Cliff Richard and The Drifters - Cliff (1959)

"Apron Strings" by Cliff Richard and The Drifters


Harry Webb joined as lead singer of The Drifters (originally a skiffle group turned rock and roll) in the late fifties, but despite his Presley-like performance and look, his name wasn't rock and roll enough.  They dubbed him Cliff to imply "rock" and gave him the surname Richard, named for his favorite rock and roll artist.  The other Drifters consisted of Ian Samwell (guitar), Terry Smart (drums), and Norman Mitham (guitar).  None of these members, however, would last long in the band as they would be replaced by a professional touring group consisting of Jet Harris (bass), Bruce Welch (rhythm guitar), Hank Marvin (lead guitar), and Tony Meehan (drums).

The first record was a break out hit for Cliff Richard as "Move It" soared to number two on the UK charts, brought Richard and his band to instant stardom, and is often considered Britain's first real rock and roll record.  The need to follow up the success led to a series of followup singles (all charting well), film appearances, and Cliff Richard and The Drifters's debut album Cliff in early 1959.  The album was a live performance album performed in front of maybe 300 fans at Abbey Road Studios and featured a couple of B-Sides but mostly Presleyan covers of songs from the great American rock and roll song book from Little Richard's "Ready Teddy", Gene Vincent's "Be-Bop-A-Lula", Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day", and Ritchie Valens's "Donna".  The album hit #4 to continue Cliff's success.  Although backing bands took to the shadows as nothing but the support of a charismatic lead singer, The Drifters started early to establish themselves as legitimate songwriters and musicians in their own right by releasing two singles without Richard.  Both singles charted well.  With both entities successful in the UK, they began the turn away of Britain's fascination with skiffle music towards a native rock and roll.

Here is the discography surrounding Cliff Richard and The Drifters's debut album:

Teenage Love (1958 by The Chesternuts)
Move It (1958 single)
High Class Baby (1958 single)
Livin' Lovin' Doll (1959 single)
Serious Charge (1959 EP)
Mean Streak (1959 single)
Feelin' Fine (1959 single by The Drifters)
Cliff
Cliff No. 1 (1959 EP)
Cliff No. 2 (1959 EP)
Living Doll (1959 single)
Jet Black (1959 single by The Drifters)

"Move It" by Cliff Richard and The Drifters


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Little Richard - Here's Little Richard (1957)

"Keep a Knockin'" by Little Richard


There was one artist James Brown looked up to the most in his formative years and that was Little Richard.  Not only was Richard James's idol but also helped The Flames get a record deal through manager Clint Brantley.  And Brown always carried around a napkin on which Little Richard wrote "Please, Please, Please" of which he was determined to make a hit single.

Richard Penniman grew up in the church and the nightclub and influenced his interest in performing both Gospel and Rhythm and Blues.  The mix would knot his signature yell and impassioned vocals as Little Richard.  He wallowed in some unsurprising Rhythm and Blues for half a year, but the time he'd spent touring on the chitlin' circuit forged his style.  All the work led to his breakout hit single "Tutti Frutti" in 1955, the first of a string of million-selling records.  His effeminate demeanor and make up broke down some of the racial barriers in the South (he appeared less threatening), while his brand of rock brought both black and white audiences to his performances.  He helped break rock and roll onto the pop charts as well instead of just being relegated to the R&B charts.  His charisma also made him a sought commodity to feature in the rock films of the era.  His debut album Here's Little Richard released in 1957 packaged many of hit singles and remains a crowning achievement of Little Richard at the peak of his powers.

Here is the discography surrounding Little Richard's debut album:

Taxi Blues (1951 single)
Thinkin' 'Bout My Mother (1952 single)
Why Did You Leave Me? (1952 single)
Please Have Mercy on Me (1952 single)
Ain't That Good News (1953 single)
Always (1954 single)
Tutti Frutti (1955 single)
Long Tall Sally (1956 single)
Little Richard's Boogie (1956 single)
Rip It Up (1956 single)
Heeby-Jeebies (1956 single)
The Girl Can't Help It (1956 single)
Lucille (1957 single)
Jenny, Jenny (1957 single)
Keep a Knockin' (1957 single)
Maybe I'm Right (1957 single)
The Formative Years 1951-1953 (compilation album)
Here's Little Richard

"Long Tall Sally" and "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard from "Don't Knock the Rock"


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James Brown and The Famous Flames - Please, Please, Please (1958)

"Love or a Game" by James Brown & The Famous Flames


One of The Dominoes's biggest records was the 1952 hit single "The Bells", a novelty recording featuring Clyde McPhatter wailing and crying for a dead girlfriend and child.  One of the great admirers of Billy Ward and his band's output was James Brown and his group The Famous Flames.  The Flames took the song, added a performance skit, and it became an integral part of their live repertoire when they'd tour the chitlin' circuit with the crowd getting violent if they failed to perform it.

James Brown started singing at a young age and became more inspired to pursue performance as a career after watching a short film featuring Rhythm and Blues pioneer Louis Jordan.  His career took an early sidetrack after being arrested for armed robbery.  He got an early parole and was back singing by 1952.  His first and last group was The Gospel Starlighters who would change their names to The Flames in the form of the group's inspirations such as The Midnighters and The Dominoes.  They became famous as a unit on the circuit but didn't hit the big break until they got in contact with manager Clint Brantley.  Brantley set The Flames up with a demo tape which led to as signing with Federal Records (see Midnighters, Dominoes).  Their first single was also their first hit, the 1956 classic "Please, Please, Please".

It was a hot start followed by a quick cool.  None of the follow up singles for two years met with the same kind of impact and The Flames were in danger of being dropped from the label.  Their late 1958 single "Try Me" proved to be a saving grace and made The Flames a chart-topping band.  They quickly followed it up with a top selling album Please, Please, Please early the next year.  James Brown is the star of all of the singles with only the saxophonist for any real competition.  Brown took simple words like "Please", "I", "Yeah", and "No" and turned them into some of the most inspired and inspirational lyrics set to wax.  His stage presence and dynamic voice, able to go from sweltering heartbreak to smokey croon, made him the de facto star.  Their new manager and record label could see it and released The Famous Flames's recordings as James Brown With The Famous Flames, sometimes dropping them out entirely.  In protest and always under the impression that no one member was more important than the other, all of The Famous Flames quit with the exception of Bobby Bird who would continue to helm the namesake as Brown's backing band for years to come.

Here is the discography surrounding James Brown & The Famous Flames's debut album:

Please, Please, Please (1956 single)
I Don't Know (1956 single)
No, No, No, No (1956 single)
Just Won't Do Right (1956 single)
Chonnie-On-Chon (1957 single as James Brown)
Gonna Try (1957 single)
Messing with the Blues (1957 single)
You're Mine, You're Mine (1957 single)
That Dood It (1957 single)
Begging, Begging (1958 single)
Try Me (I Need You) (1958 single)
Please, Please, Please
Please, Please, Please (1959 EP)

"Please, Please, Please" by James Brown & The Famous Flames


"That Dood It" by James Brown & The Famous Flames


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Billy Ward and His Dominoes - Billy Ward and His Dominoes (1955)

"Sixty Minute Man" by The Dominoes


Federal Records, a subsidiary of King Records, was one of the breeding grounds for the birth of rock and roll, particularly from the blues-tinged doo-wop groups that populated its lineup such as Hank Ballard & The Midnighters and Billy Ward and His Dominoes.

The Dominoes start with Billy Ward, a Juilliard educated composer, pianist, and arranger.  He started on Broadway but set to form a vocal group after meeting talent agent and eventual songwriting partner Rose Marks.  Together, they put together an ensemble featuring Charlie White (tenor), Joe Lamont (baritone), Bill Brown (bass), and Clyde McPhatter (lead tenor) whom Ward discovered at Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater.  (Note: That makes three blogged singers so far discovered through the Apollo's Amateur Night (McPhatter, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald in reverse order)).

Ward and His Dominoes (originally The Ques) got off to a hot start with the 1951 singles "Do Something for Me" with McPhatter singing lead and "Sixty Minute Man" lead by Bill Brown.  The latter is often in the discussion for the first rock and roll song.  The quintet were one of the hottest vocal groups of the early fifties but suffered from internal disputes brought on by Ward's military stricture and unfair compensation of his talent (often not even enough off which to live).  White and Brown left very early on and were replaced by James Van Loan and David McNeill.  The Dominoes continued with great success thanks to McPhatter of which all the singles on which he sang lead broke into the Top 10 of the R&B charts.  After all, Clyde never made a bad side and everyone knew it.

Here is the discography surrounding Billy Ward and His Dominoes's debut album:

Chicken Blues (1950 single as The Dominoes)
No! Says My Heart (1951 single as The Dominoes)
Sixty Minute Man (1951 single as The Dominoes)
Weeping Willow Blues (1951 single as The Dominoes)
That's What You're Doing to Me (1952 single as The Dominoes)
Deep Sea Blues (1952 single as The Dominoes)
That's What You're Doing to Me (1952 single)
No Room (1952 single)
I'm Lonely (1952 single)
The Bells (1952 single)
Don't Leave Me This Way (1953 single)

The Chronological Classics: Billy Ward & His Dominoes 1950-1953 (compilation album)

Billy Ward and His Dominoes (1954 EP)

Billy Ward and His Dominoes Vol. 2 (1954 EP)

Billy Ward and His Dominoes Vol. 3 (1954 EP)
Billy Ward and His Dominoes

"Don't Leave Me This Way" by Billy Ward and His Dominoes


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The Midnighters - The Midnighters Sing Their Greatest Hits (1954)

"Work With Me Annie" by The Midnighters


The "5" Royales had their name taken advantage of when a Motown vocal group of a similar ilk toured the South.  The band was The Royals and they would promote themselves as the North Carolina Royales even going so far as to try and get away with it in Winston-Salem.  The "5" Royales's manager took the copycats to court and the verdict concluded the Motown band could no longer record or tour under the moniker The Royals.  So, they became The Midnighters.

Johnny Otis discovered The Royals in 1953 with the lineup of guitarist/songwriter/founder Alonzo Tucker, Henry Booth, Charles Sutton, "Sonny" Woods, and eventual leading man Hank Ballard (the last to join the band after the original lead singer Lawson Smith was drafted).  The name change coincided with a string of 1954 hits called the "Annie" series headed by "Work With Me Annie".  Each of the Annie singles were lead by Hank Ballard's baritone, sold over a million copies, and teetered near the top of the charts despite being banned from many radio stations for the sexual nature of the lyrics.  The songs were also a swing away from the Rhythm and Blues of their Royals work to the guitar-driven early sounds of rock and roll.  To benefit from The Midnighters's success, Federal Records packaged their rock and roll songs with a couple of ballads for the group's first album The Midnighters Sing Their Greatest Hits in 1954.

Here is the discography surrounding The Midnighters's debut album:

Every Beat of My Heart (1952 single as The Royals)
Starting from Tonight (1952 single as The Royals)
Moonrise (1952 single as The Royals)
A Love in My Heart (1952 single as The Royals)
Are You Forgetting? (1952 single as The Royals)
The Shrine of St. Cecilia (1953 single as The Royals)
Get It (1953 single as The Royals)
Hello Miss Fine (1953 single as The Royals)
That's It (1953 single as The Royals)
Work With Me Annie (1954 single as The Royals)
Work With Me Annie (1954 single)
Give It Up (1954 single)
Sexy Ways (1954 single)
The Chronological Classics: Hank Ballard & The Midnighters/The Royals 1952-1954 (compilation album)
Annie Had a Baby (1954 single)
Annie's Aunt Fanny (1954 single)
The Midnighters Sing Their Greatest Hits

"Annie Had a Baby" by The Midnighters


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The "5" Royales - The Rockin' 5 Royales (1956)

"Help Me Somebody" by The "5" Royales


Mahalia Jackson's second record label (her first being Decca) was Apollo Records, a label popular for their stable of doo-wop groups, blues artists, and gospel singers.  One of the Apollo's signed artists was The Royal Sons Quintet, a gospel vocal group from Winston-Salem, NC.  After two early singles, the group turned to performing secular material, thus moving from gospel to doo-wop and the more profitable rhythm and blues genre.  With the move, they'd change their name to The "5" Royales.  The group consisted of harmonizers Jimmy Moore, Obadiah Carter, Otto Jeffries, and lead singer Johnny Tanner all led by songwriter Lowman "Pete" Pauling.  They had a number of their most successful singles with Apollo in the early fifties including "Baby Don't Do It", "Help Me Somebody", and "Laundromat Blues", all of which charted in the top five on the R&B charts with two #1's.  The success didn't last and The "5" Royales switched to rival King Records in 1954.  Apollo still cashed in on a couple remaining singles and the group's debut album The Rockin' 5 Royales released in 1956.

Here is the discography surrounding The "5" Royales's debut album:

Come Over Here (1951 single as The Royal Sons Quintet)
Bedside of a Neighbor (1952 single as The Royal Sons Quintet)
Too Much of a Little Bit (1952 single)
You Know I Know (1952 single)
Baby Don't Do It (1952 single)
Help Me Somebody (1953 single)
Laundromat Blues (1953 single)
I Want to Thank You (1953 single)
I Do (1954 single)
Cry Some More (1954 single)
What's That (1954 single)
Six O'clock in the Morning (1955 single)
The Apollo Sessions (compilation album of pre-1955 material)
All Righty! The Apollo Recordings 1951-1955 (compilation album)
The Rockin' 5 Royales

"Baby Don't Do It" by The "5" Royales


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