Drifters kept moving on
QUESTION I read that the rock group Rainbow had used around 30 members. Has any other group used as many or more? The Drifters were founded in 1953 as a backing group for singer Clyde McPhatter. After a few minor hits, McPhatter was drafted into the U.S. Army.
Because of their rising popularity, the remaining group members demanded a higher share of the royalties and proceeds from concert appearances.
Their manager George Treadwell responded by sacking them all and replacing them with a doo-wop group, The Five Crowns, fronted by singer Benny Nelson (who later became Ben e. King).
Treadwell and his wife Faye took a percentage of all the royalties. Some of these new Drifters accused the Treadwells of taking too much, left the band and formed their own versions using the same name.
This led to a court action brought by Treadwell, who won control of The Drifters name.
Consequently, the line-up changed considerably over the years as singers left and new ones were brought in.
The Drifters shot to prominence in 1959 with what is now acknowledged as the first pop song to be recorded with a string orchestra, There Goes My Baby, written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
having sole copyright of the name, the Treadwell family used it like a franchise. It led to unscrupulous promoters sending various sets of fake Drifters on the road; in the eighties and Nineties there were reports of at least half a dozen.
In the early Seventies, The Drifters were offered a new recording contract, this time fronted by Johnny Moore, who was one of the original Drifters, having joined in 1954, a year after its formation.
They had a succession of hit songs, mostly with Moore as lead singer, including There Goes My First Love, Come On Over To My Place, Kissin’ In The Back Row Of The Movies and Like Sister And Brother, mostly written by english duo Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, plus Tony Macaulay, all topnotch songwriters.
In 1988, the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll hall Of Fame. Because there had been so many Drifters, the hosts declared they would award only recognised members of the official band. These included Clyde McPhatter, Bill Pinkney, Gerhart Thrasher, Rudy Lewis, Charlie Thomas, Ben e. King, and Johnny Moore.
Of all these great singers, it was probably Moore who most endeared himself to British audiences until his untimely death in 1998.
There is still a Drifters band touring the UK; these are known as The Official Drifters, managed by the Treadwells’ daughter Tina.
A recent compilation of former members of The Drifters totalled 68.
Michael Brooks, Kendal, Cumbria. QUESTION How did Braintree in Essex come by its unusual name? TheRe is a nice story that Braintree was named after a stand of walnut trees, the walnuts themselves resembling brains.
This cannot, however, be true, as the walnut is native to eastern North America and was introduced to europe in 1629, while Braintree features in the Domesday Book (1086). here it was known as Branchetreu, and its origin is thought to be ‘tree of a man named Branca’ or perhaps ‘Branoc’. Branca itself may be derived from the Old english word Bran, for ‘raven’ or ‘crow’. The river name Brain is a back formation of the place name.
Mickey Vickers, Halstead, Essex. QUESTION Is the ability to sing in tune genetic? MUSIC is part of the cultural heritage of all known human communities, with the capacity for music perception and production present in most people.
Researchers generally agree that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to music ability, with the degree of aptitude varying not only from individual to individual, but across various components of musical ability within the same individual.
Research does point to a genetic basis for ability. One of the easiest factors to test is that of Absolute Pitch (AP, also sometimes known as Perfect Pitch) — the rare musical ability of being able to identify or produce pitches without relying on an external reference.
Just one in 10,000 express this trait. however, AP is neither a prerequisite nor a predictor for outstanding musicianship.
One early study, published in 1988, looked at 35 subjects with perfect pitch, representing 19 families. They reported significant familial incidence of this trait, particularly in females, which was detected at an early age.
The researchers concluded that this ‘suggests the operation of genetic mechanisms concerning which speculations are presented’.
A subsequent familial aggregation study from 1996 concluded that siblings of AP possessors are approximately 20 times more likely to possess AP relative to the general population.
Recently, research has focused on two heritable genes. AVPR1A on chromosome 12q has also been implicated in music perception, music memory, music listening and even dance. Another gene, SLC6A4 on chromosome 17q, has been associated with music memory and choir participation.
A review of the research into the genetic basis of musical ability was conducted by Yi Ting Tan et al (The Genetic Basis Of Music Ability, Frontiers In Psychology, 2014). This is available online.
Dr Ian Smith, Cambridge.
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