From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Fri Apr 5, 2002  12:15 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Tony Williams
 
TONY WILLIAMS

Born Samuel Anthony Williams, 5 April 1928, Elizabeth, New Jersey
Died 14 August 1992, Manhattan, New York City

As the masterful lead vocalist of The Platters, Tony Williams merged
R&B with traditional balladry on a string of elegant crossover hits in
the second half of the fifties. With 40 Hot 100 entries between 1955
and 1967, the Platters are the most succesful vocal group of the 50s.
Trained on the gospel music of his Baptist church in Elizabeth, NJ,
Williams later received classical voice lessons. Arriving in Los Angeles
in 1952, Tony replaced Cornell Gunter in a struggling R&B group called
the Platters. Their records for Federal were unsuccesful, but all that
changed when their manager, Buck Ram, moved them to a major label,
Mercury, and polished their sound. Their first Mercury release was a
re-recording of a Buck Ram composition that they had first recorded
for Federal, called "Only You". Not only did it top the R&B charts, it
also went to # 5 pop, beating a white cover by the Hilltoppers in the
process. The follow-up, "The Great Pretender", was an even greater
success, peaking at # 1 on both the pop and R&B charts, thus becoming
the first R&B ballad to reach the top pop spot. Hit after hit followed,
including the number ones "My Prayer" (1956), "Twilight Time" (1958)
and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" (1959). The success of the Platters
spread around the world. In August 1959, the four male members of
the group (Tony Williams, David Lynch, Paul Robi and Herb Reed)
were arrested in a Cincinnati motel for having sex with women who
were under 21. Although they were acquitted of the charges, their
career was harmed. The Platters scored their final Top 10 hit in 1960
with "Harbor Lights". Williams left the group in 1961 (he was replaced
by Sonny Turner), but his solo career on Reprise was unsuccesful.
Things got unpleasant in the seventies. Group members fell out and
there were at least four related Platters groups and who-knows-how-
many pretender acts, leading to lawsuits and injunctions.
Though severely ill, Williams was forced out of financial necessity to
tour until several months before his death in 1992. A heavy smoker
who also suffered from diabetes and euphysema, he died in his sleep
at his Manhattan apartment.

CD recommendation: The Platters, The Magic Touch : An Anthology.
2 CD-set, released in 1991. 50 Mercury tracks, 1955-1963.
Platters website: http://www.geocities.com/archivenewsnet/platters/