THE DRIFTERS - ''I'LL TAKE YOU HOME'' (1963)

The group was formed in 1953 by lead singer in the Dominoes Clyde McPhatter and Ahmet Ertegun - founder of Atlantic Records under the management of former jazz singer George Treadwell. Right from the very beginning there was a constant succession of regular lineup changes that would characterize The Drifters name. Early line up members included William Anderson, David Baughan, David Baldwin and James Johnson, bass player Bill Pinkney, guitarist Jimmy Oliver, brothers Gerhart and Andrew Thrasher and bass singer Willie Ferbee.

Early recordings included songs such as 'Lucille,' 'Money Honey,' 'Such a Night' and 'Honey Love.' The Drifters' career was quickly established and they became one of the most popular acts in the charts and on stage. In 1954, McPhatter parted with the group to pursue a solo career that would make him successful for the rest of the 1950s. He sold off his interest in the group to George Treadwell, making the line up nothing more than salaried members earning as little as $100 a week - a factor that contributed to the constant line up rotation in the group's history.

Ertegun, Treadwell and Jerry Wexler decided to continue recording The Drifters. In 1954, George Treadwell auditioned tenor Johnny Moore, previously a member of The Hornets, who would remain with the group for over two decades. A number one R&B chart single, 'Adorable' followed thanks to the outstanding songwriting talents of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who would later take over the job of producing the group.

The first album by group, entitled 'Clyde McPhatter & the Drifters' was released in 1956. Despite a busy tour diary, financial disputes continued as did the constant line up change, with the departure of Bill Pinkney and Andrew Thrasher. Subsequent line up members included Jimmy Ricks, Tom Evans, Charlie Hughes, Jimmy Millender and guitarist Jimmy Oliver.

On one occasion, George Treadwell sacked the entire line up just before a show at the Apollo Theater in New York and replaced them with a group known as 'The Five Crowns'. And so the rotation continued, with a new line up that included baritone Benjamin Earl Nelson, later known as Ben E. King, Dock Green and Elsbeary Hobbs.

The group still had a recording contract with Atlantic Records and the hits kept coming including "There Goes My Baby, "Dance With Me," "This Magic Moment," "I Count the Tears," and "Save the Last Dance for Me," followed. Ben E King was replaced by Johnny Williams, who exited suddenly in late 1960 but was replaced by Rudy Lewis, who took the lead on "Some Kind of Wonderful," "Up on the Roof" and "On Broadway" among others.

Lewis, tragically, was not the longest serving of the group's lead vocalists but his time with The Drifters, following King's, arguably constituted the second golden age in their history. Success followed in the 1960's notably in 1964 with a song by composers Art Resnick and Kenny Young, called "Under the Boardwalk." In 1964. Tragically, just hours before a recording session began, Rudy Lewis was found dead in his apartment under circumstances that are still in dispute.

The death of George Treadwell in 1967 proved to be yet another stumbling block for The Drifters' continuation as a going concern. George's wife Faye Treadwell took over the reins and took the group to England, where they nurtured a relationship of a further 15 years under the Bell Arista label. Releases included "Come on Over to My Place" "Like Sister And Brother", "Kissing In The Back Row Of The Movies", "There Goes My First Love", "Your More Than A Number In My Little Red Book", "Saturday Night At The Movies" and many more.

The Drifters became a dance-disco outfit for a time during the late '70s, focussing on stage presentation and fabulous showmanship and eventually developed their act to cover all eras of their glittering career. Thereafter, the band earned a reputation as one of the finest live acts in the world and even Ben E. King returned to the line-up for a tour in the late '80s.

Several successful tours followed for many years under the guidance of Faye Treadwell and the succession of line up changes that had become synonymous with the name from the very beginning continued. In 2003 'The Definitive Drifters' album was released in the UK.