Once again, greetings and salutations. Well, this is it — mark the date, Saturday, Jan. 28, our 23rd show at the Kimmel Center, starring Chris Montez, with his first appearance in Philadelphia; Ben E. King; Lenny Welch; Shirley Alston Reeves, the original lead singer of the Shirelles; Darlene Love and her sister, who will be performing as the Honeycombs; and the Trammps. Show starts at 8pm, I’ll be there with my Armani changes, and I’ll give a shout-out to all of you. To hear the songs of all the artists, keep on listening to WTKU KOOL 98.3 in these days before the show and you’ll get a sense of the excitement that night will produce. Now, let’s ask the Geator.
Hi, Jerry, we are attending your show at the Kimmel Center on January 28. Can you please ask Lenny Welch to sing “I Need Someone”? It’s my favorite Welch recording and I know he rarely does it anymore. Thanks — Al from Pine Hill, N.J.
Lenny knows how important that song has been. Philadelphia was the only major market where it was as popular as the A side, “You Don’t Know Me” — reason being that every night I would open up my Lover’s Portion on the air by playing “I Need Someone.” And he’ll be doing it on stage the night of the Kimmel Center. By the way, he loves it also, because he wrote it.
There was a post on Facebook about you being on a helicopter to New York around Christmas time. What’s the story? — Burt S., Jackson Heights, New York City
That was exciting. My friend Johnnie Dougherty, business manager of IBEW Local 98, the electrical workers union in Philly, had bought a thousand copies of my book to be given out during the annual Pennsylvania Society Weekend at the Waldorf-Astoria, and wanted me to be a part of the entertainment and autograph the books. Unfortunately I was already booked that night in Wilmington, but leave it to Johnnie Doc to come up with a solution. He sent down a helicopter, and I flew from Wilmington to New York and did my thing for 2,500 people.
Senior moment! I started to tell one of my friends how the Drifters got their name, and then I completely forgot the answer. I’m pretty sure I heard it on your radio show. Can you help? — Dani Parisi, Philadelphia
George Treadwell, who was married to Sarah Vaughan at the time and a trumpet player in the Basie orchestra, was asked by Atlantic Records to get them a harmony group like the Ravens. He put together guys who were no longer singing with the groups that they began with. One was Clyde McPhatter, who had just been fired by Billy Ward and was drifting from one group to another. This gave Treadwell the idea to get members from other groups who were also “drifting” — thus the Drifters.
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1. Jensen Lee said... on Jan 18, 2012 at 10:13PM
“Those original Drifters are an often-forgotten group that made great R&B hits. For many, the Drifters’ 1954 version of "White Christmas" remains the gold standard. The Drifters of the early 1950s were built around high tenor Clyde McPhatter. But it was bass man Bill Pinkney, who took a rare lead vocal turn on the song, who makes “White Christmas” unique. Rockaeology at http://bit.ly/u5LCPq tells how racism prevented most of white America from hearing the song for years.”
2. Danny Tee said... on Jan 20, 2012 at 06:06PM
“Maybe I'm missing something here but how can any reader of A,C, Weekly even ask the Geator a question when he provides no contact info?. I do believe that there was a time he did have an email contact address but it seems to have vanished. Whatzup?
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