The Ben E. King Stand By Me Foundation (TM) |
From the groundbreaking orchestrated productions of the Drifters to his own solo hits,
Ben E. King was the definition of R&B elegance. King's plaintive baritone had all the
passion of gospel, but the settings in which it was displayed were tailored more for
his honey smooth phrasing and crisp enunciation, proving for perhaps the first time
that R&B could be sophisticated and accessible to straight pop audiences. King's
approach influenced countless smooth soul singers in his wake and his records were
key forerunners of the Motown sound.
King was born Benjamin Earl Nelson in Henderson, NC, in 1938, and sang with his church choir before the family moved to Harlem in 1947. In junior high, he began performing with a street corner doo wop group called the Four B's, which won second place in an Apollo Theater talent contest. While still in high school, he was offered a chance to join the Moonglows, but was simply too young and inexperienced to stick. He subsequently worked at his father's restaurant as a singing waiter, which led to an invitation to become the baritone singer in a doo wop outfit called the Five Crowns in 1958. The Five Crowns performed several gigs at the Apollo Theater along with the Drifters, whose career had begun to flounder in the years since original lead singer Clyde McPhatter departed. Drifters manager George Treadwell, dissatisfied with the group members' unreliability and lack of success, fired them all in the summer of 1958 and hired the Five Crowns to assume the name of the Drifters (which he owned). The new Drifters toured for about a year, playing to often hostile audiences who knew they were a completely different group. In early 1959, they went into the studio with producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to cut their first records. A song Nelson (still performing under his given name) co-wrote called "There Goes My Baby" became his first lead vocal and the lush backing arrangement made highly unorthodox (in fact, virtually unheard-of) use of a string section. "There Goes My Baby" became a massive hit, laying the groundwork for virtually every smooth/uptown soul production that followed. Over the next two years, Nelson sang lead on several other Drifters classics, including "Dance With Me," "This Magic Moment," "Save the Last Dance for Me," and "I Count the Tears." In 1960, Nelson approached Treadwell about a salary increase and a fairer share of the group's royalties. Treadwell rebuffed him and Nelson quit the group, at this point assuming the more memorable stage name Ben E. King in preparation for a solo career. Remaining on Atlantic, King scored his first solo hit with the stylish, Latin-tinged ballad "Spanish Harlem," a Jerry Leiber/Phil Spector composition that hit the Top Ten in early 1961. The follow-up, "Stand By Me," a heartfelt ode to friendship and devotion co-written by King, became his signature song and an enduring R&B classic; it was also his biggest hit, topping the R&B charts and reaching the pop Top Five. King scored a few more chart singles through 1963, including velvety smooth pop-soul productions like "Amor," "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)," and the Italian tune "I (Who Have Nothing)." In the post-British Invasion years, King had a rough go of it on the pop charts but continued to score R&B hits. 1967's Southern-fried "What Is Soul?" was one of his last singles for Atco; seeking to revive his commercial fortunes, King departed in 1969. A 1970 album on Maxwell, Rough Edges, failed to generate much attention, and King was forced to make a living touring the oldies circuit. In 1975, Atlantic president Ahmet Ertegun caught King's act in a Miami lounge and invited him to re-sign with the label. King scored an unlikely comeback smash with the disco track "Supernatural Thing, Part I," which returned him to the top of the R&B charts in 1975 and also reached the pop Top Five. While he was unable to duplicate that single's success, King recorded several more albums for Atlantic up through 1981, and also collaborated with the Average White Band in 1977 on the album Benny & Us. After leaving Atlantic a second time, King toured in a version of the Drifters beginning in 1982. In 1986, "Stand By Me" was prominently featured in the Rob Reiner film of the same name; re-released as a single, it climbed into the Top Ten all over again. In its wake, King returned to solo recording, issuing a new album every few years all the way up through the '90s. He also guested on recordings by Heaven 17 and Mark Knopfler, among others. King's 1999 album Shades of Blue (on Half Note Records) found him branching out into jazz territory, performing with a big band and guests like Milt Jackson and David "Fathead" Newman. -- Steve Huey, All Music Guide Mister King passed away April 30th, 2015. |
01. Amor 02. Sway 03. Come Closer to Me 04. Perfidia 05. Granada 06. Sweet and Gentle 07. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps 08. Frenesi 09. Souvenir of Mexico 10. Besame Mucho |
11. Love Me, Love Me 12. Spanish Harlem 13. How Often 14. A Help Each Other Romance 15. Tell Daddy 16. Too Bad 17. Walking in the Footsteps of a Fool 18. Gloria Gloria 19. Auf Wiederseh'n, My Dear 20. How Can I Forget |
01. My Heart Cries for You 02. He Will Break Your Heart 03. Dream Lover 04. Will You Love Me Tomorrow 05. My Foolish Heart 06. Fever 07. Moon River 08. What a Difference a Day Made 09. Because of You 10. At Last 11. On the Street Where You Live |
12. It's All in the Game 13. I Could Have Danced All Night 14. Gypsy 15. I (Who Have Nothing) 16. The Beginning of Time 17. What Now My Love 18. Groovin' 19. Don't Play That Song 20. Stand by Me 21. What'd I Say |
01. Don't Play That Song (You Lied) 02. Ecstasy 03. On the Horizon 04. Show Me the Way 05. Here Comes the Night 06. First Taste of Love |
07. Stand by Me 08. Yes 09. Young Boy Blues 10. The Hermit of Misty Mountain 11. I Promise Love 12. Brace Yourself |
01. Seven Letters 02. River of Tears 03. I'm Standing By 04. Jamaica 05. Down Home 06. Si Senor |
07. It's All Over 08. Let the Water Run Down 09. This Is My Dream 10. It's No Good for Me 11. In the Middle of the Night 12. Don't Drive Me Away |
01. She Lets Her Hair Down 02. Little Green Apples 03. Wishing for Tomorrow 04. If You've Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody 05. Come Together |
06. One Man 07. In the Midnight Hour 08. Lay Lady Lay 09. Don't Let Me Down 10. Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You |
01. Take Me to the Pilot 02. I Guess It's Goodbye 03. Travelin' Woman 04. Love Is 05. Into the Mystic 06. White Moon |
07. Love Is Gonna Get You 08. The Beginning of It All 09. Only You and I Know 10. All of Your Tomorrows 11. She Does It Right |
01. Supernatural Thing, Pt. 1 02. Supernatural Thing, Pt. 2 03. Your Lovin' Ain't Good Enough 04. Drop My Heart Off 05. Do It in the Name of Love |
06. Happiness Is Where You Find It 07. Do You Wanna Do a Thing 08. Imagination 09. What Do You Want Me to Do? |
01. Get It Up For Love 02. Fool For You Anyway 03. Someday We'll All Be Free 04. Imagine 05. Keepin' It To Myself |
06. Fire Burning 07. What Is Soul 08. A Star In The Ghetto 09. The Message |
01. Tippin' 02. Wonder Woman 03. Let Me Live in Your Life 04. I See the Light 05. Fly Away |
06. Dark Storm on the Horizon 07. Family Jewels 08. Sweet Rhapsody 09. Spoiled 10. Fifty Years |
01. Music Trance 02. And This Is Love 03. Touched by Your Love 04. You've Only Got One Chance to Be Yourself |
05. Hired Gun 06. Everyday 07. Work That Body |
01. Street Tough 02. Made for Each Other 03. Staying Power 04. Stay a While With Me |
05. Why Is the Question 06. You Made the Difference to My Life 07. Souvenirs of Love 08. Something to Be Loved |
01. It's Your Love (That Makes Me Happy) 02. You've Got All of Me 03. Major Malfunction 04. You Still Move Me 05. She's Gone Again |
06. So Important to Me 07. You Can Count on Me 08. It's All Right 09. I'm Gonna Be Somebody |
01. Stand by Me 02. Spanish Harlem 03. I (Who Have Nothing) 04. Don't Play That Song (You Lied) |
05. Up on the Roof (w/The Drifters) 06. Save the Last Dance for Me(w/The Drifters) 07. This Magic Moment(w/The Drifters) 08. On Broadway(w/The Drifters) |
01. Little Mama 02. You're Drivin' Me Crazy 03. Just for a Thrill 04. They Can't Take That Away from Me 05. Hallelujah, I Love Her So 06. Song for Jennie 07. There'll Be Some Changes Made |
08. Stairway to the Stars 09. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To 10. I Want a Little Girl 11. Baby Won't You Please Come Home 12. Cry 13. Learnin' the Blues |
01. Take Me to the Pilot 02. I Guess It's Goodbye 03. Travelin' Women 04. Love Is 05. Into the Mystic 06. White Moon |
07. Love Is Gonna Get You 08. The Beginning of It All 09. Only You Know and I Know 10. All of Your Tomorrows 11. She Does It Right 12. Audio Biography |