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BEN E. KING BIOGRAPHY

From the ground breaking orchestrated productions of the Drifters to his own solo hits, Ben E. King was the definition of R&B elegance. King's plaintive baritone had all the passion of gospel, but the settings in which it was displayed were tailored more for his honey smooth phrasing and crisp enunciation, proving for perhaps the first time that R&B could be sophisticated and accessible to straight pop audiences. King's approach influenced countless smooth soul singers in his wake and his records were key forerunners of the Motown sound.

In 1960, Nelson approached Treadwell about a salary increase and a fairer share of the group's royalties.

Treadwell rebuffed him and Nelson quit the group, at this point assuming the more memorable stage name Ben E. King in preparation for a solo career. Remaining on Atlantic, King scored his first solo hit with the stylish, Latin-tinged ballad "Spanish Harlem," a Jerry Leiber/Phil Spector composition that hit the Top Ten in early 1961. The follow-up, "Stand By Me," a heartfelt ode to friendship and devotion co-written by King, became his signature song and an enduring R&B classic; it was also his biggest hit, topping the R&B charts and reaching the pop Top Five.

King scored a few more chart singles through 1963, including velvety smooth pop-soul productions like "Amor," "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)," and the Italian tune "I (Who Have Nothing)." In the post-British Invasion years, King had a rough go of it on the pop charts but continued to score R&B hits. 1967's Southern-fried "What Is Soul?" was one of his last singles for Atco; seeking to revive his commercial fortunes, King departed in 1969.

King was born Benjamin Earl Nelson in Henderson, NC, and sang with his church choir before the family moved to Harlem. In junior high, he began performing with a street corner doo wop group called the Four B's, which won second place in an Apollo Theatre talent contest.

While still in high school, he was offered a chance to join the Moonglows; but was simply too young and inexperienced to stick.

He subsequently worked at his father's restaurant as a singing waiter, which led to an invitation to become the baritone singer in a doo wop outfit called the Five Crowns in 1958. The Five Crowns performed several gigs at the Apollo Theatre along with the Drifters, whose career had begun to flounder in the years since original lead singer Clyde McPhatter departed. Drifters manager George Treadwell, dissatisfied with the group members' unreliability and lack of success, fired them all in the summer of 1958 and hired the Five Crowns to assume the name of the Drifters (which he owned).

The new Drifters toured for about a year, playing to often hostile audiences who knew they were a completely different group. In early 1959, they went into the studio with producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller to cut their first records. A song Nelson (still performing under his given name) co-wrote called "There Goes My Baby" became his first lead vocal and the lush backing arrangement made highly unorthodox (in fact, virtually unheard-of) use of a string section. "There Goes My Baby" became a massive hit, laying the groundwork for virtually every smooth/uptown soul production that followed.

Over the next two years, Nelson sang lead on several other Drifters classics, including "Dance With Me," "This Magic Moment," "Save the Last Dance for Me," and "I Count the Tears."

A 1970 album on Maxwell, Rough Edges, failed to generate much attention, and King was forced to make a living touring the oldies circuit. In 1975, Atlantic president Ahmet Ertegun caught King's act in a Miami lounge and invited him to re-sign with the label. King scored an unlikely comeback smash with the disco track "Supernatural Thing, Part I," which returned him to the top of the R&B charts in 1975 and also reached the pop Top Five. While he was unable to duplicate that single's success, King recorded several more albums for Atlantic up through 1981, and also collaborated with the Average White Band in 1977 on the album Benny & Us. After leaving Atlantic a second time, King toured in a version of the Drifters beginning in 1982. In 1986, "Stand By Me" was prominently featured in the Rob Reiner film of the same name; re-released as a single, it climbed into the Top Ten all over again. In its wake, King returned to solo recording, issuing a new album every few years all the way up through the '90s. He also guested on recordings by Heaven 17 and Mark Knopfler, among others. King's 1999 album Shades of Blue (on Half Note Records) found him branching out into jazz territory, performing with a big band and guests like Milt Jackson and David "Fathead" Newman. 2006 saw the release of a brand new album, I've Been Around, on True Life Records.

Steve Huey, Rovi Ben E King has recently been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (June 2012)

Jimmy Jones Biography

He was the premier entertainer for the British troops during the UK’s involvement in the Falklands and Bosnian Wars.

He has appeared on numerous Radio and TV shows through out the world.

Jimmy became the first artiste to sing ‘live ‘ on the BBC’s Top of the Pops.

Jimmy James started his musical career, composing and singing at the early age of 16 in his homeland of Jamaica.

In 1964 he became the lead singer of The ‘Vagabonds’ one of Jamaica’s leading bands, when they left for a six month tour of the UK. The outfit became so popular that they decided to extend the tour and thus ended up being residents of the UK. Their popularity within the UK provided a platform for them to launch into the rest of Europe.

IN 1965 the band were invited to Hungary to perform a series of concerts, making them the ‘first ever, musical unit from the western hemisphere to have entertained behind the Iron Curtain.

Many tours followed – Tunisia, Germany, Greece, France, Belgium, Holland and others.

In 1969 Jimmy’s recording of Neil Diamonds ‘Red Red Wine’ , taken from the Vagabonds’ successful album the ‘New Religion’, really established the outfit as The most sought after working band in the UK, earning them a season Headlining at the famous Marquee Club.

Jimmy has shared the stage with world renowned acts such as The Beatles, The Who, Sonny and Cher, Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones, Bobby Womack, Solomon Burke, Jimi Hendricks and many others.

In 1970 he singed up to Biddu of the Subbidu Music Corporation and together they produced hits such as ‘A Man Like Me’,’Now Is The Time’and the timeless ‘I’ll Go Where The Music Takes Me’.

In 1989/1990 he was voted t6he best singer / entertainer by the Club Mirror Awards He performed at the world famous Cavern Club in Liverpool where his name is Enshrined with others on the ‘Wall’.

He has also performed at the Cannes Film Festival.

He went on to record several programmes for the BBC at the famous Abbey Road Studio.

He has recently performed at the Barbican Concert Hall for the BBC on their ‘Soul Britannia’ series of programmes with , among others, Sam Moore (Sam & Dave), Eddie Floyd, Madeline Bell, Geno Washington and Eric Burdon (The Animals).

Jimmy performed at the Royal Festival Hall last year with Percy Sledge, Gwen Dickie(Rose Royce) , The Flirtations and Hamish Stuart (Average White Band).

He continues to play to full houses on the Cabaret circuit across the UK with artistes Such as the Drifters, The Four Tops and Alexander O’ Neil.

CONTROL Forms.TextBox.1 \s More recently he is in demand as a Headliner on luxury Cruise Liners across the world.

In 2006 Jimmy performed at the Heineken Startime ‘British Invasion’ with the Legendary John Holt and the now late great Alton Ellis.

In 2009 , he was proud to be honoured by the Jamaican Music industry for his continual dedication and pioneering spirit to the world of music.

It has been quoted that ‘’Jimmy is one of those larger than life artistes whose every Breath on stage is intertwined with his music. He is rhythm personified’’.

‘Besides possessing a great voice a large slice of his appeal is Jimmy’s on stage Persona. With his boundless energy and continued ability to rouse an audience into a Good time mood, he is one of the masters of the stage’’ The last word comes from Jimmy himself. When asked how he keeps going with such enthusiasm Jimmy says ‘’ Music is my life. I still get the buzz when I perform. Whether on stage or in the studio, my goal is to give 100%.When I don’t get that buzz anymore , Then it ‘s time to say goodbye’’.

Till then he continues to be one of the hardest working men in showbusiness.

Mickey Watson Brian Dales Dave Brewis Doug Morgan John Hopcroft Bryan Corbett Chris Aldridge

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