DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST:
That is FRESH AIR. I am David Bianculli. Right now, we proceed our sequence of R&B, rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll interviews from the archives, and we start with Ben E. King. Ben E. King sang lead with The Drifters earlier than embarking on a solo profession. His voice was heard on many basic recordings from the Nineteen Fifties and ’60s. His largest hit was a music he wrote.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “STAND BY ME”)
BEN E KING: (Singing) When the night time has come and the land is darkish and the moon is the one gentle we’ll see, no, I will not be afraid. Oh, I will not be afraid simply so long as you stand, stand by me. So, darling, darling, stand by me. Oh, stand by me. Oh, stand, stand by me. Stand by me. If the sky…
BIANCULLI: “Stand By Me” made it to No. 4 within the charts in 1961. Twenty-five years later, “Stand By Me” was used because the theme for the movie of the identical title. The file was rereleased and landed again within the high 10. Different Ben E. King solo hits included “Spanish Harlem,” “Do not Play That Tune” and “I (Who Have Nothing).” Earlier, with The Drifters, he recorded “There Goes My Child,” “This Magic Second” and “I Depend The Tears.” He died in 2015 at age 76.
Terry Gross spoke with Ben E. King in 1988. Earlier than he ever sang on stage or within the recording studio, he sang along with his pals on the streets of Harlem.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
KING: I used to be born in Henderson, North Carolina, so I wasn’t acquainted with the street-singing factor till I got here to New York, which – I used to be about 11 years outdated when my mother and father first moved to New York. And I heard about it. After which regularly, by being within the streets of Harlem, I walked round and certainly sufficient ran into totally different little guys singing and doo-wopping on the stoops and stuff like that. So I had been kind of launched to it after I first received to New York.
TERRY GROSS: Now, you additionally sang – earlier than you began recording, you sang at Newbie Night time on the Apollo…
KING: Yeah.
GROSS: …Theater in Harlem. Did you all have matching fits in your group?
KING: Yeah, we had – what did we’ve? We had pink jackets.
GROSS: Oh, nice.
KING: I do know, proper? That is what I mentioned – pink jackets and black shirt and black trousers. I imply, it was a sight to behold. Yeah.
GROSS: Did you save up for the fits?
KING: Yeah, we did. What occurred was that our mother and father gave us some cash for it, ‘trigger we had been all, like, at school, you realize? So our mother and father gave us cash to go and purchase these little uniform jackets and stuff, and we simply discovered our personal black trousers and stuff.
GROSS: Now, you sang with The Crowns…
KING: Yeah.
GROSS: …The 5 Crowns. And also you sang bass earlier than you began singing lead. Can your voice nonetheless go that low?
KING: (In bass voice) I feel so.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Yeah, it may well. I am naturally a bass-baritone, so I can sing bass nonetheless, I feel, yeah.
GROSS: Did it have a sure status to be the bass man in a vocal group?
KING: Effectively, women at all times thought so. Women just like the bass singer, I suppose as a result of they’ve that extra mature depth to his voice. And at the moment, it’s important to understand that a lot of the bass issues had been achieved within the doo-wop teams, and stuff like that was the featured factor within the music. You already know, so the bass singer was the one which was doing the (vocalizing) – all that stuff, see? So that you could not go flawed with that. I had the possibility to do all these issues, and the ladies was simply stand round and giggle and stuff. So I feel that that was, you realize, getting me launched to the females there.
GROSS: You went from bass singer with The Crowns to steer singer with The Drifters.
KING: Yeah.
GROSS: And earlier than I ask you to inform us a narrative about how The Crowns grew to become the brand new Drifters and the way you bought to sing lead, I wish to play the primary music that you simply recorded singing lead because the lead singer of The Drifters. And…
KING: OK.
GROSS: …That is “There Goes My Child.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “THERE GOES MY BABY”)
THE DRIFTERS: (Vocalizing, singing) There she goes. (Vocalizing, singing) There she goes. (Vocalizing).
(Singing) There goes my child transferring on down the road, questioning the place, questioning the place, questioning the place she is certain. I broke her coronary heart and made her cry. Now I am alone, so on their lonesome. What can I do? What can I do? There goes my child. There goes my…
GROSS: That is Ben E. King singing lead with The Drifters on “There Goes My Child.” So inform us how The Crowns, who you sang with, grew to become The Drifters.
KING: Effectively, that is a kind of unusual tales, actually. I joined The Crowns as a result of the man that was managing them, by the title of Lover Patterson, lived throughout the road from my father’s restaurant. So he got here in in the future and requested me to affix The Crowns. I introduced him into the shop, and we rehearsed at the back of my father’s restaurant, and I grew to become a member. And The Crowns had been a – I’d think about an excellent, like, vocal-type group, semi-pro. And – however we opened up on the Apollo with Ray Charles. And I feel it was Faye Adams on the invoice, and naturally, The Drifters had been on the invoice, as nicely, and we had been the opening act. Throughout that week, we had been approached by their supervisor, George Treadwell. And he had talked about to us that he had been watching us and he thought we had been an excellent group, and would we be concerned about turning into a brand new set of Drifters?
GROSS: Now, he had simply, what, fired Clyde McPhatter…
KING: He fired…
GROSS: …Who had been the lead singer?
KING: Yeah, nicely, what had occurred in that, I feel – Clyde actually wasn’t within the group at the moment. Clyde had kind of gone solo, however the different members had been within the group. And he had, I suppose, had issues with the group, or the group had issues with him. They usually determined to only cut up firm, they usually did so, you realize?
GROSS: Proper. So Clyde McPhatter had left the group, after which the producer fired the remainder of The Drifters.
KING: Fired the remainder of the group.
GROSS: That is the way in which it went.
KING: Yeah.
GROSS: Proper.
KING: Yeah.
GROSS: And when the producer determined that your group could be the subsequent Drifters, did they do something totally different with you or let you know to do something totally different so that you can turn out to be Drifters?
KING: Probably not. I feel that was the unusual factor about the entire scenario, is that after we grew to become the brand new set of Drifters, there weren’t any directions in any respect given to us. You already know, we used to go on the highway as the brand new set of Drifters earlier than the file was launched. And we had been booed off the stage, and we had bottles thrown at us and chairs and the entire 9 yards. So we weren’t given any warning to what to do or how you can act.
We received uniforms, and I feel we received a brand new station wagon or one thing like that. However that is the one factor that we obtained so far as turning into new set of Drifters, in addition to the truth that we needed to fulfill The Drifters’ recording contracts. And we did not – we weren’t conscious of that. You already know, we had been simply 4 or 5 children popping out of Harlem from a really, very amateurish background. Even throughout the time with The 5 Crowns, we had been simply kind of, as I mentioned earlier than, semi-pro. So we did not learn about all of the particulars that professionals would undergo to kind of make a dwelling within the enterprise.
GROSS: You bought booed as a result of the followers had been anticipating the opposite Drifters.
KING: Yeah, precisely.
GROSS: And right here you had been, with no clarification.
KING: That is proper. Precisely. Effectively, it is like going to see The 4 – I at all times say it is like going to see The 4 Tops and swiftly, the curtains open and there is 4 guys about 17 years outdated. I imply…
GROSS: (Laughter).
KING: …That is the sort of factor that you’d face. Yeah.
GROSS: Now, whenever you had been telling us about The Crowns, you had sung bass with The Crowns, however you ended up singing lead when The Crowns grew to become The Drifters.
KING: Yeah.
GROSS: How did you get to sing lead?
KING: I wrote the music “There Goes My Child” whereas we was on the highway. And after I received again to New York, I confirmed it to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who produced “The Date” (ph). And whereas we had been within the studio, I used to be making an attempt to indicate the lyrics to Charlie Thomas, who was the lead and did all of the tenors to the songs. And for some unusual purpose, he could not get the texture of the music. And Jerry Wexler, who was concerned with “The Date,” as nicely, got here into the management room and mentioned, look, Charlie’s having hassle with this music. You sing it, you realize? And I simply went to the mic. I had the benefit over him as a result of I had written the music anyway. So I went to the microphone and began singing, and I used to be caught with lead since then.
GROSS: Caught (laughter).
KING: Yeah, caught. Proper.
GROSS: Effectively, I wish to play one other music that you simply recorded with The Drifters, and that is “Save The Final Dance For Me.” In fact, you are singing lead on it. This can be a music that made it to No. 1 each on the R&B charts and on the pop charts, which was a fairly large deal, actually.
KING: Proper. No, that was a fantastic deal throughout that point as a result of in that point, it’s important to enable for the truth that they weren’t truly taking part in a Black – numerous Black data. And never solely not – weren’t they taking part in numerous them, they weren’t even enthusiastic about crossing them over.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME”)
THE DRIFTERS: (Singing) You may dance each dance with the man who provides you the attention and let him maintain you tight. You may smile each smile for the person who held your hand ‘neath the pale moonlight. However remember who’s taking you residence and in whose arms you are going to be. So, darling, save the final dance for me. Oh, I do know that the music’s superb like glowing wine. Go and have your enjoyable. Giggle and sing, however whereas we’re aside, do not give your coronary heart to anybody. However remember who’s taking you residence and in whose arms you are going to be. So, darling, save the final dance for me. Child, do not you realize I really like you so? Cannot you are feeling it after we contact?
GROSS: Effectively, that also sounds very terrific.
KING: Thanks.
GROSS: I by no means received to see The Drifters carry out within the early ’60s, and I used to be questioning. We had been speaking just a little bit earlier about choreography. Did you’ve got numerous choreography in your act?
KING: Not rather a lot. We did – there are steps that I name brief steps. And brief steps are achieved, like, by teams like Platters and Drifters and – after which the quick, broad steps are achieved – like, Gladys Knight & the Pips and Temptations do broad and quick. And there was The Olympics, a gaggle known as The Olympics. They do quick actions and quick steps. We do little, brief, cute issues, you realize, issues that do not require numerous sweating and falling down. I might by no means discovered how…
GROSS: (Laughter).
KING: …To do the cut up and stuff like that, you realize? I left all that stuff out. I do not know that. I do not know nothing about doing the cut up. I may by no means get into that. Yeah.
GROSS: You by no means took off your jacket and threw it into the viewers?
KING: I did that.
GROSS: Did you?
KING: Yeah, I did that. That was – yeah, that was – these issues was nice. That was straightforward, you realize, and throwing your handkerchief away and stuff. I did these courageous issues, you realize?
GROSS: I used to like that on the rock ‘n’ roll reveals…
KING: Oh, it was – yeah.
GROSS: …When performers did that.
KING: Lot of enjoyable, that.
GROSS: Yeah.
BIANCULLI: Ben E. King talking to Terry Gross in 1988. Extra after a break. That is FRESH AIR.
That is FRESH AIR. Let’s get again to Terry’s 1988 interview with Ben E. King, former lead singer of The Drifters and one of many artists revisited in our R&B, rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll week.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
GROSS: You already know what I might love to do? I wish to ask you about the way you began to carry out solo. So why do not I play among the file that launched your solo profession?
KING: OK.
GROSS: And that is “Spanish Harlem.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SPANISH HARLEM”)
KING: (Singing) There’s a rose in Spanish Harlem, a crimson rose up in Spanish Harlem. It’s a particular one. It is by no means seen the solar. It solely comes out when the moon is on the run and all the celebrities are gleaming. It is rising on the street proper up via the concrete, however smooth and candy and dreaming.
GROSS: Ben E. King, would you clarify the way you left The Drifters and began singing solo?
KING: Effectively, as soon as we received concerned with all of the recordings and we had all of the hit data that we had as soon as we began with the Drifters scenario, we had been on wage as the brand new set of Drifters, and we had been making, like, perhaps 100 {dollars} every week or someplace in that neighborhood. And we had been all kind of making an attempt to make ends meet as a result of that hundred {dollars} must hold us alive on the highway and, after all, tried to ship some cash residence.
So in different phrases, to make an extended story brief, we had managerial issues. And I, together with Charlie Thomas, Dock Inexperienced and Elsbeary Hobbs – we had mentioned making an attempt to go to George Treadwell and ask for a elevate. And it is a group with a No. 1 file. And as soon as we received to the workplace – we had arrange a gathering. We received to the workplace to debate this downside that we had been having so far as wage. He instructed me as an alternative of me standing as much as communicate for the group to talk for your self, and I did so. And he fired me.
GROSS: (Laughter).
KING: He was nice at firing folks, you realize? And I walked out of the workplace assuming that the opposite guys would comply with, they usually did not. The one man that adopted me was the identical one which got here throughout the road to my father’s restaurant and satisfied me to affix the 5 Crowns, who was Lover Patterson. And it was his willpower and his, I suppose, feeling that I had one thing in my voice that – he insisted that I stayed within the enterprise. And he is the one nonetheless I discover very answerable for me nonetheless being right here now. I maintain him very close to and pricey. He is lengthy handed away for a few years now. However to reply your story, he is the explanation why I kind of stayed and began a solo profession.
The primary – the file that you simply simply performed just lately, “Spanish Harlem,” was initially alleged to have been a Drifter file. And though I used to be out of the group, Atlantic – which numerous firms at the moment was doing that – they’d name the lead singer again within the group to – and pay him scale simply to maintain the sound within the group. So that they had been doing that to me as nicely. That is why the – if you happen to have a look at my recording world, the issues that go on with me so far as a recording artist, you will discover that I left the group in 1960, however but and nonetheless I recorded a file with the group in 1962. And but and nonetheless, I had – my very own solo profession began in 1961. It’s totally loopy, all that. That is as a result of Atlantic would ask me to come back again and to do some Drifter recordings and simply pay me scale.
GROSS: However did you consider “Spanish Harlem” as a solo file or a Drifters file?
KING: No, no, no, no. To get again to that downside, what occurred that – it was – it ought to’ve been a Drifter file. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who – at the moment, we had developed a really sturdy friendship as writers and producers and pals. They usually’re those that went to Atlantic and spoke to Ahmet Ertegun and requested him, would he contemplate “Spanish Harlem” being a Ben E. King file against a Drifter file? And that is how I began a solo profession with that file there, actually.
GROSS: I wish to play certainly one of your solo data that I feel is among the most dramatic-sounding pop songs that I do know. And that is “I (Who Have Nothing).” And that is actually excessive drama.
KING: Thanks.
GROSS: I really like this file (laughter). As everybody will hear, there are nice pauses on this file, and whenever you come on, there’s, like, timpani behind you. Have been the pauses written in? Did you resolve how lengthy to pause? Do you know the timpani was going to come back in with you?
KING: A few of the issues I’d rehearse with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, however that was simply three guys round a piano. So a lot of the performing issues that was achieved on the data had been simply the way in which I felt at the moment. I am not a kind of regimented-type recording individuals the place I do know precisely what to do at every explicit time within the music. I simply shut my eyes and go for it. Yeah.
GROSS: Effectively, let’s hear it. That is Ben E. King singing “I (Who Have Nothing).”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “I (WHO HAVE NOTHING)”)
KING: (Singing) I, I who don’t have anything, I, I who am nobody adore you and need you so. I am only a nobody with nothing to offer you however, oh, I really like you. He, he buys you diamonds, brilliant, glowing diamonds. However consider me, pricey, after I say that he can provide the world, however he’ll by no means love you the way in which I really like you.
GROSS: It breaks me up each time I hear that.
KING: (Laughter).
GROSS: Have been you as emotionally concerned in that recording as you sound?
KING: Sure. I feel – what occurred in that’s that my supervisor and I – to make an extended story brief, my supervisor and I on the time – his title is Al Weil (ph). We had been touring over to Europe to get myself established over within the European market. And we received up one night time whereas we had been in Rome, and he had discovered this songwriter, and we glided by this workplace. And this man, he was Italian, after all, and he was talking in Italian. He was taking part in Italian songs. However he performed this one explicit music, and my supervisor and I picked it up proper then and there and mentioned, it is a hit file. The man who was singing in Italian had the identical sort of deliverance and the identical sort of feeling in regards to the music. I did not know what the phrases had been saying, however I do know the sensation was nice.
Once I received residence and we confirmed it to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller they usually wrote the English lyrics to it, we knew that the music was nice. It is – I feel that in that point after I was singing songs, I received very, very concerned with the entire feeling of the music. It is a lot – it is superb. While you get older, your perspective change, and also you are likely to not be as concerned and never as – you do not throw your entire self into songs. I listened to myself after I was singing years in the past, and I choose my efficiency far more than I do immediately. And I did that with a sense. I – after I was doing “I (Who Have Nothing),” I attempted to, at the moment, complement a music as a songwriter would’ve meant it to be.
GROSS: Now, you additionally recorded “Stand By Me”…
KING: Yeah.
GROSS: …As a solo file. Now, you wrote that file.
KING: Yeah.
GROSS: You wrote – and somebody named Elmo Glick will get…
KING: Elmo Glick.
GROSS: …Co-writing credit.
KING: I do know.
GROSS: Did he co-write it with you or was that somebody who simply…
KING: Elmo Glick was a silent accomplice for years. Elmo Glick is the pen title – I discovered this out perhaps 4 or 5 years in the past – of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
GROSS: Oh, no (laughter).
KING: These had been my ghostwriters, and I did not realize it for a lot of, a few years.
GROSS: (Laughter).
KING: So it simply goes to indicate you, proper? Yeah. However yeah, as I mentioned earlier, you realize, we had been simply children out of Harlem with no information in any respect about legalities and what ought to occur and what should not occur on this enterprise. And we had been – I am just one out of a whole lot and 1000’s of the artists that received these issues occurred to, you realize. So…
GROSS: Effectively, numerous artists had been disadvantaged altogether of…
KING: Oh, positive.
GROSS: …Writing credit, so…
KING: Oh, God, yeah.
GROSS: So I suppose, in some respects, it was…
KING: I had been fortunate.
GROSS: You had been fortunate in a way, yeah.
KING: I am one of many fortunate ones, yeah.
GROSS: Yeah.
KING: I am one of many fortunate ones.
GROSS: Effectively, I really like your singing, and I thanks so very a lot for speaking with us.
KING: Thanks, Terry.
BIANCULLI: Ben E. King talking to Terry Gross in 1988. After a break, we hear from extra music-making legends – songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and file producer Jerry Wexler. I am David Bianculli, and that is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “YOUNG BOY BLUES”)
KING: (Singing) Each time I kiss any individual new, I make-believe I am kissing you. However I am unable to child my aching coronary heart ‘trigger my coronary heart is aware of we’re nonetheless aside, and every night time is sort of a thousand years. Oh, I am unable to lose these younger boy blues. I wish to cry after I hear your title, but when I cry, I really feel ashamed. So…
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