916 The Drifters - The Drifters Golden Hits (1968)

 916 The Drifters - The Drifters Golden Hits (1968) 

Compilation Album - Soul




About the Act:

The Drifters are an American Doo-Wop and Soul band who have existed since 1953, and have gone through a ridiculous number of line-ups over the years, including splinter groups and different spin-offs. The claim to the name "Drifters" can be quiet tenuous, and they have featured at least 60 singers.

They had some chart hits in the 50s, more in the 60s, and more in the 70s.


About the Album:

It's not clear whether this is a compilation on a studio album, it certainly contains songs which appear on earlier albums, and features 5 lead singers, including Ben E King.


My History with this Album:

None, directly.


Review:

In the early noughties (I think it was), my wife and I took a holiday in Majorca at Easter, a package at a resort. One night they laid on a coach to an event which was repeatedly claimed to be "the best night of your holiday". This featured a kind of cross between dinner theatre and cabaret, with clowns, dancing, and I don't remember much else, apart from the fact that the headline act was The Drifters. Or some variation of people using that name anyway. THey sang several songs from this album.

This is basically early soul/Doo-Wop style music, the sort of thing that I think of as Black Music for White People, in the same line as the Temptations, The Platters and other 50s vocal groups. It has the depth of a puddle, and the variety of a colony of penguins, except that there are some songs that I know and recognise - especially the later part of the album with "Up On The Roof", "On Broadway", "Save The Last Dance For Me", "Saturday Night At The Movies" and "Under The Boardwalk". One song I didn't know but particularly enjoyed was "I've Got Sand In My Shoes". The first few tracks have some kind of problem, where the ubiquitous strings sound like they are out of tune with the rest of the song, or at least with the vocals.

It's pop of an early form, there is little consequence to it, but mostly it's not unpleasant, in fact there is a warmth of familiarity to some of it, and some of it is quite nicely sung. 


6.2/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/70F8gkHYGoB9ToYzud6oMp

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6VJme_L98wIz0MS5-a1u0CE5Sl-sec9Q

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Drifters



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