Benjamin
Earl King (born September 28, 1938), better known as Ben E. King, is an
American soul singer. From the groundbreaking orchestrated productions of the
Drifters to his own solo hits, Ben E. King was the definition of R&B
elegance. King's plaintive baritone had all the passion of gospel, but the
settings in which it was displayed were tailored more for his honey smooth
phrasing and crisp enunciation, proving for perhaps the first time that R&B
could be sophisticated and accessible to straight pop audiences. King's
approach influenced countless smooth soul singers in his wake and his records
were key forerunners of the Motown sound.
King
was born Benjamin Earl Nelson in Henderson, NC, in 1938, and sang with his
church choir before the family moved to Harlem in 1947. In junior high, he
began performing with a street corner doo wop group called the Four B's, which
won second place in an Apollo Theater talent contest. While still in high
school, he was offered a chance to join the Moonglows, but was simply too young
and inexperienced to stick. He subsequently worked at his father's restaurant
as a singing waiter, which led to an invitation to become the baritone singer
in a doo wop outfit called the Five Crowns in 1958. The Five Crowns performed
several gigs at the Apollo Theater along with the Drifters, whose career had
begun to flounder in the years since original lead singer Clyde McPhatter
departed. Drifters manager George Treadwell, dissatisfied with the group
members' unreliability and lack of success, fired them all in the summer of
1958 and hired the Five Crowns to assume the name of the Drifters (which he
owned).
The
new Drifters toured for about a year, playing to often hostile audiences who
knew they were a completely different group. In early 1959, they went into the
studio with producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to cut their first records.
A song Nelson (still performing under his given name) co-wrote called
"There Goes My Baby" became his first lead vocal and the lush backing
arrangement made highly unorthodox (in fact, virtually unheard-of) use of a
string section. "There Goes My Baby" became a massive hit, laying the
groundwork for virtually every smooth/uptown soul production that followed.
Over the next two years, Nelson sang lead on several other Drifters classics,
including "Dance With Me," "This Magic Moment," "Save
the Last Dance for Me," and "I Count the Tears."
In
1960, Nelson approached Treadwell about a salary increase and a fairer share of
the group's royalties. Treadwell rebuffed him and Nelson quit the group, at
this point assuming the more memorable stage name Ben E. King in preparation
for a solo career. Remaining on Atlantic, King scored his first solo hit with
the stylish, Latin-tinged ballad "Spanish Harlem," a Jerry
Leiber/Phil Spector composition that hit the Top Ten in early 1961.
The
follow-up, "Stand By Me," a heartfelt ode to friendship and devotion
co-written by King, became his signature song and an enduring R&B classic;
it was also his biggest hit, topping the R&B charts and reaching the pop
Top Five. King scored a few more chart singles through 1963, including velvety
smooth pop-soul productions like "Amor," "Don't Play That Song
(You Lied)," and the Italian tune "I (Who Have Nothing)." In the
post-British Invasion years, King had a rough go of it on the pop charts but
continued to score R&B hits. 1967's Southern-fried "What Is
Soul?" was one of his last singles for Atco; seeking to revive his
commercial fortunes, King departed in 1969.
A
1970 album on Maxwell, Rough Edges, failed to generate much attention, and King
was forced to make a living touring the oldies circuit. In 1975, Atlantic
president Ahmet Ertegun caught King's act in a Miami lounge and invited him to
re-sign with the label. King scored an unlikely comeback smash with the disco
track "Supernatural Thing, Part I," which returned him to the top of
the R&B charts in 1975 and also reached the pop Top Five. While he was
unable to duplicate that single's success, King recorded several more albums
for Atlantic up through 1981, and also collaborated with the Average White Band
in 1977 on the album Benny & Us. After leaving Atlantic a second time, King
toured in a version of the Drifters beginning in 1982.
In 1986, "Stand By
Me" was prominently featured in the Rob Reiner film of the same name;
re-released as a single, it climbed into the Top Ten all over again. In its
wake, King returned to solo recording, issuing a new album every few years all
the way up through the '90s. He also guested on recordings by Heaven 17 and
Mark Knopfler, among others. King's 1999 album Shades of Blue (on Half Note
Records) found him branching out into jazz territory, performing with a big
band and guests like Milt Jackson and David "Fathead" Newman. 2006
saw the release of a brand new album, I've Been Around, on True Life Records.
King's
latest recording "Heart & Soul" on the CanAm Records label takes
a page from The Great American Songbook and features contributions from various
jazz greats. JazzTimes heralds King's new release for its emotional and musical
impact. The album was released in late 2010.
King toured the United Kingdom, performing at venues in England, Scotland and Wales during 2011. Currently,
King is active in his charitable foundation, the Stand By Me Foundation. ((Info
from All Music Guide)
3 comments:
For Ben E. King Anthology go here:
CD1 http://www47.zippyshare.com/v/56237853/file.html
CD2 http://www60.zippyshare.com/v/54277878/file.html
Anthology Disc 1
01. There Goes My Baby
02. Dance With Me
03. This Magic Moment
04. Lonely Winds Listen
05. Save The Last Dance For Me
06. I Count The Tears
07. Brace Yourself
08. Show Me The Way
09. Spanish Harlem
10. First Taste Of Love
11. Young Boy Blues
12. Stand By Me
13. On The Horizon
14. Here Comes The Night
15. Amor
16. Ecstasy
17. Yes
18. Walking In The Footsteps Of A Fool
19. Don’t Play That Song (You Lied)
20. How Can I Forget
21. Gypsy
22. I (Who Have Nothing)
23. What Now, My Love
24. Groovin’
25. That’s When It Hurts
26. Let The Water Run Down
27. It’s All Over
Recording Date: 1959-1964.
Anthology Disc 2
01. River Of Tears
02. Seven Letters
03. The Record (Baby I Love You)
04. She’s Gone Again
05. Cry No More
06. Goodnight My Love
07. So Much Love
08. I Swear By Stars Above
09. What Is Soul?
10. A Man Without A Dream
11. Tears, Tears, Tears
12. We Got A Thing Going On
13. Don’t Take Your Love From Me
14. It’s Amazing
15. Til I Can’t Take Anymore
16. It Ain’t Fair
17. Hey Little One
18. Supernatural Thing – Part I
19. Do It In The Name Of Love
20. I Had A Love
21. Get It Up For Love
22. A Star In The Ghetto
23. Music Trance
Hi, first much hx for your fine work. Zippyshare links are dead, it was nice you upload the Filesagain.
Sorry for my bad english. Learn a little bit in School 50 Years ago.
Hallo Vasserland, hier ist der neue Link
https://krakenfiles.com/view/263f1fa8e9/file.html
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