Deep Tracks: The Drifters
O
Nevertheless, they still managed to produce some of the best R&B ever recorded, including well-known hits such as “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “Up on the Roof,” “Under the Boardwalk,” “I’ve Got Sand in My Shoes,” and many others. What follows is a list of eight deep tracks for the Drifters, but whereas I’d normally list only album cuts or really offbeat songs, in this case I have also included songs that didn’t make the Billboard pop charts but did make the R&B charts and songs that charted overseas but not in America.
1) “Money Honey”(1953)
The Billboard Hot 100 singles chart didn’t come into existence until 1955, so when “Money Honey” went to #1 in 1953, it was an early version of the charts that marked sales of R&B records only. Clyde McPhatter sang lead on this distinctive hit, but because many white audiences never heard “race records” featuring black groups, the Drifters’ first chart-topper escaped the notice of many. Time has righted that wrong, and Rolling Stone Magazine ranked “Money Honey” #254 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
2) “Adorable”(1955)
By the time the Drifters scored their third #1 R&B hit in 1955, Clyde McPhatter had been drafted and the group had already become a revolving door membership-wise. Johnny Moore had been with the group, let go, then rehired a few months later, and he took the lead on “Adorable.” Originally released as the flipside of “Steamboat,” “Adorable” was a cover of a song by the Colts performed in the finest doo-wop tradition. “Steamboat” did okay, peaking at #5, but “Adorable” shot to the top of the R&B charts. Although the Billboard Hot 100 was in existence by this time, the Drifters were still four years away from a #1 there.
3) “Ruby Baby”(1956)
Like the songs above, though it was popular on the R&B charts (it peaked at #10), “Ruby Baby” didn’t make the Hot 100 at all. Johnny Moore once again sang lead, though he would soon, like McPhatter, be drafted as well. Many listeners are more familiar with the version by Dion that went to #2 eight years later, but the Drifters did it first.
4) “I Remember Christmas”(1964)
This song is the only ’60s entry on this list for two reasons. One, from the late-’50s up until this song was released, it would be hard to consider anything the group did a “deep track” because everything was pretty much gold and lodged near the top of the charts. Two, because after its release in the US, the Drifters were essentially done. Indeed, in the late-’50s, they had finally found the crossover audience that eluded them in the early 1950s; from 1959 through 1964, they had 26 singles on the Hot 100, and one, “Save the Last Dance for Me,” had peaked at #1 in 1960. They’d also had nine different people sing lead on their chart records since “Ruby Baby,” but Johnny Moore had returned to the group in 1963, and it was he who sang lead on the Drifters’ “I Remember Christmas.” A true deep track, it was the flip side of their version of “A Christmas Song,” which had failed to register on any chart. But it’s a pleasant and heartfelt Christmas song, beautiful in its spirit and sincerity.
5) “Kissing in the Back Row of the Movies”(1974)
Perhaps the failure of “I Remember Christmas” to chart at all was a portent of things to come; after it, the Drifters would never again have a record make the Top 40 on the American Billboard charts. Things got so bad that when their contract with Atlantic was up, the group moved to England and signed with Bell Records. It was a move that would revitalize their careers, and for a group that, in America, had been relegated to the status of a ’50s and early ’60s oldies act, in England, they were relevant and a force on the popular charts.
Rising all the way to #2, “Kissing in the Back Row” was their second Top 10 record in England, but oddly enough, it would barely even make the R&B charts in America (#83) and wouldn’t make the Billboard Hot 100 in America at all. While it was the last chart record of any type they’d have in the US, in England, they were just getting started. “Kissing in the Back Row” is a very fine record, with Johnny Moore, who was back with the group again, singing lead. In the Southern United States, this song is considered one of the greatest Carolina beach music hits of all time, though in the rest of the country it’s largely unknown.
6) “You’re More than a Number in My Little Red Book” (1976)
After eight English Top 40 records in three years with Bell, the label was taken over by Arista, and this song was their first — and last — chart record with that label. It’s a well crafted, upbeat record, and another record that even today is popular on the Carolina beach music scene. It would also be the group’s last original chart record on any chart.
7) “Do You Have To Go Now”(1976)
Continuing the trend of songs popular in Carolina beach music circles even today, “Do You Have to Go Now” was actually the flip side of “You’re More than a Number,” and as such, it’s the deepest of deep tracks. So deep, in fact, that couple of years ago when I interviewed former Drifter Clyde Brown, who sang co-lead on “You’re More than a Number” with Johnny Moore, he couldn’t even remember the song! It’s another good track, however, and proof that the Drifters still had gas in the tank after two and a half decades as performers.
8) “Closely Guarded Secret” (1978)
Though it’s hard to be certain, this appears to be the group’s last single release for Arista, and some say the last single Johnny Moore sang lead on. It never charted, but was nevertheless a fine final entry for a group who endured over the course of three decades as they produced some of the finest R&B recorded in America and in England.
What are your favorite lesser known Drifters tracks? Let us know in the comments!
