From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Fri Nov 15, 2002  6:16 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Clyde McPhatter

CLYDE McPHATTER (By Shaun Mather)

Born 15 November 1933, Durham, North Carolina
Died 13 June 1972, The Bronx, New York City, New York

Clyde McPhatter possessed the most beautiful, purist, high tenor voice in
r'n'b history. His sound came from the church and whilst many of rock's
greatest moments came from the struggle between good and evil, Clyde's
voice was heavenly all the way, there wasn't a drop of the devil to be seen.

His upbringing was dominated by the Baptist Church and Clyde soon
became a boy soprano in the church choir. After the family moved to New
Jersey in 1945, he formed a high school gospel group, until the family moved
to New York City, where he joined the Mount Lebanon Singers, a popular group
along the East Coast. In late 1950, McPhatter moved over to secular music
when he joined Billy Ward's Dominoes. The group were on Syd Nathan's King
Records. At the end of 1950 they cut "Sixty Minute Man" which became the
biggest R&B hit of 1951 (# 1 for 14 weeks), also making the unprecedented
jump to the pop charts (# 17). Over the course of the next three years, Clyde
shone on such Dominoes classics as "Have Mercy Baby," "The Bells," "I'd
Be Satisfied," and "These Foolish Things Remind Me of You".

There was conflict among the group though, with Ward dominating the
decisions and more importantly, the takings and so in early 1953, McPhatter
quit. He was approached by Ahmet Ertegun, the president and co-founder of
Atlantic Records, who offered him a contract and his own group. The group
became the Drifters and this glorious aggregation soared over the airwaves
with gems like "Money Honey" (# 1 R&B for 11 weeks), "Such a Night,"
"Honey Love," "White Christmas," and "Whatcha Gonna Do." McPhatter
was drafted in 1954, but being stationed in America, was able to carry on
recording with the group. He soon left the group though and headed in a
different direction, becoming more pop orientated.

His solo career took off following his discharge in 1955, still with Atlantic
Records. His first session saw him duet with Ruth Brown on "Love Has
Joined Us Together," which made number 8 on the R&B charts. Solo hits
came with "Seven Days," "Treasure of Love," (# 1 r'n'b, # 16 pop), "Just to
Hold My Hand" "Long Lonely Nights" (# 1 r'n'b). His biggest hit on Atlantic
came in 1958 with the bouncy "A Lover's Question," which hit # 6 on the
pop charts and topped the r'n'b listings.

He moved to MGM Records, but his work was patchier and he lasted for
only one year and four singles, of which only "Let's Try Again" made the
R&B Top 20. By the early '60s he was falling away worryingly fast, both
musically and personally. Now at Mercury Records he showed a brief sign
of picking himself up, "Ta Ta," and "I Never Knew" did well and in 1962 he
enjoyed a Top 10 pop single with "Lover Please," written by Billy Swan.
However, despite a couple more smaller hits like "Deep in the Heart of
Harlem" and "Crying Won't Help You Now" he was spiralling downward.
He spent the next few years recording for smaller labels before moving to
England where he found a fresh audience. He returned Stateside in the
early '70s and signed with Decca Records, who released an album,
Welcome Home. He wasn't that welcome though, and after years of
alcoholism and depression he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Recommended listening:
CM & the Drifters/Rockin' & Driftin' - US Collectables
Deep Sea Ball - Best of CM - Atlantic
Love Ballads/Clyde - US Collectables
The Latest & The Greatest - Plaza