Esse grupo vocal negro foi o principal intérprete das composições da dupla de produtores Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, os melhores e mais bem sucedidos compositores do rock'n'roll e do pop nos anos 50 (são autores de clássicos do rock como "Jailhouse rock", "Stand by me", "King creole" e outras). Os Coasters surgiram em 1955 e dois anos depois chegaram ao primeiro lugar da parada de "R&B"; dalí em diante, passaram frequentar o "hit parade". A partir do início dos anos 60, o grupo entrou em decadência, principalmente porque a dupla Leiber & Stoller passou a dividir sua atenção com outros artistas.
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THE COASTERS
The Coasters are an American Rhythm and Blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller. Although the Coasters originated outside of mainstream doo wop, their records were so frequently imitated that they became an important part of the doo wop legacy through the 1960s.The original members of the Coasters, who formed in October 1955, were African-Americans Carl Gardner, Billy Guy, Bobby Nunn, Leon Hughes (who was substituted with Young Jessie on a couple of their early Los Angeles recordings), and guitarist Adolph Jacobs. The songwriting team Jerry Leiber
and Mike Stoller had started Spark Records, and in 1955 produced "Smokey Joe's Cafe" for The Robins (their 5th single with Leiber-Stoller). The record was popular enough that Atlantic Records offered Leiber and Stoller an independent production contract to produce The Robins for the Atlantic label. Only two of The Robins -- Gardner and Nunn -- were willing to make the move to Atlantic, recording their first songs in the same studio as The Robins had done (Master Recorders). In late 1957 the group moved to New York and replaced Nunn and Hughes with Obie Jesse and Will "Dub" Jones. The new quartet was from then on stationed in New York (although all had Los Angeles roots). The Coasters' association with producers and songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller was an immediate success. Together they created a string of good-humored "storytelling" hits that are some of the most entertaining from the original era of rock and roll. Their first single, "Down in Mexico", was an R&B hit in 1956 and appears (in a re-recording from 1970 - still with Gardner singing the lead) on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, crediting the members of the 1958-era configuration. The Coasters also joined the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. Several groups used the name in the 1970s, touring throughout the country, though Carl Gardner, one of the original Coasters, held the legal rights to it. Gardner continued to tour with the Coasters and has made many attempts to stop bogus groups with no connection to the original group from using the name. As of 2009, all of the other original group members, except Leon Hughes and Carl Gardner, have died. Some of the former members suffered tragic ends. Saxophonist and "fifth Coaster" King Curtis was stabbed to death by two junkies outside his apartment building in 1971. Cornelius Gunter was shot to death while sitting in a Las Vegas parking garage in 1990. Nate Wilson, a member of one of Gunter's offshoot Coasters groups, was shot and his body dismembered in 1980. The Coasters continue to appear regularly on "oldies" shows and PBS specials as old favorites and are available for bookings. The Coasters' repertoire had a significant impact on '60s and '70s rock artists.
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MINHA OPINIÃO
Nada a acrescentar, até porque conheço muito pouco dos "COASTERS". Como não sou exatamente um aficcionado de "R&B e Rock", sei apenas que o grupo teve uma trajetória de sucesso nos anos 50 e que a sua história foi marcada por trágicas mortes de alguns de seus componentes. Para os apreciadores de "R&B", "Rock & Roll" e "Doo-wop", é um prato feito.
(*)A canção "Poison Ivy" ("Erva venenosa") foi um grande sucesso dos "Golden Boys", em sua versão brasileira, com letra de Rossini Pinto - se não me engano.
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THE COASTERS: Greatest hits
THE COASTERS:
Original lineup (October 1955 - 1957):
* Carl Gardner, lead
* Bobby Nunn, bass
* Billy Guy, baritone
* Leon Hughes, tenor
* Adolph Jacobs, guitar (from 1956)
Current lineup (1998 - present):
* Carl Gardner, lead (coach from 2006)
* Alvin Morse, baritone (November, 1997 - September, 2008)
* Primotivo Candelara, baritone (from October, 2008)
* Carl Gardner Jr., tenor (absent July 2001-November 2004; lead from 2006)
* J. W. Lance, tenor (from July, 2001)
* Ronnie Bright, bass (up to November, 2009)
* Eddie Whitfiled, bass (from November, 2009)
* Thomas "Curley" Palmer, guitar
TRACKS/FAIXAS:
1 Poison Ivy
2 Along Came Jones
3 Down in Mexico
4 The Shadow Knows
5 I'm a Hog for You
6 Charlie Brown
7 Yakety Yak
8 Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart
9 That Is Rock and Roll
10 Young Blood
11 Sweet Georgia Brown
12 Searchin'
