, sold and traded, with past members touring as splinter bands, such as The Drifters Legends, Bill Pinkney’s Original Drifters, The Drifters featuring Dock Green, along with a list too long to venture through. And if that weren’t enough, when it came time for induction into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, there were the groups formed by Clyde McPhatter, along with the Ben E. King & The Drifters, and then for the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, four members from the original band, two from the second remolded Drifters, and one of the post-Atlantic Records’ Drifters were chosen for induction … all leaving the world to wonder who The Drifters actually were.Essentially one should consider the material from the mid 50’s though the year 1966 to be the golden age of The Drifters, and while changes occurred during that timeframe as well, this was essentially who the historic drifters were, where they graced the world with staggering hits such as “On Broadway,” “There Goes My Baby,” “Up On The Roof,” and “Under The Boardwalk” a crossover track that was even covered by The Rolling Stones during their early R&B days.While not able to produce a great number of first rate hits, when they did click, their music was like nothing else in the world. Of course, as was true of other R&B bands, The Drifters did not pen their own material, yet with that in mind, their best material was all about the streets of black America during those years, a source for style and inspiration for the likes of Bruce Springsteen, where The Drifters delivered almost cinematic vision of their world at that time in New York City. Their harmonies were smooth, their songs were filled with great warm hooks, echoed vocal sound effects, along with the use of unexpected instruments and instrumentation. And then there were those who actually penned these songs, those who made The Drifters who they were, with none other than Carole King writing “Up On The Roof,” Doc Pomus who penned “This Magic Moment” and Kenny Young & Artie Resnick (who interestingly enough wrote “Good Lovin’” for The Young Rascals with Artie forming his own underground band during the 60’s known as The Third Rail with their timeless classic “Run Run Run”) penning “Under The Boardwalk,” all white writers delivering songs to black artists, which is no doubt why all of these numbers were seen as crossover hits and embraced as covers by so many rock artists.All of that being said, when it comes to the music, you can certainly secure the material that is most delightful to you from across the many years and incarnations of The Drifters, or you can give The Drifters’ Golden Hits a spin, which will pretty much give you all you’ll ever desire from this ever-changing group, from a time when the AM airways of America were all about danceable R&B.Review by Jenell Kesler

Some stickered with new cat K40018 although label is 588103