The Coasters

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The classic Coasters lineup.

The Coasters are a rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood," their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller. Although the Coasters originated outside of mainstream doo wop, their records were so frequently imitated that they became an important part of the doo wop legacy to the 1960s.^[1] The Coasters were the first group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[2]

[edit] History

The Coasters' forerunners were The Robins, a Los Angeles based rhythm and blues group, which included Bobby Nunn and Carl Gardner in 1955. The original Coasters' members were Carl Gardner, Billy Guy, Bobby Nunn, Leon Hughes, and guitarist Adolph Jacobs. Jacobs left the group in 1959.

The songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller had started Spark Records, and in 1955 produced "Smokey Joe's Cafe" for The Robins. The record was popular enough that Atlantic Records offered Leiber and Stoller an independent production contract to produce The Robins for the Atlantic label. Only two of The Robins-- Gardner and Guy-- were willing to make the move to Atlantic. In late 1957 the group moved to New York and replaced Nunn and Young Jessie (the tenor who had substituted for Hughes on a handful of Los Angeles recordings) with Cornelius Gunter and Will "Dub" Jones. The new quartet was from then on stationed in New York (although all had Los Angeles roots).

The Coasters' association with Leiber and Stoller was an immediate success. Together they created a string of good-humored "storytelling" hits that are some of the most entertaining from the original era of rock and roll. Their first single, "Down in Mexico", was an R&B hit in 1956. The following year, The Coasters crossed over to the national charts in a big way with the double-sided "Young Blood"/"Searchin'". Searchin was the group's first U.S. Top 10 hit, and topped the R&B charts for 13 weeks, becoming the biggest R&B single of 1957 (all these were recorded in Los Angeles).

"Yakety Yak", which included King Curtis on tenor saxophone and included the famous lineup of Gardner, Guy, Jones and Gunter, became the act's only national #1 single, and also topped the R&B chart. The next single, "Charlie Brown", reached #2 on both charts. This was followed by "Along Came Jones", "Poison Ivy" (#1 for a month on the R&B chart), and "Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)".

Changing popular tastes, and a couple of line-up changes contributed to a lack of hits in the 1960s. During this time, Billy Guy was also working on solo projects, so New York singer Vernon Harrell was brought in to replace Guy for stage performances. Later members included Earl "Speedo" Carroll, Ronnie Bright, Jimmy Norman, and guitarist Thomas Palmer. The Coasters signed with Columbia Records in 1966, but were never able to regain their former fame. The Coasters had a minor chart entry with "Love Potion No. 9" in 1971. In Britain, a 1994 Volkswagen TV advertisement used the group's "Sorry But I'm Gonna Have to Pass" track, which led to a minor chart placement in that country.

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, crediting the members of the 1958-era configuration. The Coasters also joined the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.

Several groups used the name in the 1970s, touring throughout the country, though Carl Gardner, one of the original Coasters, held the legal rights to it. Gardner continued to tour with the Coasters and has made many attempts to stop bogus groups with no connection to the original group from using the name. In late 2005 Carl's son Carl Gardner Jr took over as lead with the group, when his father retired.^[3]

All of the other original group members have either died or retired. Some of the former members suffered tragic ends. Saxophonist and "fifth Coaster" King Curtis was stabbed to death by two junkies outside his apartment building in 1971. Cornelius Gunter was shot to death while sitting in a Las Vegas parking garage in 1990. Nate Wilson, a later member of one of a Gunter off-shoot Coasters group, was shot and his body was dismembered in 1980 by their former manager Patrick Cavanaugh.

[edit] Hit singles

[edit] References

1. ^ Anthony DeCurtis, & James Henke (eds) (1980). The RollingStone: The Definitive History of the Most Important Artists and Their Music, (3rd Ed.), New York, N.Y.: Random House, Inc., p. 98. ISBN 0-679-73728-6. 
2. ^ The Coasters Web Site. Gun & Claus Röhnisch. Retrieved on 2006-11-24.
3. ^ The Coasters Web Site. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.

[edit] External links

• The Coasters Web Site with the true story and complete discography
• History of Coasters' membership changes