Ben E. King

Ben E. King 2007 in New York

Ben E. King (* 28. September 1938 as Benjamin Earl Nelson in Henderson , North Carolina , † the 30th April 2015 in Teaneck , New Jersey ) was an American R & B - and soul singer , who as tenor of the band The Drifters in 1959 became known and then continued his career as a soloist. His most commercially successful song is Stand by Me from 1961.

Career

At the age of nine (1947) he moved from North Carolina to Harlem , New York , where he sang early on in the church choir and on the street.

Five Crowns and Drifters

Ben E. King's career began in 1955 when he joined the vocal group Five Crowns , replacing James Clark as singer. The first joint recording with King was the song I Can't Pretend, recorded at the end of the same year . He can also be heard on the next single Kiss and Make Up (RnB # 6901), which was released in February 1958; the group was only listed as crowns . The label RnB of the successful composer Doc Pomus had only released this single single before it was liquidated. The recording penned by Pomus brought the Crowns an appearance at the Apollo Theater in New York, where they were allowed to appear in the opening act for the Drifters from May 30, 1958. Their manager George Treadwell, dissatisfied with the declining success curve of his group, was so enthusiastic about the appearance of the Crowns that he unceremoniously fired the members of the Drifters and replaced them with the Crowns. Since Treadwell owned the naming rights to the group, the Crowns appeared from then on as the new Drifters. In addition to King, the band consisted of Charlie Thomas (tenor), Doc Green (baritone) and Elsbeary Hobbs (bass); King became the lead singer.

His first recording session under the new name took place on March 6, 1959, when There Goes My Baby / Oh My Love and two other tracks were recorded. With There Goes My Baby , produced by Leiber / Stoller , the Drifters celebrated a successful comeback with first place in the R&B charts and second place in the pop hit parade. In the second session on July 9, 1959, the titles Dance with Me / True Love, True Love were created , which were also well received with a second place in the R&B charts.

Solo career

Ben E. King - Spanish Harlem

After less than a year, Ben E. King left the Drifters in favor of a solo career. As early as December 17, 1959, he was standing in front of the microphone as a soloist and sang the Otis Blackwell composition Brace Yourself , which, however, missed the charts after its release in May 1960. Shortly thereafter, on December 23, 1959, he took on three more tracks with the Drifters, including This Magic Moment , which reached number four on the R&B charts. On May 19, 1960 he was with the Drifters at the recording of Save the Last Dance for Me / Nobody but Me on the microphone, with first place in both charts, the biggest hit of the group. Even this million seller could not dissuade King from his solo plans. His final separation in September 1960 exacerbated the casting problems of the group, which had already been hit by strong staff fluctuations. Due to the short dwell time, King was only heard on 11 of the 124 Drifters titles as lead singer, that is just under 9% of the Drifters published titles.

The recording session scheduled for October 27, 1960 finally lists Ben E. King as a soloist, accompanied by the orchestra of Atlantic arranger Stan Applebaum. It emerged Spanish Harlem / First Taste of Love , the Young Boy Blues and Stand by Me . First, Spanish Harlem published, which took a tenth place in the Pophitparade. The biggest hit for King as a soloist was Stand by Me , which came from the same session and was number one in the R&B charts for four weeks. By the end of the 1960s, he celebrated several other hits. After a hit break of around five years, he made a comeback in 1975 with Supernatural Thing (USA No. 5, R&B No. 1). Further smaller single hits in the R&B charts followed by 1980, but King's big time was over.

He died on April 30, 2015 at the age of 76. He was married to his wife Betty for 51 years until his death and had three children.

Cover versions

The song Stand by Me was used in the 1986 film Stand by Me and was another hit 25 years after it was first published.

From Stand by Me , there are numerous cover versions , including of 4 the Cause , the German music project Lemon Ice ( Geeno & Jay Low), John Lennon , Otis Redding , Willy DeVille , the punk rock band NOFX and Pennywise . His I (Who Have Nothing) was also often covered by Tom Jones , John Lennon and Shirley Bassey , among others .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1961	Spanish Harlem	-	-	-	UK30 (3 weeks) UK	US57 (7 weeks) US	Chart entry in UK only in 1967
1975	Supernatural	-	-	-	-	US39 (14 weeks) US
1977	Benny and Us	-	-	-	-	US33 (21 weeks) US	with the Average White Band

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More albums

• 1962: Ben E. King Sings for Soulful Lovers
• 1962: Don't Play That Song!
• 1964: Young Boy Blues
• 1964: Seven Letters
• 1967: What Is Soul?
• 1970: Rough Edges
• 1971: The Beginning of It All
• 1972: Audio Biography
• 1976: I Had a Love
• 1978: Let Me Live in Your Life
• 1980: Music Trance
• 1981: Street Tough
• 1989: Stand by Me

Compilations

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1977	Stand by Me - The Ultimate Collection	DE35 (7 weeks) DE	-	CH18 (5 weeks) CH	UK14 (8 weeks) UK	-
1990	The Very Best of Ben E. King and the Drifters Telstar	-	-	-	UK15 (16 weeks) UK	-	with The Drifters
1998	The Very Best of Ben E. King and the Drifters Global Television	-	-	-	UK41 (4 weeks) UK	-	with The Drifters

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More compilations

1966: Ben E. King's Greatest Hits 1972: The Ben E. King Story 1975: Atlantic / Atco April Releases (with Manhattan Transfer , Bad Company , Tangerine Dream and Eric Clapton ) 1980: Stand by Me 1981: What Is Soul 1984: Here Comes the Night 1986: Stand by Me: The Best of Ben E. King and Ben E. King with the Drifters (with The Drifters) 1987: The Voice of Soul 1987: Save the Last Dance for Me 1987: Stand by Me (UK:gold) 1987: The Best of Ben E. King & the Drifters (with The Drifters)

1991: 16 original hits 1991: Soulful Hits 1992: Soul Kings - Volume 3 1993: Anthology (2 CDs) 1996: Definitive Anthology Two: Sings for Soulful Lovers 1996: Definitive Anthology Five: What Is Soul? 1998: The Very Best of Ben E. King 1999: The Very Best of Ben E King & the Drifters (with The Drifters) 2002: Stand by Me 2004: Stand by Me and Other Favorites 2005: Stand By Me - The Ben E. King Collection 2010: Original Album Series (box with 10 CDs) 2015: The Very Best of Percy Sledge & Ben E. King (with Percy Sledge ; one CD each with the two artists' greatest hits)

EPs

• 1961: I Count the Tears / Spanish Harlem / First Taste of Love (with The Drifters)
• 1961: Spanish Harlem / First Taste of Love / I Count the Tears / Suddenly There's a Valley (with The Drifters)
• 1961: Cupid
• 1964: Gloria Gloria
• 1964: Don't Play That Song
• 1964: Love Me Love Me
• 1964: Acompañado de Orquesta
• 1964: The Hermit of the Misty Mountain
• 1980: When a Man Loves a Woman / Warm and Tender Love (with Percy Sledge )

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1961	First Taste of Love Don't Play That Song!	-	-	-	UK27 (11 weeks) UK	US53 (7 weeks) US
	Spanish Harlem Spanish Harlem	-	-	-	UK92 (2 weeks) UK	US10 (16 weeks) US	UK chart entry only 1986
	Stand by Me Don't Play That Song!	DE2 (16 weeks) DE	AT7 (6 weeks) AT	CH3 (9 weeks) CH	UK1 platinum (21 weeks)UK	US4 (37 weeks) US	First publication: 1960; Chart entry DA-CH only in 1987, highest ranking US only in 1986
	Cupid Spanish Harlem	-	-	-	UK38 (4 weeks) UK	US18 (10 weeks) US
	Here Comes the Night Don't Play That Song!	-	-	-	-	US81 (2 weeks) US
	Young Boy Blues Don't Play That Song!	-	-	-	-	US66 (6 weeks) US
1962	Ecstasy Don't Play That Song!	-	-	-	-	US56 (6 weeks) US
	Don't Play That Song (You Lied) Don't Play That Song!	-	-	-	-	US11 (12 weeks) US
	Too Bad Stand by Me	-	-	-	-	US88 (2 weeks) US
1963	How Can I Forget Gloria Gloria (EP)	-	-	-	-	US85 (4 weeks) US
	I (Who Have Nothing) Young Boy Blues	-	-	-	-	US29 (12 weeks) US
	I Could Have Danced All Night Gloria Gloria (EP)	-	-	-	-	US72 (4 weeks) US
1964	That's When it Hurts The Ben E. King Story	-	-	-	-	US63 (7 weeks) US
	It's All Over Seven Letters	-	-	-	-	US72 (5 weeks) US
	Seven Letters Seven Letters	-	-	-	-	US45 (7 weeks) US
1965	The Record (Baby I Love You) What Is Soul?	-	-	-	-	US84 (3 weeks) US
1966	Goodnight My Love (Pleasant Dreams) What Is Soul?	-	-	-	-	US91 (3 weeks) US	First published: 1962
	So Much Love Anthology	-	-	-	-	US96 (2 weeks) US
1967	Tears, Tears, Tears Stand by Me	-	-	-	-	US93 (2 weeks) US
1975	Supernatural Thing Supernatural	DE49 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	US5 (14 weeks) US
	Do It in the Name of Love Supernatural	-	-	-	-	US60 (4 weeks) US
1987	Save the Last Dance for Me (Remix) The Ultimate Collection: Stand by Me	DE60 (4 weeks) DE	-	-	UK69 (3 weeks) UK	-

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More singles

1960: Save the Last Dance for Me (with The Drifters ) 1960: How Often (with LaVern Baker ) 1960: Brace Yourself 1960: Groovin ' 1962: I'm Standing By 1962: Goodbye, My Dear 1963: Around the Corner 1964: What Can a Man Do 1964: Not Now (I'll Tell You When) 1965: I Can't Break the News to Myself 1965: Cry No More 1965: The Way You Shake It 1966: I Swear by the Stars Above 1966: What Is Soul? 1967: Teeny Weeny Little Bit 1967: She Knows What to Do for Me 1968: What'cha Gonna Do About It (with Dee Dee Sharp ) 1968: Don't Take Your Love from Me 1968: It Ain't Fair 1968: Where's the Girl 1970: Goodbye My Old Girl 1971: White Moon 1971: Seven Letters 1971: It's Amazing 1972: Take Me to the Pilot 1972: Into the Mystic

1973: Do It Now 1973: Spread Myself Around 1975: Happiness Is Where You Find It 1975: I Had a Love 1975: Yes 1975: Jamaica 1976: Betcha Didn't Know That 1977: The Message (with AWB ) 1977: Get It Up (with AWB) 1977: A Star in the Ghetto (with AWB) 1977: Imagine (with AWB) 1977: Fool for You Anyway 1978: Tippin ' 1978: Spoiled 1979: Music Trance 1980: You've Only Got One Chance to Be Young 1980: Touched by Your Love 1981: Street Tough 1981: Souvenirs of Love 1982: You Better Move On (The Drifters feat.Ben E. King) 1987: Spread Myself Around 1987: Lover's Question 1990: Book of Love (Ben E. King and Bo Diddley feat. Doug Lazy) 1991: What's Important to Me 1992: You've Got All of Me

swell

1. ↑ 'Stand By Me' singer Ben E. King dead at age 76. In: dailymail.co.uk. May 1, 2015, accessed May 1, 2015 . 
2. ↑ 'Stand By Me' singer Ben E King dies at the age of 76
3. ↑ Ben E. King - Biography
4. ↑ Jay Warner, American Singing Groups. 2006, p. 180 f.
5. ^ Bill Millar: The Drifters: The Rise and Fall of the Black Vocal Group. 1971, p. 110.
6. ^ Joel Whitburn: Top R&B Singles 1942-1995, 1996. ISBN 0-89820-115-2 , p. 247.
7. ↑ Soul legend Ben E. King is dead tagesanzeiger.ch, accessed on May 1, 2015 at 4:25 pm
8. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: Singles Albums UK US1 US2
9. ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7
10. ↑ ^{a b c} UK gold / platinum database

Web links

Commons : Ben E. King  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Ben E. King in the catalog of the German National Library
• Ben E. King in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Ben E. King at Allmusic (English)
• Ben E. King at Discogs (English)