Post by Rob Durkee on Jun 14, 2011 20:10:11 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
Carl Gardner, the founder and original lead singer of the 1950’s group the Coasters, died Sunday (June 12, 2011) at a Port St. Lucie, Florida, hospice. He was 83. According to the Associated Press and writer Dennis McLellan of the Los Angeles Times, Gardner died of congestive heart failure plus had been battling Alzheimer's Disease and throat cancer.
What made the Coasters so successful was how the American public didn't care that they were all African-Americans. That's because their music was just plain fun for black and white audiences alike. One appropriate nickname for the group was "The Clown Princes Of Rock And Roll."
The Coasters were the very first group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, joining the second class in 1987. The Everly Brothers were among the rock hall's first class in 1986, but they were a duo. The Beatles didn't gain induction into the hall until the third class in 1988.
When Casey Kasem counted down the top 40 rock and roll acts of the 1950’s in the fall of 1975, the Coasters were ranked #13. Only three groups were ahead of the Coasters…the Diamonds, Bill Haley and His Comets and the biggest group of the 50’s, the Platters.
According to Joel Whitburn's Record Research, the Coasters' roots go back to 1947, when the Robins were formed in Los Angeles. Among the Robins’ hits were “Smokey Joe’s Café” and “Riot In Cell Block #9.” In the mid-1950's, the Robins split into two groups. Some members of the Robins chose to remain the Robins while Gardner and Bobby Nunn decided to the form the Coasters.
The combination of the Coasters' joining Atco Records and teamming up with songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller led to a slew of hits. Although their first release, "Down In Mexico," failed to crack the Cash Box Magazine pop chart in 1956, it was a major R&B hit.
The next year, 1957, the Coasters exploded onto the R&B and pop scene with what to this day is believed to be the most successful two-sided R&B single ever, “Searchin’ / Young Blood.” The record was #1 on the R&B chart of one magazine for roughly a dozen weeks. On the Cash Box pop chart, "Searchin'" peaked at #7 while "Young Blood" reached #15.
The Coasters got an additional boost of exposure in the summer of 1957. Helping them was Dickie Goodman, who was famous for his "flying saucer" novelty records where questions were answered in the form of snippets of then-current hit songs. On the (Bill) Buchanan and Goodman single, "Flying Saucer The 2nd," the early part of "Young Blood" where the Coasters are jokingly saying "Look At There" was used early in the novelty recording.
The Coasters had their biggest pop hit in the summer of 1958 with the #1 classic, “Yakety Yak.” The song dealt with parents chewing out their teenage kids, starting out with the opening line, “Take out the papers and the trash…or you don’t get no spending cash.” The song also had the group members yelling out the title and then one member (probably Will “Dub” Jones) saying, “Don’t Talk Back.” King Curtis provided the unforgettable saxophone solo.
The Coasters nearly duplicated the feat of “Yakety Yak” with their followup, “Charlie Brown.” That #2 1959 hit was about a class clown who’d say in the song, “Why’s everybody always picking on me?” The Coasters had another top tenner in 1959 with “Poison Ivy” (#9) and that same year just missed the Top 10 with “Along Came Jones” (#11).
In late 1959, the Coasters had still another Top 40 with the #33-peaking "What About Us." The group had two more Top 40's in the early 1960's with "Wake Me, Shake Me" (#34, 1960) and "Little Egypt" (#30, 1961).
To list all the instances of Coasters' remakes would be impossible, but here's some of the more memorable ones (with thanks to Wikipedia): The Beatles remade "Searchin',"; Bad Company had a 1976 Top 40 remake of "Young Blood"; Elvis Presley sang "Little Egypt" in the soundtrack of the movie "Roustabout"; the Monkees had "D.W. Washburn" in 1968; Ray Stevens redid "Along Came Jones" the next year; and in 1970, the Pipkins followed up "Gimmie Dat Ding" with "Yakety Yak." Also, Leon Russell sang "Young Blood" at George Harrison's 1971 Concert for Bangladesh while at least two groups have done "Riot In Cell Block #9"--the Beach Boys and Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen.
Sadly, Wikipedia also reports that some associated with the Coasters met tragic deaths. Saxophonist King Curtis was only 37 when he was stabbed to death in 1971. Two other Coasters' members are believed to have been murdered about 10 years apart, Nate Wilson (1980) and Cornelius Gunter (1990).
The Coasters had at least 21 different members but Leon Hughes is believed to be the only surviving member. Among the more prominent Coaster members over the years were Earl "Speedo" Carroll, who sang lead on the Cadillacs hits "Speedo" and "Peek-A-Boo"; and Ronnie Bright, who was the bass singer on the 1963 Johnny Cymbal hit, "Mr. Bass Man."
It's believed the memory of the Coasters has been kept alive to this day with occasional performances by a modern-day lineup that includes Gardner's son, Carl Gardner, Jr. Some group members were part of a small claims court case that was seen on the TV show "People's Court" in the 1980's when Joseph Wapner was the presiding judge.
When he was alive, the elder Gardner was emphatic in his belief that there shouldn't be any copycat Coasters groups. In 2007, the state of Florida passed legislation outlawing such fake groups.
Carl Cardner was born April 29, 1928 in Tyler, Texas. He got into the music business in the early 1950's after serving in the Army, mostly as a teenager.
Gardner left the joking and shenanigans up to other members of the Coasters. Songwriter Mike Stoller explained, "Carl was either the romantic lead or the straight man. He was the barker at the beginning of 'Little Egypt' with his 'step right up, folks.' That was his persona in the group for those kinds of things."
Veta Gardner was Carl's widow, the Coasters' manager in the late 80's and author of the 2007 biography book, "Yakety Yak, I Fought Back: My Life With The Coasters." She recalled, "Singing was Carl's passion. Even as a young kid, he had a beautiful voice. They used to call him the town crier because he used to walk and sing. Everybody could hear him sing."
Carl Gardner, the founder and original lead singer of the 1950’s group the Coasters, died Sunday (June 12, 2011) at a Port St. Lucie, Florida, hospice. He was 83. According to the Associated Press and writer Dennis McLellan of the Los Angeles Times, Gardner died of congestive heart failure plus had been battling Alzheimer's Disease and throat cancer.
What made the Coasters so successful was how the American public didn't care that they were all African-Americans. That's because their music was just plain fun for black and white audiences alike. One appropriate nickname for the group was "The Clown Princes Of Rock And Roll."
The Coasters were the very first group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, joining the second class in 1987. The Everly Brothers were among the rock hall's first class in 1986, but they were a duo. The Beatles didn't gain induction into the hall until the third class in 1988.
When Casey Kasem counted down the top 40 rock and roll acts of the 1950’s in the fall of 1975, the Coasters were ranked #13. Only three groups were ahead of the Coasters…the Diamonds, Bill Haley and His Comets and the biggest group of the 50’s, the Platters.
According to Joel Whitburn's Record Research, the Coasters' roots go back to 1947, when the Robins were formed in Los Angeles. Among the Robins’ hits were “Smokey Joe’s Café” and “Riot In Cell Block #9.” In the mid-1950's, the Robins split into two groups. Some members of the Robins chose to remain the Robins while Gardner and Bobby Nunn decided to the form the Coasters.
The combination of the Coasters' joining Atco Records and teamming up with songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller led to a slew of hits. Although their first release, "Down In Mexico," failed to crack the Cash Box Magazine pop chart in 1956, it was a major R&B hit.
The next year, 1957, the Coasters exploded onto the R&B and pop scene with what to this day is believed to be the most successful two-sided R&B single ever, “Searchin’ / Young Blood.” The record was #1 on the R&B chart of one magazine for roughly a dozen weeks. On the Cash Box pop chart, "Searchin'" peaked at #7 while "Young Blood" reached #15.
The Coasters got an additional boost of exposure in the summer of 1957. Helping them was Dickie Goodman, who was famous for his "flying saucer" novelty records where questions were answered in the form of snippets of then-current hit songs. On the (Bill) Buchanan and Goodman single, "Flying Saucer The 2nd," the early part of "Young Blood" where the Coasters are jokingly saying "Look At There" was used early in the novelty recording.
The Coasters had their biggest pop hit in the summer of 1958 with the #1 classic, “Yakety Yak.” The song dealt with parents chewing out their teenage kids, starting out with the opening line, “Take out the papers and the trash…or you don’t get no spending cash.” The song also had the group members yelling out the title and then one member (probably Will “Dub” Jones) saying, “Don’t Talk Back.” King Curtis provided the unforgettable saxophone solo.
The Coasters nearly duplicated the feat of “Yakety Yak” with their followup, “Charlie Brown.” That #2 1959 hit was about a class clown who’d say in the song, “Why’s everybody always picking on me?” The Coasters had another top tenner in 1959 with “Poison Ivy” (#9) and that same year just missed the Top 10 with “Along Came Jones” (#11).
In late 1959, the Coasters had still another Top 40 with the #33-peaking "What About Us." The group had two more Top 40's in the early 1960's with "Wake Me, Shake Me" (#34, 1960) and "Little Egypt" (#30, 1961).
To list all the instances of Coasters' remakes would be impossible, but here's some of the more memorable ones (with thanks to Wikipedia): The Beatles remade "Searchin',"; Bad Company had a 1976 Top 40 remake of "Young Blood"; Elvis Presley sang "Little Egypt" in the soundtrack of the movie "Roustabout"; the Monkees had "D.W. Washburn" in 1968; Ray Stevens redid "Along Came Jones" the next year; and in 1970, the Pipkins followed up "Gimmie Dat Ding" with "Yakety Yak." Also, Leon Russell sang "Young Blood" at George Harrison's 1971 Concert for Bangladesh while at least two groups have done "Riot In Cell Block #9"--the Beach Boys and Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen.
Sadly, Wikipedia also reports that some associated with the Coasters met tragic deaths. Saxophonist King Curtis was only 37 when he was stabbed to death in 1971. Two other Coasters' members are believed to have been murdered about 10 years apart, Nate Wilson (1980) and Cornelius Gunter (1990).
The Coasters had at least 21 different members but Leon Hughes is believed to be the only surviving member. Among the more prominent Coaster members over the years were Earl "Speedo" Carroll, who sang lead on the Cadillacs hits "Speedo" and "Peek-A-Boo"; and Ronnie Bright, who was the bass singer on the 1963 Johnny Cymbal hit, "Mr. Bass Man."
It's believed the memory of the Coasters has been kept alive to this day with occasional performances by a modern-day lineup that includes Gardner's son, Carl Gardner, Jr. Some group members were part of a small claims court case that was seen on the TV show "People's Court" in the 1980's when Joseph Wapner was the presiding judge.
When he was alive, the elder Gardner was emphatic in his belief that there shouldn't be any copycat Coasters groups. In 2007, the state of Florida passed legislation outlawing such fake groups.
Carl Cardner was born April 29, 1928 in Tyler, Texas. He got into the music business in the early 1950's after serving in the Army, mostly as a teenager.
Gardner left the joking and shenanigans up to other members of the Coasters. Songwriter Mike Stoller explained, "Carl was either the romantic lead or the straight man. He was the barker at the beginning of 'Little Egypt' with his 'step right up, folks.' That was his persona in the group for those kinds of things."
Veta Gardner was Carl's widow, the Coasters' manager in the late 80's and author of the 2007 biography book, "Yakety Yak, I Fought Back: My Life With The Coasters." She recalled, "Singing was Carl's passion. Even as a young kid, he had a beautiful voice. They used to call him the town crier because he used to walk and sing. Everybody could hear him sing."
