The Drifters
There’s a very good reason that Rolling Stone magazine, in their iconic issue 500 Greatest Rock and Roll Performers said of the Drifters “No group has done it this well for this long — no one, not even the Rolling Stones.” That’s quite an accolade to live up to but hopefully, on their latest tour, the Drifters will once again prove Rolling Stone to be the sage of rock and roll. Because, once again, the Drifters are on tour with a lineup of super talent revolving around performers who have had between them, over a century of making and recording the most meaningful songs in Rock and Roll.
Through their historic journey which began in the 1957, the Drifters have had no less than 5 legendary lead singers including Rock and Roll hall of Famers Clyde McPhatter and Ben E. King. Such stalwart and famed individual lead singers as Charley Thomas, Bill Pinkney and Johnny Moore have passed through the group over the years, each recording their share of Drifters hits. And today, as has been the case for nearly 25 years, their star lead singer is Jerome Jackson who also performed as the lead singer for the Main Ingredient in the 1970s.
Cornell Gunther’s Coasters
The Coasters are an American Rhythm & Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with “Searchin” and “Young Blood”, their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team Leiber and Stoller. Although The Coasters originated outside of mainstream doo wop, their records were so frequently imitated that they became an important part of the doo wop legacy through the 1960s. The Coasters‘ hits also comprised a major portion of the song score for the 1994 musical revue Smokey Joe’s Café, a retrospective of Leiber & Stoller songs that received one Grammy Award and seven Tony Award nominations following its 1995 Broadway debut. From “Yakkety Yak” to “Charlie Brown” to “Poison Ivy”, these monumental songs helped induct The Coasters into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
