The Drifters - The Drifters - All-Time Greatest Hits & More: 1959-1965
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Free Music Notes for The Drifters - All-Time Greatest Hits & More: 1959-1965
Free Music Review: Drifters lover
Hit: 5 Stars
Contains all the greatest hits of the Drifters and is liked very much by people like me who prefer rock and roll when it was rock and roll, meaning previous to the Beatles.Free Music Review: Up on the roof
Hit: 5 Stars
It is difficult to describe the kind of sheer joy and sense of freedom which comes from listening to one song here 'Up on the Roof'. I believe it to be one of the greatest of all pop songs and one which most perfectly expresses that desire to in pure kind of joy , a freedom in joy which comes most naturally in youth.
It is one of the songs which have stayed with me all through the years, and gives pleasure to this day.
There are other fine pieces here, including ' On Broadway' but being up on the roof with the Drifters is as high in my opinion as pop music can go.
Free Music Review: The DriftersTunes We Most Remember
Hit: 5 Stars
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?Free Music Review: All the Drifters hits from 1959 to 1965 - and much more
Hit: 5 Stars
The Drifters were onne of those groups that went through a lot of line-up changes, so let's first clear up any confusion first. There was a group with that name before 1959 - it feautured Clyde McPhatter and recorded some wonderful R+B, some of which is available on other CD's. That group was disbanded, and a totally different group was given the Drifters name. It is that line-up, featuring Ben E King, that opens this collection (which is presented in chronological order). Ben left after Save the last dance for me to pursue a solo career. His solo hits are not included in this collection, which is why Spanish Harlem and Stand by me are missing. You can obtain these recordings on Ben's own albums, although I've also seen Drifters compilations which include Ben's solo hits. So, what you get here are forty of the finest tracks from their best period, including Save the last dance for me, There goes my baby, Dance with me, On Broadway, Some kind of wonderful, One way love, Up on the roof, Under the boardwalk, Saturday night at the movies, When my little girl is smiling, Sweets for my sweet and others - all huge American hits. Only Save the last dance for me was a big hit in Britain for the Drifters, because record companies at that time often found local singers to cover the songs and they had the hits instead. This shameful practice died out by the end of the sixties.
Even with all their hits included, there is plenty of room to explore their B-sides and album tracks. All the ones included here are excellent, but my favorite is their cover of Stranger on the shore, an extremely sad song which which was a huge instrumental hit for clarinetist Acker Bilk. Many vocal versions of this song exist, but the Drifters sing it as well as anybody.
After 1965 (which marks the end of this compilation), the Drifters didn't have much success in America, but they enjoyed a new wave of popularity in the seventies in Britain, where they had several top ten hits. Even as a Brit, I prefer their sixties music, but anybody interested in their seventies music should seek out a British compilation.
Free Music Review: Excellent collection of timeless Pop & R&B songs
Hit: 5 Stars
Together with Elvis Presley, Phil Spector's bands, The Everly Brothers, The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, The Beach Boys, some from Motown, Brenda Lee, The Rolling Stones or Tina Turner among others, The Drifters have also written their page in Rock'n'Roll history, a fact that I don't realise whether it has been some time acknowledged. The legendary group recorded songs that are today timeless pop or R&B classics; Save The Last Dance For Me, Dance With Me, Sweets For My Sweet, Some Kind Of Wonderful, When My Little Girl is Smiling, On Broadway, my personal best favourites: Up On The Roof, At The Club, Under the Boardwalk, and This Magic Moment, are only some gems of their musical legacy. They have been covered by dozens of artists and they still continue to be covered by others.
The Drifters' choice of songs and songwriters were exemplary: Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman, Bacharach, Hilliard, David, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Bert Russell, Jerry Ragovoy, Goffin/King, Kenny Young, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, almost all the best of the 60s.
A must-have for those who love 60's music, for collectors and also for those who feel curious about all the richness and beauty the music of that time gave the world.
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