Ben E. King | |
|---|---|
 King in the 1990s | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Benjamin Earl Nelson |
| Born | (1938-09-28)September 28, 1938 Henderson, North Carolina, US |
| Origin | Harlem, New York, US |
| Died | April 30, 2015(2015-04-30) (aged 76) Hackensack, New Jersey, US |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, record producer |
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1958–2015 |
| Labels | |
| Formerly of | The Drifters |
| Website | beneking |
Benjamin Earl King[1] (néNelson; September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an Americansoul andR&B singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence as one of the principal lead singers of the R&B vocal groupthe Drifters, singing the lead vocals on three of their biggest hit singles - "There Goes My Baby", "This Magic Moment", and "Save the Last Dance for Me" (their only US No. 1 hit).[2]
As a soloist, King is best known as the singer andco-composer of "Stand by Me", which became a UStop 10hit, both in 1961 and later in 1986 (when it was used as the theme to thefilm of the same name), and anumber one hit in the United Kingdom in 1987. The single was also placed on theRIAA's list ofSongs of the Century. His 1975 single "Supernatural Thing" became a top five hit on theBillboard Hot 100. Additionally, King was the original recording artist of songs such as "Spanish Harlem", "I (Who Have Nothing)", "So Much Love", "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)", "We're Gonna Groove", and "Till I Can't Take It Anymore", all of which have been covered by multiple artists to varying degrees of success.
King was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, as a member of the Drifters, and has been nominated as a solo artist.[3] Along with the Drifters' "There Goes My Baby", King's songs "Stand by Me" and "Spanish Harlem" also appeared on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.[4] Additionally, he was inducted alongside the Drifters into theVocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000,[5] as well as theSongwriters Hall of Fame in 2012 with the Towering song award.[6]
Benjamin Earl Nelson was born on September 28, 1938, inHenderson, North Carolina,[2] but moved toHarlem,New York, at the age of nine in 1947.[7] He began singing in church choirs, and in high school formed the Four B's, adoo-wop group that occasionally performed at theApollo Theater.[8]
In 1958, King (still using his birth name) joined a doo-wop group called the Five Crowns.[8] Later that year, the Drifters' managerGeorge Treadwell fired the members of the original Drifters, and replaced them with the members of the Five Crowns.[9]
King had a string ofR&B hits with the group onAtlantic Records. He co-wrote and sang lead on the first Atlantic hit by the new version of the Drifters, "There Goes My Baby" (1959). King sang lead on a succession of hits by the team ofDoc Pomus andMort Shuman, including "Save the Last Dance for Me", "This Magic Moment", and "I Count the Tears".[2] He recorded only 13 songs with theDrifters—two backing other lead singers and 11 lead vocalperformances—including an unreleased song called "Temptation" (later redone by Drifters vocalistJohnny Moore). The last of the King-led Drifters singles to be released was "Sometimes I Wonder", which was recorded on May 19, 1960, but not issued until June 1962.[10]
After a year of touring with the Drifters, contract disputes arose with Treadwell, in which King and his manager Lover Patterson demanded greater compensation. Treadwell refused, and King was only hired for studio recordings. On television, fellow Drifters memberCharlie Thomas usuallylip-synched the songs that King had recorded with the Drifters.[11]
In May 1960, King left the Drifters,[2] assuming the stage name Ben E. King in preparation for a solo career. Remaining with Atlantic Records on itsAtco imprint, his first release, "Show Me the Way"/"Brace Yourself" failed to hit the charts. His second effort, "A Help-Each-Other"/"How Often", withLavern Baker, was not a hit either. King’s first charting single was "First Taste of Love". It peaked on the USBillboard at #53, but it became a bigger hit in the UK, charting at #27. His first Top 10 release as a solo artist was "Spanish Harlem" (1961), written by Jerry Leiber andPhil Spector and produced byLeiber and Mike Stoller. It peaked on the US pop charts at number 10, and onBillboard's R&B chart at number 15.[2]
King's next single, "Stand by Me", written with Leiber and Stoller, ultimately would be voted as one of theSongs of the Century by theRecording Industry Association of America. King cited singersBrook Benton,Roy Hamilton, andSam Cooke as influences for his vocals of the song.[12] "Stand by Me", "There Goes My Baby", "Spanish Harlem", and "Save the Last Dance for Me" were all named in theRock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll;[13] and each of those records has earned aGrammy Hall of Fame Award.[14] King's other well-known songs include "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)", "Amor", "Seven Letters", "How Can I Forget", "On the Horizon", "It Ain’t Fair", "Young Boy Blues", "Its All Over", "River of Tears", "Ecstasy", "She’s gone Again", "That's When It Hurts", and "I Swear by Stars Above". In the summer of 1963, King had a Top 30 hit with "I (Who Have Nothing)", which reached the Top 10 on New York's radio station,WMCA.[15]
King's records continued to place well on theBillboard Hot 100 chart until the mid-1960s. British pop bands began to dominate the pop music scene, but King still continued to make R&B hits. Some of these hits include "What is Soul?", "Tears, Tears, Tears", and "Till I Can't Take It Anymore". In 1975, King made a comeback on theBillboard Hot 100 chart with the disco hit "Supernatural Thing": number 5 onBillboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. It was also nominated for a Grammy at the 18th Annual Grammy Awards in 1975 for "best R&B vocal performance, male". In 1977, King collaborated withAverage White Band in releasing the albumBenny & Us. The album spawned two top 40 R&B hits, "A Star in the Ghetto" and "Get It Up".
King returned to the Drifters in late 1982 in the United Kingdom and sang with them until the group's break-up and reorganization in 1986.[16] From 1983 until the band's break-up, the other members of this incarnation of the Drifters were Johnny Moore, Joe Blunt, and Clyde Brown.[citation needed]
A 1986 re-issue of "Stand by Me" followed the song's use as thetheme song to the movieStand By Me and re-entered theBillboard top ten after a 25-year absence. This reissue also topped the charts in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland for three weeks in February 1987.[8] The reissue also made King the first act to reach the Hot 100's top 10 in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, either as a member of an act that reached that high (in this case, the Drifters) or as a solo act that did.[17]
In 1990, King andBo Diddley, along withDoug Lazy, recorded a revampedhip hop version ofthe Monotones' 1958 hit song "Book of Love" for thesoundtrack of the movieBook of Love. He also recorded a children's album,I Have Songs In My Pocket, written and produced by children's music artistBobby Susser in 1998, which won the Early Childhood News Directors' Choice Award and Dr. Toy's/the Institute for Childhood Resources Award. King performed "Stand by Me" on theLate Show with David Letterman in 2007.Ahmet Ertegun said, "King is one of the greatest singers in the history of rock and roll and rhythm and blues."[18]
As a Drifter and as a solo artist, King has achieved a few number-one hits: "There Goes My Baby", "Save the Last Dance for Me", "Stand By Me", "Supernatural Thing", and the 1986 re-issue of "Stand By Me". On the US pop and r&b charts combined, he achieved 12 Top 10 hits and 28 Top 40 hits. King was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as a Drifter;[19] he was also nominated as a solo artist.[20]
A re-recording of King's "I (Who Have Nothing)" was selected for theSopranosPeppers and Eggs Soundtrack CD (2001).[21]
King was inducted into theNorth Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.[22]
On March 27, 2012, theSongwriters Hall of Fame announced that "Stand By Me" would receive its 2012 Towering Song Award and that King would be honored with the 2012 Towering Performance Award for his recording of the song.[23]
King was active in his charitable foundation, the Stand By Me Foundation, which helps to provide education to deserving youths.[12][24] King was a resident ofTeaneck, New Jersey, from the late 1960s onwards.[25]
King performed "Stand by Me" during a televised tribute to late comedianGeorge Carlin, as he was one of Carlin's favorite artists.[26] On November 11, 2010, King performed "Stand by Me" at theLatin Grammys withPrince Royce.[27]
King toured the United Kingdom in 2013 and played concerts in the United States as late as 2014, despite reported health problems.[28]
Following a brief illness, King died atHackensack University Medical Center on April 30, 2015; he was 76 years old.[28][29][30] King was married to his wife Betty, for 50 years, and had three children: Terris Cannon, Benjamin King Jr., and Angela Matos, in addition to six grandchildren.[31]
King has been covered by acts from several genres. "So Much Love" was recorded byDusty Springfield and many others.[32] "I (Who Have Nothing)" was performed byShirley Bassey in 1963 and also byTom Jones in 1970, as well as a 1979 recording bySylvester. "Till I Can't Take It Anymore" was revisited by peerRay Charles in 1970 and "Spanish Harlem" was sung byAretha Franklin in 1971. "Stand by Me" was covered bythe Righteous Brothers,Otis Redding,John Lennon,Mickey Gilley,Seal,Florence and the Machine, andTracy Chapman. The song forms the basis for the Indian hit "Dildaara" by songwritersVishal–Shekhar. King also inspired a number of rock bands:Siouxsie and the Banshees recorded "Supernatural Thing" in 1981 andLed Zeppelin did a cover version of "Groovin'", which is better known under the title of "We're Gonna Groove".[33]
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [34][35] | US R&B [36] | UK [37] | |||
| Spanish Harlem | 1961 | — | — | 30 | |
| Ben E. King Sings for Soulful Lovers | 1962 | — | — | — | |
| Don't Play That Song! | — | — | — | ||
| Young Boy Blues | 1964 | — | — | — | |
| Seven Letters | 1965 | — | — | — | |
| What Is Soul | 1967 | — | — | — | |
| Rough Edges | 1970 | — | — | — | |
| The Beginning of It All | 1972 | — | — | — | |
| Supernatural | 1975 | 39 | 13 | — | |
| I Had a Love | 1976 | — | — | — | |
| Rhapsody | — | — | — | ||
| Benny And Us (withAverage White Band) | 1977 | 33 | 14 | — | |
| Let Me Live in Your Life | 1978 | — | — | — | |
| Music Trance | 1980 | — | 73 | — | |
| Street Tough | 1981 | — | — | — | |
| Save the Last Dance for Me | 1987 | — | — | — | |
| What's Important to Me | 1991 | — | 82 | — | |
| Shades of Blue | 1993 | — | — | — | |
| I Have Songs In My Pocket | 1998 | — | — | — | |
| I've Been Around | 2006 | — | — | — | |
| White Christmas | 2008 | — | — | — | |
| Heart & Soul | 2010 | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US [34] | US R&B [36] | ||
| Person to Person: Live at the Blue Note | 2003 | — | 30 |
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [34] | US R&B [36] | GER [38] | SWI [39] | UK [37] | ||
| Ben E. King's Greatest Hits | 1964 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Stand by Me: The Ultimate Collection | 1987 | — | — | 35 | 18 | 14 |
| The Very Best of Ben E. King and the Drifters (withthe Drifters) | 1990 | — | — | — | — | 15 |
| Anthology | 1993 | — | — | — | — | — |
| The Very Best of Ben E. King | 1998 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Eleven Best | 2001 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Soul Masters | 2005 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Love Is Gonna Get You | 2007 | — | — | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [40] | US R&B [41] | BEL (FL) [42] | BEL (WA) [42] | GER [42] | NL [42] | NOR [42] | UK [43] | ||||
| "There Goes My Baby" | 1959 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Dance with Me" | 15 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | |||
| "This Magic Moment" | 1960 | 16 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Lonely Winds" | 54 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Save the Last Dance for Me" | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |||
| "I Count the Tears" | 17 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | 28 | |||
| "Sometimes I Wonder" | 1962 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [44] | US R&B [36] | BEL (FL) [45] | BEL (WA) [46] | GER [38] | NL [47] | NOR [48] | NZ [49] | SWI [39] | UK [37] | |||
| "Show Me the Way" | 1960 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "A Help-Each-Other Romance" (withLaVern Baker) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "First Taste of Love" | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 27 | ||
| "Spanish Harlem" (original or 1987 reissue) | 10 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 92 | ||
| "Stand by Me" (original or 1987 reissue) | 1961 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 46 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 45 | 3 | 1 | |
| "Amor" | 18 | 10 | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | 38 | ||
| "Here Comes the Night" | 81 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Young Boy Blues" | 66 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Ecstasy" | 1962 | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)" | 11 | 2 | — | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Too Bad" | 88 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I'm Standing By" | 111 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Tell Daddy" | 122 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "How Can I Forget" | 1963 | 85 | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "I (Who Have Nothing)" | 29 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I Could Have Danced All Night" | 72 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "What Now My Love" | 1964 | 102 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "That's When It Hurts" | 63 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Amore Quando" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "What Can a Man Do" | 113 | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "It's All Over" | 72 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Seven Letters" | 45 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "The Record (Baby I Love You)" | 1965 | 84 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "She's Gone Again" | 128 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Cry No More" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Goodnight My Love" | 91 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "So Much Love" | 1966 | 96 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "I Swear by Stars Above" | — | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "What Is Soul?" | — | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Tears, Tears, Tears" | 1967 | 93 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Katherine" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Don't Take Your Sweet Love Away" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "We Got a Thing Goin' On" (withDee Dee Sharp) | 1968 | 127 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Don't Take Your Love from Me" | 117 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Soul Meeting" (as part ofthe Soul Clan) | 91 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "It's Amazing" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Till I Can't Take It Anymore | 134 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Hey Little One" | 1969 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "I Can't Take It Like a Man" | — | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "In the Midnight Hour/Lay Lady Lay" | 1970 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Take Me to the Pilot" | 1972 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Into the Mystic" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Spread Myself Around" | 1973 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Supernatural Thing" | 1975 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Do It in the Name of Love" | 60 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I Had a Love" | — | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I Betcha Didn't Know That" | 1976 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Somebody's Knocking" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Get It Up" (withAverage White Band) | 1977 | — | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | 39 | — | — | |
| "A Star in the Ghetto" (with Average White Band) | — | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Tippin" | 1978 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Spoiled" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Music Trance" | 1980 | — | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Street Tough" | 1981 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Souvenirs of Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Save the Last Dance for Me" (re-recording) | 1987 | — | — | — | — | 60 | — | — | — | — | 69 | |
| "What's Important to Me" | 1991 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "You've Got All of Me" | 1992 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "You Still Move Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||
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