From:   "jean.marc.pezet 
Date:  Fri Aug 23, 2002  3:04 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You: Rudy Lewis
 
RUDY LEWIS (By Dik de Heer)

Born 23 August 1936, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died 20 May 1964, New York City, NY

Rudy Lewis is probably the most underrated of all the
Drifters' lead singers. By the time that "Save The Last
Dance For Me" hit the charts (autumn 1960), Ben E. King
had already recorded his first solo session and was about
to emerge as a hitmaker in his own right. His successor
was Rudy Lewis, a man with a rich, soulful voice, who was
one of only two males to have sung with The Clara Ward
Singers gospel group. Lewis brought the newly emergent
voice of "soul" to The Drifters at the very time the
group was being directed out of R&B roots into the pop
mainstream.
The stature of The Drifters was such that all NYC
publishers scrambled to get their best numbers recorded
by The Drifters. Thus The Drifters came to record songs
from the top pop composers of the day : Carole King and
Gerry Goffin (Some Kinda Wonderful, When My Little Girl
Is Smiling, Up On The Roof), Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman
(Sweets For My Sweet, A Room Full Of Tears), Barry Mann
and Cynthia Weil (On Broadway, Only in America) and Burt
Bacharach and Hal David (Please Stay, Mexican Divorce,
Let The Music Play).
This was the golden era of Brill Building pop. Up On The
Roof and On Broadway went Top 10 and Please Stay and
Sweets For My Sweet made the Top 20.
However, my favourite from this period is "Rat Race",
which nobody else seems to like, but which ended up at
the top of my 1963 list, when I was still in the habit of
compiling a Top 100 at the end of the year. Truly
moving in its dramatic intensity. "Rat Race" marks the
end of the involvement of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
with The Drifters ; after mid-1963 their sessions would
be supervised by Bert Berns.
On the eve of the group's "Under The Boardwalk" session,
Rudy Lewis was found dead in his apartment. There were
rumours of drug abuse, but according to Cliff White, in
his liner notes for the CD mentioned below, this was not
the case. If Lewis had any problem it was one of binge-
eating late at night and choking on his meal. He left a
concise, rewarding legacy, nicely encapsulated on the
CD "Up On The Roof : Definitive Drifters Anthology, Vol.
4" (Sequel RSACD 833).

Further reading: Bill Millar, The Drifters : the rise and
fall of the black vocal group. London : Studio Vista,
1971.
Or, more succinctly:
http://www.rocknrollmusic.co.uk/drifters.htm