Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod the Mod finds his solo footing, headed for stardom, with the Faces in his wake.
6:00 AM GMT 22/06/2011
Features Disc of the day
The Drifters
Save The Last Dance For Me
(Atlantic, 1962)
The least known, but possibly the best of the many great Drifters lead singers died 45 years ago last month.
No group has ever benefited from as many truly outstanding lead singers as The Drifters. From the first, the ill-starred Clyde McPhatter, through the imperishable Ben E. King to the commercially durable Johnny Moore, there are strong claims to be hailed as the finest vocalist in the group's labyrinthine line-up history. For a few, however, the relatively unknown Rudy Lewis was The Drifters' best. A graduate of The Clara Ward Singers gospel group (and there weren't many male ones, to be sure), he filled the not inconsiderable loafers of the group's great baritone lead Benjamin Earl Nelson [King], who departed in 1960 to enjoy massive solo success. It was no small task yet Lewis immediately established a grip by embracing the emerging 'soul' vocal textures.
At his first session in February 1961, Lewis's leads on the gorgeous supplication of Burt Bacharach's Please Stay ("Now I hang by a thread in the canyon of doom / But I still can be saved by your kiss," he sings and makes it convincing!) and the rather more joyful Some Kind Of Wonderful were the perfect introductions to this under-appreciated talent. Such was the confusing pattern of Drifters releases that this album actually features several tracks from the King era, notably the sublime title track, while the other strong Lewis leads are Jackpot, Mexican Divorce and Somebody New Dancin' With You.
Other Rudy Lewis leads not on this album, but which have become an indelible part of the pop landscape, are those to Up On The Roof, On Broadway, Rat Race and Only In America. If you've got this far can I urge you to seek out She Never Talked To Me That Way, an exceptional reading of a Doc Pomus/Mort Shuman song which finds our man overhearing his girlfriend talking to another man. (Actually, men of a suspicious or insecure nature should avoid this like the plague.)
The Drifters were booked into Atlantic Studios NYC for a session on May 21, 1964. But on May 20 Lewis was found dead in his hotel - drug overdose or choked to death on food - and so Johnny Moore sang lead on a session that included Under The Boardwalk while Charlie Thomas offered a memorably distraught take on Jerry Wexler/Bert Berns' I Don't Want To Go On Without You.
Geoff Brown
Posted by Danny_Eccleston at 6:00 AM GMT 05/06/2009
Further Listening
Clyde McPhatter – Clyde McPhatter (Atlantic, 1959)
Ben E. King – Don’t Play That Song (Atlantic, 1962)
Average White Band & Ben E. King – Benny And Us (Atlantic, 1977)
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Causa Sui - Summer Sessions Vol 1-3
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