The Drifters are really broken down into two separate entities: vocalist Clyde McPhatter, and his backing group "The Drifters" , and then "The New Drifters" formed in 1959. Clyde Lensley McPhatter was born in Durham, North Carolina on November 15, 1932. He was the son of a Reverend, and by age five, was singing in his father's church and by 10 was the soprano vocalist for the choir. Upon moving with his family to New York City after high school in the late 1940's, Clyde formed his own gospel group, the "Mount Lebanon Singers".
In 1950, he won an amateur night contest at Harlem's Apollo Theater. This put him on some people's radar and he would eventually be discovered by Billy Ward of "Billy Ward and his Dominoes" and was recruited into the group. The group was one of the top R&B groups in the country at the time, getting a bump in popularity thanks not only to McPhatter's high pitched voice, but his unique style. After doing so much for the band and for Ward for such little pay and notoriety, and tensions grew between him and the band, he would only remain with the Dominoes until May 1953.
When Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records, noticed McPhatter hadn't shown up for his scheduled performance, and sensing an opportunity to grab a newly freed up artist, he searched the city to find him, and was successful. Clyde was signed to Atlantic Records that night on the condition that he form his own group. He immediately thought of his old Mount Lebanon Singers group and hand-picked a few members to join him. Unfortunately after the first session, Ertegun stated the combination didn't work and a new lineup would need to be gathered. The second group included Bill Pinkney (of the Jerusalem Stars), Andrew Thrasher, and Gerhart Thrasher (both of the gospel group "The Thrasher Wonders"), and Jimmy Oliver on guitar. With 5 hits under their belt between late 1953 and early 1955, the group was doing great, but Clyde received his draft letter in March 1954, and although he was allowed to continue with the band before getting shipped out, his time as front-man came to an end. He sold his stake in the band to George Treadwell, the band's manager, and exited. Upon returning from war, he decided to go solo. He was successful, amassing 16 R&B and 21 pop hits, but it was short lived. After his career hit a decline in 1965, he turned to alcohol abuse, and would occasionally release new music that would fail to chart. He lived mostly as a recluse after 1970 and would pass away in 1972 at age 39 due to his alcoholism.
As for The Drifters, McPhatter was initially replaced by David Baughan, but he proved to be a handful for Atlantic Records Execs and would be coerced to leave the group in 1955. Then came Johnny Moore of "The Hornets" which brought the band a few more hits. Unfortunately under Treadwell, the salaries were low, leading to burnout. Fights ensues, more member's were drafted in the late 1950's, and the bands overall popularity was in decline. After a fight between a bandmember and the master of ceremonies at the Apollo Theater, Treadwell fired the entire group. At the convincing of Jerry Wexler, Atlantic A&R man, Treadwell was tasked to go find a replacement band. He heard Benjamin Nelson (later Ben E. King) and hired his entire group, "The Crowns" and renamed them "The New Drifters".
These new Drifters would go on to make it bigger than the original Drifters. Their first record, released in 1959, made it to No.2 on the R&B charts. The group sang songs that have become instantly recognizable classics like "This Magic Moment", "I Count the Tears", and "Save the Last Dance for Me". This configuration was short lived with King leaving to pursue a solo career in 1960. He would be replaced with Rudy Lewis and the hits would keep on rolling. Sadly, Lewis would pass away in 1964 and would be replaced by early Drifter, Johnny Moore, leading the group to a couple more hits with "Under the Boardwalk" and "Saturday Night At the Movies." The group would undergo many, many changes, and by 1972, the group was dead again. Johnny Moore formed another set of Drifters and toured Britain through 1975. The Northern Soul movement in England would see song that never even charted go top ten, revitalizing interest. Even with a myriad of personnel changes over the years, the group STILL exists to this day. In fact, several iterations of the group still tour.
Today's song, "Oh My Love", is from The New Drifters first release. Written by Lewis Lebish and the group's road manager, Lover Patterson, it would grace the B-side of their break-out No.2 hit. The song was recorded on March 6, 1959 and released on April 24 the same year. This is also a very late release for Atlantic records, who, by this time, were only issuing 78's by request to Jukebox operators. Most US labels had stopped all production of 78's in 1958, but a few companies, Atlantic included, continued distributing them until early 1960.
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