★★★★★
Between 1959 and 1964, The Drifters had 16 American hits, many written by top teams from New York's Brill Building, notably including "Save The Last Dance For Me", "Up On The Roof", "On Broadway" and "Under The Boardwalk". These are all-time classics by any measure and any collection featuring them is worth having. On this two-disc set, a great deal else from the group's extensive catalogue appears, not always to much effect. In the absence of something more selective, this is worth considering...
- www.uncut.co.uk
2010-06-19
★★★★★
No group has ever benefited from as many truly outstanding lead singers as The Drifters. From the first, the ill-starred Clyde McPhatter, through the imperishable Ben E. King to the commercially durable Johnny Moore, there are strong claims to be hailed as the finest vocalist in the group's labyrinthine line-up history. For a few, however, the relatively unknown Rudy Lewis was The Drifters' best...
- www.mojo4music.com
2009-07-21
★★★★★
In the
'50s and early '60s, Atlantic Records dominated black rock, and
its flagship group was the Drifters. The group had four
magnificent lead singers (Clyde McPhatter, Ben E. King, Rudy
Lewis, and Johnny Moore) and two identities: early on, a
gutbucket vitality (''Money Honey''), and later, a bittersweet
urbanity (''Up on the Roof''). Rhino stretches things in Rockin' & Driftin': The Drifters Box by
documenting McPhatter's solo career and (some of) King's, but
that's all right...
- ew.com
2009-06-12
★★★★★
Contract singers hired out to contract producers, the post-1958 Drifters were pop product as perfect as Abba or the Archies: where some cite Ben E. King's "There Goes My Baby" as primal soul music, I say Leiber & Stoller's "There Goes My Baby" was the first true rock and roll record with violins on it. Here the product is reduced to 16 songs in 41 minutes--roofs and boardwalks, last dances and numbered tears, this magic moment and some kind of wonderful...
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-02-27