The Classic Years (Volume 1) - The Platters

Details

In the history of American Black music (until recently called "Rhythm 'n' Blues") when speaking of great singing groups, the one that comes to mind is "The Platters", the first black group to receive international acclaim because of their great hit records and dynamic stagemanship spanning a sensational 7 years. The group was formed in 1952 by Cornel Gunther in California and comprised Tony Williams, David Lynch, Alex Hodge and Herb Reed. They made their first recording ""Only You"" for Federal Records an R&B label with no success. In 1955 Buck Ram a musical arranger for such bands as Duke Ellington, Count Basie and The Dorsey Brothers and the writer of "Only You", approached the group to sign with his new management and production company which he had just formed. From that day, the appearance and fortunes of the group changed. Alex Hodge was replaced by Paul Robi, and Zola Taylor was brought in to give the group the feminine touch that Ram thought was needed, replaced Gunther who went on to have huge success, first with his group ""The Flairs"" and then with the famous ""The Coasters"", they re-recorded ""Only You"" for Mercury Records in 1955 with Ram's great arrangement and the song went to number 1 on the American pop (white) charts and propelled the group to stardom. For the next 7 years, the group dominated the charts with such memorable hits as ""The Great Pretender"", ""You've Got That Magic Touch"", ""My Prayer"", ""You'll Never Know"", ""Twilight Time"", ""I'm Sorry"", and ""Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"", their biggest hit. During this time, The Platters were on a non-stop schedule of personal appearances world-wide and were featured in the Rock 'n' Roll film classic Rock Around the Clock with Bill Haley and the Comets. Tony Williams left in 1962 to pursue a solo career and was replaced by Sonny Turner. Buck Ram changed record labels moving over to Musicor Records and the group had their only up-tempo hit ""With This Ring"" in 1967. As the years rolled by the personnel of The Platters began to change further but the sound of the group has always managed to stay the same, beautiful and melodic as can be heard in this album.

Track List