Odds & Ends: News/Humor (with a "Who Lost the Week?" poll)

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".

OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.

CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.

ART NOTES — an exhibition not of water lilies: instead, entitled Monet: A Bridge to Modernity is at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa to February 15th.

    Monet and his bridges

HAIL and FAREWELL to the English explorer Henry Worsley — who was attempting to cross the continent of Antarctica unaided (like that of 1914 explorer Ernest Shackleton, whose ship captain Frank Worsley was a distant ancestor of Henry Worsley) — who has died at the age of 55 just thirty miles of his goal…

Also, to two members of the original lineup of the Jefferson Airplane. One was rhythm guitarist Paul Kantner — whom the singer Marty Balin saw walking into a San Francisco folk club in 1965 and thought, “I know he’s good”, introduced himself ... and the rest is history — who has died at the age of 74. And on the very same day: the band’s original lead singer (who preceded Grace Slick), Signe Toly Anderson— an excellent blues singer — also died, at the same age of 74.

BRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.

THURSDAY's CHILD is named Spock the Cat— a California kitteh who is so large, he is often mistaken for a lynx or bobcat.

 Spock the Cat (not bobcat)

MAKING THE CASE that religion has harmed women’s equality in Bolivia, a feminist named Maria Galindo has taken-on not just Catholicism, but growing Pentecostal, Mormon and other fundamentalist faiths.

THERE ARE PRESENTLY no KFC franchises in the nation of Switzerland… but that is soon to change, as the Swiss have been consuming more chicken in the past decade and, apparently, many Swiss citizens currently cross the border to patronize a KFC franchise in Singen, Germany.

FRIDAY's CHILD is named Rosie the Cat— a California kitteh surrounded by three Siberian Huskies (now her best friends) who helped Rosie recuperate when she was found at only 3 weeks old (and quite malnourished).

Rosie the Cat and her Siberian Husky friends

FORTY-FIVE YEARS after the band released the album Santana III — Carlos Santana and most of his surviving band members from that era have reunited to record an album (to be released in April) entitled ….. Santana IV, what else?

THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a look at the Oregon standoff …. and a successful end to a wingnut rebellion here in New Hampshire back in 2007 (which may have served as a model for Malheur).

SEPARATED at BIRTH — Arizona senator Jeff Flake and Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey.

   Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ)    Matthew McConaughey

......and finally, for a song of the week ............... some musical groups are easier to profile than others – but The Drifters are (by far) the most difficult profile I have ever undertaken. An unusual management structure ensured they would have the mother-of-all revolving-door personnel (more than 65 members under a “Drifters” name, and counting) and the pay practices were a further deterrent to a consistent identity.

Nonetheless, this is such a seminal band in the history of soul music – the link between 1950’s R&B and 1960’s soul music - they deserve to have their story told. Even if the story is so complex, all there is time to do here is sort out just what are The Drifters are in the first place.

The story begins in 1953 (at the dawn of the rock era) when the vocal group The Dominoes performed in New York without their lead singer Clyde McPhatter– who had recently quit the group. In the audience was Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun - who searched all over town for McPhatter. When he did locate him, he offered McPhatter a contract if he could assemble a back-up group. The origin of the name Drifters is unclear (and Ertegun and Jerry Wexler thought it sounded like a country music name) ... but it proved to be an accurate name, as we shall see.

His first four choices (which included the brother of noted author James Baldwin) did not pan-out, but his next lineup did: and this might be referred to as the “Classic Drifters”. It included tenor Gerhart Thrasher, baritone/bass singer Bill Pinkney– who was to play a role in soul music until 2007 – and guitarist Walter Adams, an uncommon instrument in R&B back in 1953.  They had a #1 R&B chart single in Money Honey– which later became a hit for Elvis Presley, and which is in the list of possible "first rock record" listings. Along with some personnel changes, the band had some other, lesser-known R&B hits before McPhatter decided to strike out on his own in late 1954.

      The first major lineup of The Drifters

And this led to a situation which would hamstring the group. Having been designated group leader by Ertegun at the start: McPhatter had incorporated the band as a 50-50 partnership between himself and his manager George Treadwell (who had been the manager of Sarah Vaughn, his first wife). This he did to ensure that he would not be ripped-off (as he had been with his first band) but he had shared those earnings with his bandmates in the Drifters.

In a decision he came later to regret: upon leaving the band, McPhatter sold his interest to Treadwell, who made all future members of The Drifters salaried employees (and poorly-paid ones, for all of the concerts and travelling required). This not only left his bandmates poorer: it ensured that future members with unusual talent had no incentive to stay for long. And thus the revolving door of personnel began to spin (in other cases it was due to death, substance abuse, auto accidents and the like).

Over the next few years the band had varying amounts of success, with the addition in late 1955 of tenor Johnny Moore - one of their most important members. The song "Adorable" went on to be their second #1 hit on the R&B charts, yet they still had trouble breaking into the pop charts.

The Atlantic songwriting team of Leiber & Stoller began to be their producers in late 1956, which ensured good material would be offered to them – only to see Johnny Moore receive his draft notice in early 1957. And when some bandmembers (including Bill Pinkney) objected to $100/week salaries, they were fired ….. and would not be the last ones to meet that fate. Album releases by Atlantic were never specific recordings: but rather assembled singles releases (by various line-ups).

In 1958, Treadwell decided to fire all of the remaining bandmembers and purchase the contracts (I told you this was messy) of a vocal group known as the Five Crowns. For his money, Treadwell obtained in particular the services of tenor Charlie Thomas and baritone Benjamin E. Nelson – and this would prove to be the 2nd important Drifters line-up.

   The second major Drifters lineup

A 1959 recording session was to feature Charlie Thomas on lead but after a bout of nerves: Nelson took his place. And one song he had co-written was There Goes My Baby– the band’s first major hit (#2) on the lucrative pop charts and the first rock-era song to include a string orchestra (yet another Atlantic Records innovation). Nelson grew weary of the $100/week salary, and arranged to leave to pursue a solo career: but not before singing lead on two other hits with the band in 1960: This Magic Moment (#16 on the pop charts, and nine years later Jay and the Americans took it to #6) and Save the Last Dance for Me– the only Drifters tune to reach #1 on the pop charts. Benjamin E. Nelson went on to a stellar solo career as …..…. Ben E. King– whose death just last year was mourned by many.

After his departure, the band recruited Rudy Lewis to be an alternate lead singer along with Charlie Thomas, and over the next four years this "3rd" Drifters lineup would be the most commercially successful in the group’s history. Rudy Lewis sang on two hits, Some Kind of Wonderful and Up on the Roof - which reached #5 on the charts. In 1964 he was slated to sing a new Art Resnick/Kenny Young tune, but Rudy Lewis died the night before – under mysterious circumstances.

Former member Johnny Moore had re-joined the band the previous year, and it was he who sang lead on Under the Boardwalk– which reached #4 in the charts and was the group’s last major hit. Johnny Moore performed the longest in the band during its heyday, in three different eras.

And the final major Drifters lineup

The death of manager George Treadwell in 1967 served to muddy the ownership of The Drifters, and two members of the original recording group (Bill Pinkney and Gerhart Thrasher) formed a touring group known as the Original Drifters– which continues to this day even though both men have died (Bill Pinkney more recently in 2007).

Charlie Thomas formed a touring group named Charlie Thomas’ Drifters - which is also still active today.

In the 1990’s, a court case resolved once and for all that George Treadwell’s widow Faye owns the rights to the specific name The Drifters– which since 1972 (when their Atlantic Records contract expired) has been based in England, and if they come to your town: you’ll see whomever happens to be in the line-up today.

Got all that?

Suffice it to say, the heyday of the band was from 1953-1965 ….  and if there had never been another line-up with that name, there was more than enough to earn their legacy as one of the finest soul music ensembles of all time. Rolling Stone included five Drifters tunes in its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list: #113 was Up On the Roof, at #182 was Save the Last Dance for Me, at #193 was There Goes My Baby , #252 was Money Honey and finally Under the Boardwalk came in at #487.

When it came time in 1988 to induct the band into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame– whom to invite/remember in the induction/performance ceremonies?

The Hall made a diplomatic decision to list seven members as emblematic of the group’s history. They included four members from the band’s first era, Clyde McPhatter (1932-1972), Bill Pinkney (1925-2007), Gerhart Thrasher (1928-1977) and Johnny Moore (1934-1998). Two members were chosen from the second era: Ben E. King (1938-2015) and Charlie Thomas (born 1937) and one from the third era: Rudy Lewis (1936-1964).  A 2-disc compilation album of their classic Atlantic recordings from 1953-1965 offers a nostalgia trip to remember.

The Charlie Thomas Drifters of today

Of all of their songs, my favorite remains one that Rudy Lewis sang the lead for in 1963 ….. On Broadway— which I first heard as a child when a public-service announcement for Radio Free Europe featured a Hungarian announcer introducing the song to his listeners.

It was written by the husband-wife songwriting team of Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil and reached #9 on the charts — with George Benson's version fifteen years later in 1978 (where you hear him emphasizing the "I can play this here guitar" line) making it all the way up to #7. And below you can listen to it.

They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway They say there's always magic in the air But when you're walking down that street And you ain't had enough to eat The glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere x YouTube Video