Tony Williams (5 April 1928 – August 14, 1992) was the lead
singer of the Platters from 1953 to 1960.
Samuel Anthony "Tony" Williams was the original
lead singer of The Platters, the most successful black rhythm-and-blues doo-wop
group to emerge in the Fifties. The Platters sold over 50 million records and
introduced a unique blend of orchestral arrangement with a distinct
rhythm-and-blues harmonising, which almost immediately earned them acceptance
amongst the United States' white audience.
Williams, born in Elizabeth, New Jersey was the brother of
the blues singer Linda Hayes, and it was she who first introduced him to the
ex-lawyer turned songwriter and arranger Buck Ram in 1954. Ram had previously
worked with the Duke Ellington and Count Basie bands. Ram was a booking agent
at the time of the introduction, and was reputedly so impressed by the tonal
purity of Williams's high tenor, that he decided to create the 'Platters
sound', around his voice. Williams was working as a parking-lot attendant in
Los Angeles at the time.
Williams had formed the group in 1953, with his fellow
members David Lynch, Alex Hodge and Herbert Reed. It was when Buck Ram signed
them to a management contract, and added a female singer - Zola Taylor, a
member of The Teen Queens - that a distinct
style began to emerge. It was
unusual to find a female vocalist in a doo-wop group, and Ram sought to widen
the range and vocal blend with this addition. Shortly after Ram took over the
management, Hodge was forced to leave the group after an incident with the
police. The vocalist Paul Robi replaced him, and this new line-up was the final
combination which made The Platters the most successful black group of the
Fifties.
style began to emerge. It was
unusual to find a female vocalist in a doo-wop group, and Ram sought to widen
the range and vocal blend with this addition. Shortly after Ram took over the
management, Hodge was forced to leave the group after an incident with the
police. The vocalist Paul Robi replaced him, and this new line-up was the final
combination which made The Platters the most successful black group of the
Fifties.
The Platters signed a contract with Mercury records in
November 1955, and the label's initial commercial reaction to them was that
they were simply another rhythm-and-blues group. But Ram placed promotional
emphasis on Williams's voice as a ballad singer, insisting that the group were
pop-chart material. Their first single, 'Only You (And You Alone)', hit the
mainstream US chart at number 5, much to the amazement of Mercury's A and R
department.
In February 1956 Mercury released their follow-up single,
the ballad 'The Great Pretender'. The record, composed by Ram, was a perfect
showcase for the emotional range and scope of Williams's voice, and remained at
the top of the US hit parade for over two 
weeks, selling more than a million
copies. In September the song was backed with 'Only You' and released in
Britain, where it reached No 5 in the hit parade. Before this several cover
versions of both of these songs had entered the British charts (there was a
delay in Mercury's obtaining a UK outlet). When the original Platters recording
finally hit the charts the New Musical Express described Williams's voice as
'unearthly'.
weeks, selling more than a million
copies. In September the song was backed with 'Only You' and released in
Britain, where it reached No 5 in the hit parade. Before this several cover
versions of both of these songs had entered the British charts (there was a
delay in Mercury's obtaining a UK outlet). When the original Platters recording
finally hit the charts the New Musical Express described Williams's voice as
'unearthly'.
Tony Williams met his wife Helen, a model, in Las Vegas in
1957. She replaced Zola Taylor as the female vocalist, and they were married in
1963, three years after Williams left the group to embark on a solo career with
Frank Sinatra's Reprise label.In August 1962, Tony signed with Philips, a
subsidiary of Mercury.
Although The Platters soldiered on through the Sixties,
releasing unused cuts featuring Williams singing lead and even scoring a minor
soul hit in 1967 with the beach music standard "With This Ring," the
ever-changing lineup was essentially reduced to a traveling oldies act by the
turn of the decade. Indeed, legal wrangling led to over 125 different
"Platters" lineups touring the country, a practice that continues
even today. Tony was still performing as late as the 90's with his wife as the
New Platters. Early in 1992 he and his wife and their son Ricky did six weeks
of performances in Thailand and Japan, yet sadly later that year on August 14th
he passed away at his Manhattan apartment, age 64 in 1992 from smoking related
emphysema. 
He was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member
of the Platters in 1990.
(Info edited from various sources mainly The Independent)
