THE GOLDEN ´50s - with the Coasters
16 years of R&B - by
Claus Röhnisch
(BONUS: The Early Vocal Groups and Fifties' Links)
Top 35 Super Hits/Artists of the 1950s
presented as
1. Top Record 2. Top Profile 3. Top Artist
1949
Amos Milburn -. Chicken-Shack Boogie
1950
1. Joe Liggins – Pink Champagne
2. Johnny Otis – Double Crossing Blues
3. Roy Brown – Hard Luck Blues
1951
1. The Dominoes – Sixty-Minute Man
2. Charles Brown – Black Night
3. Ruth Brown - Teardrops From My Eyes
1952
1. Lloyd Price – Lawdy Miss Clawdy
2. The Clovers – One Mint Julep
3. The Dominoes – Have Mercy Baby
1953
1. Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters – Money Honey
2. The “5” Royales - Baby Don’ t Do It
3. Faye Adams – Shake A Hand
1954
1. The Midnighters – Work With Me Annie
2a. Guitar Slim - The Things That I Used To Do
2b. LaVern Baker - Tweedlee Dee
3. Joe Turner – Shake, Rattle And Roll
1955
1. The Platters – Only You
2a. The Penguins – Earth Angel
2b. I've Got A Woman - Ray Charles
3. Fats Domino – Ain’t It A Shame
1956
1. Bill Doggett – Honky Tonk
2. Fats Domino – Blueberry Hill
3. Little Richard - Tutti-Frutti
1957
1. The Coasters – Searchin’
2. Sam Cooke - You Send Me
3. Fats Domino – Blue Monday
1958
1. The Coasters – Yakety Yak
2a. Cozy Cole – Topsy
2b. Bobby Day - Rock-In Robin
3. Chuck Berry – Johnny B. Goode
1959
1. Jackie Wilson – Lonely Teardrops
2. Brook Benton - It’s Just A Matter Of Time
3. Lloyd Price – Stagger Lee
1960
Hank Ballard and The Midnighters - Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go
also check:
Top Rhythm & Blues Records
- The Top Hit of the 25 golden years of R&B
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| Billboard's Year-End
R&B Charts 1946 1. Lionel Hampton - Hey-Ba-Ba-Re-Bop 2. Louis Jordan - Choo Choo Ch' Booogie 3. Louis Jordan/Ella Fitzgerald - Stone Cold Dead In The Market 4. Ink Spots - The Gypsy 5. Roy Milton - R.M. Blues 1947 1. Louis Jordan - Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens with flip: Let The Good Times Roll 2. Louis Jordan - Boogie Woogie Blue Plate 3. Savanna Churchill - I Want To Be Loved 4. Louis Jordan - Jack, You're Dead 5. Eddie Vinson - Old Maid Boogie with editor's favorite flip: Kidney Stew Blues |
Billboard's
Year-End R&B Charts |
1950
Late this year two young Jewish Los Angeles residents,
Jerry Leiber (born April 25, 1933 in Baltimore) and Mike Stoller (born March 13, 1933 in
Belle Harbor, Long Island), start to co-operate with distributor-agent Lester
Sill.
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Billboard's Year-End
R&B Chart |
1951
Leiber-Stoller bring That´s What The Good Book
Says, their first studiorecorded song (and first record issue), to the Bihari Brothers´ Modern label in Los
Angeles where it is waxed by Bobby Nunn & The Robbins (sic - should be Robins)
on March 2. Carl Gardner (born April 29, 1928 in Tyler, Texas)
plans to leave his home-town (and Houston) where he had sung with Lasalle
Gunter´s territorial band to join his brothers Richard and Howard in Los
Angeles.
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Billboard's Year-End R&B
Chart |
1952
Leiber & Stoller get two of their old time greatest
compositions recorded, K.C. Loving (originally recorded by Little Willie
Littlefield - later known as Kansas City), and Hound Dog
(by Willie Mae Thornton). Savoy Records force bass singer Bobby Nunn to quit recording as
a solo act. After his success with the Robins and Little Esther, Nunn had recorded with
Mickey Champion, and duetted with Little Esther again for Federal in 1952 in a
Leiber-Stoller written take-off of Double Crossing Blues,
titled Saturday Night Daddy
(during the other Robins' military
services).
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Billboard's Year-End R&B Chart |
1953
Carl Gardner
has arrived in California and gets established in Los Angeles´ blues and jazz
clubs as a night club dance band vocalist, singing ballads and jazz standards
(often with jazz pianist Carl Perkins), and playing drums at "The Oasis" (the
new Johnny Otis club) in Watts. The Robins are contracted to RCA Victor (with
Grady Chapman as fifth singer) in January. Leiber-Stoller write
Ten Days In Jail
for the Robins on RCA (with Chapman lead singer). Leiber and Stoller and their
mentor and guide, Lester Sill, born in L.A. January 13, 1918 (who had been sales
manager for Modern Records, and later was manager of the original Coasters),
embark serious business partnership.
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Billboard's Year-End R&B Chart |
1954
High tenor Cornelius "Cornell" Gunter
(born November 14, 1936 in Coffeyville, Kansas) leaves the original Platters (where he had sung lead - succeeded by Tony
Williams) and creates the Flairs in Los Angeles in partnership with
Richard Berry and Obie Jessie. Carl Gardner joins the Robins, around February, as lead
singer on If Teardrops Were Kisses, issued on Leiber-Stoller´s Spark
Records in L.A. a year later (Carl is to lead seven of the twelve Spark-recordings
by the Robins). Gardner makes his first stage appearance with the Robins on
March 13, as part of the Gene Norman show at the Embassy Ballroom. Four ghetto blues jump
singles by the Robins are issued between June 1954 and April 1955, including Riot
In Cell Block #9 (a regional hit during the summer), Framed b/w
Loop De Loop Mambo, and One Kiss - all recorded at Bunny
Robyn´s Master Recorders on Fairfax Avenue in Hollywood, and promoted by the
Robins' new agent Lester Sill.
Earl Carroll (born November 2, 1937) forms the Cadillacs across the continent in New York
City´s Sugar Hill and Ronnie Bright (born October 18, 1938) joins the Valentines. In 1954 the R&B market more than
doubles its shares on the American record buyers (although it is still a small
market compared to the Pop market).
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Billboard's Year-End R&B
Chart |
The Robins'
touring schedule (featuring Carl Gardner - Chapman out).
March 13-on: The Gene Norman show at the Embassy Ballroom in L.A. with Earl
Bostic, The Flairs, and Christine Ketrell. The package also toured Bakersfield, Salinas,
Ventura, Pasadena, and Oakland. May 7: One week at Johnny Otis' Club
Oasis in L.A. July 2-4 or 4-6: The Savoy Ballroom (billed as
The Robbins) in L.A. with Richard Lewis and
his Band. July 17: "Fifth Annual Blues Jubilee" hosted by
Gene Norman at the Hollywood Shrine with The Chords, The Clovers, The Four Tunes, and The
Hollywood Flames. Late July: Radio and TV-shows followed by "The
Gene Norman Show" tour to Bakersfield, San Jose, Pismo Beach, Fresno, Salinas, and
"The Rancho" in Hollywood. July 22: Two weeks at "The
Trocadero" in Hollywood. July 30: "Rhythm & Blues"
show on KTTV hosted by Jerry Lawrence with Harry Belafonte, and the Oscar McLollie
orchestra. August 17: "The Starlite" in Burbank, CA with Big
JayMcNeely, Jimmy Witherspoon, The Flairs, and the Richard Lewis Band. August 19:
Ten days at "The Trocadero" with Louis Jordan and his orchestra. September:
San Joaquin Valley and northern California with Jo Ann Lynn, and Chuck Higgins and his
Orchestra. September 25: The Gene Norman show at the Shrine Auditorium
with Guitar Slim, Muddy Waters, The Flairs, The Jewels, Marvin & Johnny, Chuck
Higgins, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, and The Platters. Late 1954:
"The Robins Sing" for Universal-International Pictures. December 27:
L.A. Shrine (with Chapman back, the Robins a sextet) with The Clovers,
Big Jay McNeely, The Jewels, The Platters, and The Cheers.
1955
Spiritual singer Will "Dub" Jones (born May 14, 1928 in
Shreveport, Louisiana) forms the Cadets in L.A. for Modern Records. Billy Guy, now settled
in Watts (born June 20, 1936 in Itasca, Texas), waxes a single for Aladdin Records as part
of the Californian duo Bip & Bop. The Robins issue their fifth single for Spark in
June – I Must Be Dreamin´. Their sixth, Smokey Joe´s Cafe,
a wonderful and humor-filled story about not getting too interested in a another man´s
woman - with an expressive lead by Gardner - turns out to be the last Spark
release. In mid September new Atlantic co-owner Nesuhi Ertegun (brother of Ahmet)
produces a session for Atlantic with the Drifters (after Clyde McPhatter's leave)
at Master Recorders in Hollywood and informs his brother that Bunny Robyn had
engineered some great recordings, produced by Leiber-Stoller, with a vocal
sextet for the Spark label. Smokey Joe´s Cafe hits the national R&B and Pop charts
(R&B Best Seller #13, R&B Juke Box #10, and Pop #79), now reissued on
newly formed Atco Records, as a result of a September
28 deal, in which Atlantic/Atco purchase all Spark masters from Leiber-Stoller. Gardner
and Nunn leave the Robins in this deal to create the Coasters, with Lester Sill as manager
and Leiber-Stoller as A&R-men and record producers. If one wants to pin-point a
specific date for the birth of the Coasters it is September 28, 1955. Leiber-Stoller-Sill
knew they could come up with a super-sounding group, based on qualitative individuals
surrounding the high-talented Gardner. The original line-up (which will become a perfect
vehicle for Leiber-Stoller´s studio inventions) is completed by two further hand-chosen
professionals, baritone Billy Guy (by suggestion from Gardner), and Leon Hughes (a
southern Californian, born August 26, 1932,
and original member of the Hollywood Flames - recruited by Nunn). A long-term contract
with Atco Records is signed.
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Billboard's Year-End R&B Chart |
The Robins' touring schedule
(featuring Carl Gardner):
January 14-16: 5-4 Ballroom, L.A. with Floyd Dixon, and T-Bone Walker. February
25-27: 5-4 Ballroom with Johnny "Guitar" Watson. July-August:
Nightly shows in Las Vegas. (The Robins continued to tour after the leave of Gardner and
Nunn - now supplemented by H.B. Barnum and the returned Grady Chapman).
1956
The Coasters´ first recording session is held in
Robyn´s studios in Hollywood in January, and produces two singles. Down In Mexico
(about a crazy little place in Mexicali), the Coasters´ first release, hits the R&B
charts (Best Seller and DJ #9, Juke Box #8 - with Turtle Dovin' listed
as Juke Box flip hit for one week). Billboard February 25 review of Atco 6064:
"Here´s a new and definitely swinging crew and they deliver a couple of highly
commendable sides. ´Down In Mexico´ is a fetching ditty which is very close to ´Smokey
Joe´s Cafe´. This group carries the lead and bass singer from the Robins unit which
recorded the ´Smoke´ side. On the flip the boys score again with a catchy rhythm side.
Both have plenty of staying power and should move well." Billboard March 17
"This Week´s Best Buys" (R&B): "This record is getting excellent
R&B and pop reaction in a variety of markets. Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Buffalo,
Cleveland, Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Durham and St. Louis are among the areas in which
it has found broad acceptance. Flip is ´Turtle Dovin´´." The second single,
One Kiss Led To Another, hits Pop #73 and R&B DJ #11.
It was c/w Brazil (originally
intended to be the A-side). All four recordings
from the first session are led by the earthy, good-humored and happy, clear tenor of Carl
Gardner. Billboard July 28
review of Atco 6073: "The Coasters have racked good sales with their two previous
disks (actually only one - "Smokey Joe´s Cafe" was the Robins;ed.note), and
this clever novelty could be their biggest yet. Humor and slick styling set it apart.
Flip, ´Brazil´, is an original treatment of the standard."
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Billboard's Year-End
R&B Chart |
The
Coasters´ touring schedule: |
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1957
After a long season of road touring (with the singing quartet completed by fifth member,
guitarist Adolph Jacobs born in Oakland, CA April 27, 1931), the Coasters enter the
recording studios in Hollywood again, in February. The first single from this session
results in a double-sided smash. Billboard March 23 review of Atco 6087: "The group
is swingy, attractive side in ´Young Blood´, which is bound to pull considerable jockey
attention. The rhythm-ballad has powerful lyric appeal for teen-agers, and standout
trick-voicing effects. Flip is ´Searchin´´." Billboard May 6 "This Weeks Best
Buys" (R&B): "Both numbers are being requested but ´Young Blood´ seems to
be the top side. After a fair period, sales have begun to grow and now the platter is big
in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and the Southern districts. Strong sales are reported
in St. Louis, New York and Buffalo." The original A-side is titled Young
Blood (a ghetto rocker about street-corner society, led by the delicious and
amusing Gardner, with incredible assistance from his fellow group members)."(Young
Blood) the most lascivious of all 'girl-following' rock 'n' roll songs and the
very pinnacle of male chauvinist piggery", Bill Millar wrote in "The Coasters"
(Star Books, UK, 1974). "Young Blood enters the U.S. Pop chart May 1 and peaks at #8, staying on the charts for
24 weeks; and reaching the national Best Seller R&B chart #1 position on
June 3.
The B-side Searchin´ (a ruff blues about finding the loved one,
featuring Mike Stollers´ inspired alley-piano, and with an unforgettable shrill and
vociferous baritone lead by Guy) follows on May 8 and peaks at Pop #3, hitting for a total
of 26 weeks; succeeding the original A-side at the R&B Best Seller chart´s #1 position
from June 10 for a further 12 weeks during the summer - an achievement only surpassed by a few other classic
R&B titles. Searchin´ also occupies the national R&B Disc Jockey
chart at #1 for 7 weeks and the Juke Box chart # 1 for 2 weeks (until that chart
discloses), with its wonderful flip at #2 on those charts. . A unique phenomenon - both titles
of a single charting the U.S. Pop Top 10 - and being hits for half a year, establishes
this record as the most famous of all R&B records. Searchin´ reaches
#30 on the British Pop chart. Disc Jockeys of America vote the Coasters the "Most
Promising Up-And-Coming Vocal Group" in July. The Coasters are rewarded million
seller platters for Searchin´ and Young Blood at Steve
Allen´s TV-show on August 25. Atco´s and the Coasters´ first LP, "The
Coasters" (including several Robins´ Spark recordings and with a photo from
the TV-show) is issued in November. The follow-up single (done in Chicago in July), Idol
With The Golden Head, only reaches the national Pop chart #64 (but has become one
of the Coasters´ most favorite classics). Billboard September 23 review of Atco 6098:
"The group comes on strongly with their selling of ´Baby´ (My Baby Comes To Me).
With ´Young Blood´ and ´Searchin´´ still going well, their similar approach here can
make for a smash follow-up. ´Idol´ is interesting material with unusual lyrics and is
presented at an attractive medium-tempo pace. Both sides appear winners." Billboard
September 23 "This Week´s Best Buys" (R&B): "Both sides are being
requested, and sales are about equal at this point. The platter looks like another
two-sided hit-pop action, too." The next two singles, comprising terrific ghetto
blues songs, including Sweet Georgia Brown (where Gardner, Guy and Nunn
scream out superb individual leads), and the New York-recorded Gee, Golly
(one of DJ Alan Freed´s favorites), both fail to score. Billboard November 18
review of Atco 6104 (Sweet Georgia Brown): "The group leisurely paced the old
standard with a fresch approach that draws the most out of each word. The lead gives a
very knowing vocal and is excellently supported by the group with good ork backing. Strong
side can put the ´Young Blood´ crew back in the chips. Flip is an attractive go on an
off-beat side called ´What is the Secret of Your Success´." The annual Cash Box
poll vote Searchin' as "Best R&B Record of the Year" and
the Coasters as "Best R&B Vocal Group". (note: See "Gee, Golly" review at 1958).
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Billboard's Year-End
R&B Chart |
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The Golden ´50s -
with the Coasters - 15 years of R&B: compiled by Claus Röhnisch,
July 29,, 2010
The early Vocal Groups and their Classics
| Ol' Man River - The
Ravens (f. Jimmy Ricks) 1947 Crying In The Chapel - The Orioles (f. Sonny Til) 1953 Earth Angel - The Penguins (f. Cleve Duncan) 1954 Dreams Of Contentment - The Dells (f. Johnny Funchess) 1955 You' re So Fine - The Falcons (f. Joe Stubbs) 1959 |
The Robins Our Romance Is Gone (f. Bobby Nunn) 1950 Riot In Cell Block #9 (f. Richard Berry or Nunn) 1954 Smokey Joe's Cafe (f. Carl Gardner) 1955 |
| The Dominoes Sixty-Minute Man (f. Bill Brown) 1951 Have Mercy Baby (f. Clyde McPhatter) 1952 Rags To Riches (f. Jackie Wilson) 1953 Star Dust (f. Gene Mumford) 1957 What Are You Doing New Year's Eve (f. Monroe Powell) 1965 |
The Clovers Fool Fool Fool (f. Buddy Bailey) 1951 One Mint Julep (f. Buddy Bailey) 1952 Good Lovin' (f. Charlie White) 1953 Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash (f. Billy Mitchell) 1954 Love Potion No. 9 (f. Billy Mitchell) 1959 |
The "5" Royales Baby Don´´t Do It (f. Johnny Tanner) 1952 Let Me Come Back Home (f. JImmy Moore) 1953 When I Get Like This (f. Johnny Tanner) 1955 Think (f. Johnny Tanner) 1957 Dedicated To The One I Love (f. Gene Tanner) 1958 |
| The Midnighters Every Beat Of My Heart (f. Charles Sutton) 1952 Work With Me Annie (f. Hank Ballard) 1954 The Twist (f. Hank Ballard) 1959 Finger Poppin' Time (f. Hank Ballard) 1960 Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go (f. Hank Ballard) 1960 |
The Moonglows Baby Please (f. Harvey Fuqua) 1953 Sincerely (f. Bobby Lester) 1954 Foolish Me (f. Bobby Lester) 1955 Ten Commandments Of Love (f. Harvey Fuqua) 1958 |
The Flamingos Golden Teardrops (f. Sollie McElroy) 1953 The Vow (f. Nate Nelson) 1956 Lovers Never Say Goodbye (f. Paul & Terry) 1959 I Only Have Eyes For You (f. Nate Nelson) 1959 |
| The Drifters Money Honey (f. Clyde McPhatter) 1953 Ruby Baby (f. Johnny Moore) 1955 There Goes My Baby (f. Ben E. King) 1959 When My Little Girl Is Smiling (f. Charlie Thomas) 1961 On Broadway (f. Rudy Lewis) 1963 |
The Platters Only You (f. Tony Williams) 1955 The Great Pretender (f. Tony Williams) 1956 Twilight Time (f. Tony Williams) 1958 Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (f. Tony Williams) 1958 It's Magic (f. Sonny Turner) 1961 |
The Cadillacs Gloria (f. Earl Carroll) 1954 Speedoo (f. Earl Carroll) 1955 Woe Is Me (f. Earl Carroll) 1956 Peek-A-Boo (f. James Bailey, Earl & Phillips) 1958 Romeo (f. Bobby Spencer) 1959 |
| The Coasters Young Blood (f. Carl Gardner) 1957 Searchin' (f. Billy Guy) 1957 Yakety Yak (f. Carl, Billy & Dub) 1958 Poison Ivy (f. Carl & Billy) 1959 Shoppin' For Clothes (f. Billy Guy & Dub Jones) 1960 D.W. Washburn (f. Billy Guy) 1967 |
Summary
| Biography
| Singles
& LPs | CD Discography
| Time-Line |
Line-Ups
| Chart Hits
| Session
Discography
