The Drifters

The Drifters helped create soul music by bringing gospel-styled vocals to secular material. Literally scores of singers (like Clyde McPhatter and Ben E. King) worked with this durable institution. After McPhatter left Billy Ward and His Dominoes [see entry], Atlantic Records' Ahmet Ertegun encouraged the singer to put together his own vocal group. According to an early press release and rock lore,...