Ben E. King
Text in englischer Sprache verfügbarFrom 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, North Carolina, 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, Pt. 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 albums every few years. 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. The year 2006 saw the release of a smooth R&B album, I've Been Around, on True Life Records. A 2010 date titled Heart & Soul featured King with a small jazz group, stretching out on vocal standards. He continued to tour and make special performances, and was also active in the Stand by Me Foundation, his charity dedicated to children's education. Ben E. King died on April 30, 2015, after a brief illness.
© Steve Huey /TiVo Mehr lesen
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, North Carolina, 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, Pt. 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 albums every few years. 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. The year 2006 saw the release of a smooth R&B album, I've Been Around, on True Life Records. A 2010 date titled Heart & Soul featured King with a small jazz group, stretching out on vocal standards. He continued to tour and make special performances, and was also active in the Stand by Me Foundation, his charity dedicated to children's education. Ben E. King died on April 30, 2015, after a brief illness.
© Steve Huey /TiVo
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Stand By Me (In Memoriam Ben E. King)
Ben E. King
Pop - Erschienen bei In Memoriam am 05.05.2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rhino Hi-Five: Ben E. King
Ben E. King
Soul - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 14.03.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spanish Harlem (Edition Studio Masters)
Ben E. King
Rock - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 01.01.2000
Hi-Res Audio24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stand by Me...And Other Hits (24 Bit Digitally Remastered)
Ben E. King
R&B - Erschienen bei All Time Records am 27.07.2018
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Best of Ben E. King
Ben E. King
R&B - Erschienen bei BnF Collection am 12.05.2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Spanish Harlem
Ben E. King
R&B - Erschienen bei Mojo Workin' am 21.10.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don't Play That Song (Mono)
Ben E. King
Rock - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 02.06.2014
Ben E. King's third album is a little short in running time but very high in quality, in terms of the dozen songs here. The title track was the sellin ...
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Don't Play That Song (Mono)
Ben E. King
Rock - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 02.06.2014
Ben E. King's third album is a little short in running time but very high in quality, in terms of the dozen songs here. The title track was the sellin ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best of Ben E. King
Ben E. King
Soul - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 30.01.1998
Ben E. King was still known as Ben Nelson when the group he was fronting, the Five Crowns, began touring as the Drifters in 1958 (the original Drifter ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Collection
Ben E. King
Soul - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 01.01.1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Supernatural Thing (US Release)
Ben E. King
Soul - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 01.01.1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don't Play That Song
Ben E. King
Soul - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 12.09.2019
Ben E. King's third album is a little short in running time but very high in quality, in terms of the dozen songs here. The title track was the sellin ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Street Tough
Ben E. King
Soul - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 01.01.1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Let Me Live in Your Life
Ben E. King
Soul - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 01.12.1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spanish Harlem
Ben E. King
Soul - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 04.02.2020
A close look at this album reveals just how ambitious Atlantic Records could be in the early 1960s, in generating LPs. Technically speaking, Ben E. Ki ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music Trance
Ben E. King
Soul - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 01.01.1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Stand By Me (Remastered)
Ben E. King
Hip-Hop/Rap - Erschienen bei Vintage Records am 24.09.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Supernatural Thing (Super '70s Mix)
Ben E. King
Soul - Erschienen bei Ben E. King am 02.05.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The 12 Days of Christmas with Ben E. King
Ben E. King
Pop/Rock - Erschienen bei All I Have To Do Is Dream am 29.11.2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Seven Letters
Ben E. King
R&B - Erschienen bei RMP Global Ltd am 19.02.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo