The Definitive Drifters

Great value for money,2 Cd's 58 tracks,covering all their major amd minor hits from the very start in 1953 with Money Honey to You're More Than a Number in My Little Red Book in 1976.I know of no other album at this price that covers so much,you would need a more expensive box set to do more.So why only 4 stars,well I am very keen on sound quality and always seek out stereo versions of tracks where possible.This album unfortunately has a lot of mono tracks and I am not of course referring to the earlier tracks which were only in mono,but the later tracks.This is a pity as it means I had to by another album, "The All Time Greatest Hits 1959-1965" to get the stereo versions.Even then I did not have all the stereo cuts,I had to cherry pick them from mp3 downloads.It is a shame record companies cannot get their acts together better and produce a real Definitive Collection or Greatest Hits,where all the tracks are the best available and remastered to the highest quality from the original master tapes.Apart from the complaints,I can recommend this album and the other one mentioned.Also worth a look are "Up on the Roof/Under the Boardwalk" and " SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME/GOO" I have written it like that as an Amazon search will work for it and not for the full title !!! Both these are original album series from Collectables and have plenty of stereo tracks in the best possible sound quality.PS BEWARE many CD's of the Drifters especially contain non original versions,as their career spans over 3 decades they had plenty of opportunity to re record their hits many times over.ALL THE RECOMMENDATIONS I HAVE MADE HAVE THE ORIGINAL HIT VERSIONS,PLEASE SEE MY OTHER REVIEWS.

Having been taken see Stand By Me - The Ben E.King and Drifters show I realised that The Drifters had recorded many more great songs than I'd thought. It didn't take long for me to identify that this compilation contains just about every track a casual fan would want. 58 songs covering about as many changes of personnel and 50 years shows that despite that ever fluid line-up the quality control lever has been consistently high. Early stormers like Ruby Baby and Drip Drop sit comfortably alongside arguably their golden era at the end of the 50's and start of the 60's, as well as some marvellous later hits. Pretty much anyone with even a modest knowledge of music will be familiar with the big hits on show here as soon as they play if not by title, here's just a few of them:Save The Last Dance For Me, Up On The Roof, On Broadway, Under The Boardwalk, Saturday Night At The Movies, Come On Over To My Place, Like Sister And Brother, Kissin' In The Back Row Of The Movies, There Goes My First Love, Every Night's A Saturday Night With You, You're More Than A Number In My Little Red Book.All these tracks plus many others I've become quickly accustomed to show the strength in depth of the back catalogue. Above all what comes across clearly is this is very happy music - it's almost impossible to resist humming or singing along, or simply smiling to many of these infectious tracks. Every time I've played this compilation I've been left with a lovely, warm sense of enjoyment. This really is a quality compilation thanks to the various record companies involved during The Drifters' long career licencing the very best from their output to make what for my money really is the definitive overview of a top vocal band. If you only buy one Drifters album I'd strongly recommend this one.

While There Are Countless " Greatest Hits " Issues For This Legendary Group, I Feel This Twin CD Set Contains The Best Of The Rest....Of Course There Are The Bog-Standard Tracks Of Their Number Ones And Top Tens Throughout Their Long History -( Mostly With ATLANTIC Records ) With The Great Lead Singers: Clyde McPhatter -Ben E. King - Johnny Moore - And Rudy Lewis Among Them...This Set Even Includes The 1962 Vocal Of " Stranger On The Shore " ( A Hit In Los Angeles ) ** Yes Melvin, Mister Acker Bilk Wasn't The Only One...Nice To Have Some " B " Sides Included...Like So Many Others From My Generation, I Used To Flip-Over A 45 To Hear The Other Side - And I Did So With The Many DRIFTERS Records I Purchased Back Then....I Was Hardly Ever Disappointed With Anything Ever Issued On ATLANTIC !Even Todays' " Touring " Drifters Attempt To Recapture The Old Magic, There Will Still Be This Set For You To Enjoy Over And Over Again.... ( From RHINO / ATLANTIC )

This compilation has the lot.Right through from the very first US single,Money Honey, from 1953, through to their UK revival on Bell in 1973/4,including never-released tracks like Only in America and Up in The Streets of Harlem. Both of those alone were so good you wonder just how someone's thought sitting on them all this years was a good idea!At various times R n B,Doo-Wop,Soul or Pop, the Drifters were consistently under-rated. Even if in later years, there seemed to be more variations of a group called The Drifters playing live here in the Uk than you or I had hot dinners, the group's spirit always seemed to be there somehow.They came to embody the excellence of Atlantic Records from the moment There Goes My Baby(1959) finally cracked the Billboard Top 100 in a big way. And yet, listening to all the earlier stuff, they were ALWAYS a thunderingly good sound-their vocal liaisons have never been equalled.58 tracks-because the booklet lists 58 group members from 1953 onwards! Despite the amazing personnel changes that included the entire group being fired in 1958 & The Five Crowns(including Ben E King) suddenly waking up & finding they were The Drifters, you actually get a wonderful continuity of sound and consistency of performance all the way.Professional isn't the word-Magic possibly is!

Plenty of hits to listen to, good choice of purchase