The Platters

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The Platters started out as a Los Angeles-based doo wop group with little identity of their own to make them stand out from the pack. They made their first records for Federal, a subsidiary of Cincinnati's King Records. These early sides don't sound anything like the better-known sides that would eventually emerge from this group, instead merely aping the current R&B trends and styles of the day. What changed their fortunes can be reduced down to one very important name: their mentor, manager, producer, songwriter, and vocal coach, Buck Ram. Ram took what many would say were a run-of-the-mill R&B doo wop vocal group and turned them into stars and one of the most enduring and lucrative groups of all time. By 1954, Ram was already running a talent agency in Los Angeles, writing and arranging for publisher Mills Music, managing the Three Suns -- a pop group with some success -- and working with his protégés, the Penguins. The Platters seemed like a good addition to his stable.

After getting them out of their Federal contract, Ram placed them with the burgeoning national independent label Mercury Records (at the same time he brought over the Penguins following their success with "Earth Angel"), automatically getting them into pop markets through the label's distribution contacts alone. Then Ram started honing in on the group's strengths and weaknesses. The first thing he did was put the lead vocal status squarely on the shoulders of lead tenor Tony Williams. Williams' emoting power was turned up full blast with the group (now augmented with Zola Taylor from Shirley Gunter & the Queens) working as very well-structured vocal support framing his every note. With Ram's pop songwriting classics as their musical palette, the group quickly became a pop and R&B success, eventually earning the distinction of being the first black act of the era to top the pop charts. Considered the most romantic of all the doo wop groups (that is, the ultimate in "make out music"), hit after hit came tumbling forth in a seemingly effortless manner: "Only You," "The Great Pretender," "My Prayer," "Twilight Time," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "Harbor Lights," all of them establishing the Platters as the classiest of all.

Williams struck out on his own in 1961 and, by the decade's end, the group had disbanded with various members starting up their own version of the Platters. This bit of franchising now extends into the present day, with an estimated 125 sanctioned versions of "the original Platters" out on the oldies show circuit.

from Wikipedia:

The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era, one of the most successful. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre. The act went through several personnel changes, with the most successful incarnation comprising lead tenor Tony Williams, David Lynch, Paul Robi, Herb Reed, and Zola Taylor.The group has had over 40 chart hits on the Billboard Pop charts, including 14 Pop Top 20 Hits, 7 Pop Top Tens and no less than 4 # 1's .

Band formation and early years

The Platters formed in Los Angeles in 1953 and were initially managed by Ralph Bass. The original group (Alex Hodge, Cornell Gunter, David Lynch, Joe Jefferson, Gaynel Hodge and Herb Reed) managed to land a contract with Federal Records, but found little success before meeting music entrepreneur and songwriter Buck Ram. The band recorded a series of singles backing Linda Hayes before Ram made some changes to the lineup, most notably the addition of lead vocalist Tony Williams (Linda Hayes' brother) and female vocalist Zola Taylor. Under Ram's guidance, the Platters recorded seven singles for Federal in the R&B/gospel style, scoring a few minor regional hits on the West Coast. One song recorded during their Federal tenure, "Only You (And You Alone)", originally written by Ram for the Ink Spots was deemed unreleasable by the label.[1]

Despite their lack of chart success, the Platters were a profitable touring group, successful enough that The Penguins, coming off their #8 single "Earth Angel", asked Ram to manage them as well. With the Penguins in hand, Ram was able to parlay Mercury Records' interest into a 2-for-1 deal. To sign the Penguins, Ram insisted, Mercury also had to take the Platters. Ironically, the Penguins would never have a hit for the label.

Charting hits

Convinced by Jean Bennett and Tony Williams that "Only You" had potential, Ram had the Platters re-record the song during their first session for Mercury. Released in the summer of 1955, it became the group's first Top Ten hit on the pop charts and topped the R&B charts for seven weeks. The follow-up, "The Great Pretender", with lyrics written in the washroom of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas by Buck Ram, exceeded the success of their debut and became the Platters' first national #1 hit. "The Great Pretender" was also the act's biggest R&B hit, with an 11-week run atop that chart. In 1956, The Platters appeared in the first major motion picture based around rock and roll, Rock Around the Clock, and performed both "Only You" and "The Great Pretender".

The Platters' unique vocal style had touched a nerve in the music-buying public, and a string of hit singles followed, including three more national #1 hits and more modest chart successes such as "I'm Sorry" (#11) and "He's Mine" (#23) in 1957, "Enchanted" (#12) in 1959, and "The Magic Touch" (#4) in 1956. The Platters soon hit upon the successful formula of updating older standards, such as "My Prayer", "Twilight Time", "Harbor Lights", "To Each His Own", "If I Didn't Care" and Jerome Kern's "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes". This latter release caused a small controversy after Kern's widow expressed concern that her late husband's composition would be turned into a "rock and roll" record. It topped both the American and British charts in a Platters-style arrangement.

The Platters also differed from most other groups of the era because Ram had the group incorporated in 1955. Each member of the group received a 20% share in the stock, full royalties, and their Social Security was paid. As group members left one by one, Ram and his business partner, Jean Bennett, bought their stock which gave them ownership of the "Platters" name, which would later become significant.

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in its inaugural year of 1998 and the Hit Parade Hall of Fame in 2009. The Platters were the first rock and roll group to have a Top Ten album in America. They were also the only act to have three songs included on the American Graffiti soundtrack that sparked an oldies revival in the early to mid-1970s: "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "The Great Pretender" and "Only You (and You Alone)".

Changing lineup

The group's lineup has changed many times. The lineup in 1953 included lead vocalist Cornell Gunter, Herb Reed, Alex Hodge, Joe Jefferson, and David Lynch. This lineup changed when the group signed with Ram, who built the group around tenor Tony Williams' distinctive and versatile voice and his ability to bring life to Ram's songs. Within a year, Hodge, Jefferson and Gunter were out and Paul Robi, new lead Tony Williams and a female, Zola Taylor were in. The details of baritone Alex Hodge's departure are muddy; author Peter A. Grendysa says Hodge was fired by Ram in October 1954 after having been accused of possession of marijuana, but Jean L. Bennett suggests that Tony Williams and Herb Reed were behind the accusation. Bookers and the record company and bookers were told that Hodge was let go for bouncing a fifteen-dollar check. The resulting lineup - the one remembered for the group's biggest and most lasting hits - lasted until 1960.

As a group, the Platters began to have difficulties with the public after 1959, when the four male members were arrested in Cincinnati on drug and prostitution charges. Reed said he lost contact with Taylor shortly after this time. Although none were convicted, their professional reputation was seriously damaged and US radio stations started removing their records from playlists forcing the group to rely more heavily on European bookings.

During that time lead vocalist Williams left for a solo career, and was replaced by tenor Sonny Turner. Mercury refused to issue further Platters releases without Williams on lead vocals, provoking a lawsuit between the label and manager Ram. The label spent two years releasing old Williams-era material until the group's contract lapsed. Singer Jack Hammer, who'd co-written several songs including Great Balls of Fire, also performed with the group.

As the group's lineup splintered further, endless wrangling over the lucrative "Platters" name began, with injunctions, non-compete clauses and multiple versions of the act touring at the same time. Williams would lead his own Platters group, as would Zola Taylor (who left in 1964 to be replaced by Barbara Randolph), and Paul Robi (who departed in 1965). The Buck Ram Platters had the strongest legal claim to the name. Since Ram had built the group to showcase his songs, he added his name to that of The Platters to distinguish his group from that of the off-shoots started by the original members. For a short while, original members Lynch, Taylor, and Robi billed themselves as "The Original Platters" with Williams-clone Johnny Barnes as their lead singer. Despite the confusion, Ram's Platters lineup, with lead vocalist Sonny Turner, Herb Reed, David Lynch, Nate Nelson (former lead voice of The Flamingos and replacement for Robi) and Sandra Dawn (who replaced Barbara Randolph in 1965), signed to Musicor Records and enjoyed a short chart renaissance in 1966-67, with the comeback singles "I Love You 1000 Times", "With This Ring", and the Motown-influenced "Washed Ashore". Sonny Turner sang the lead on these 3 records.

Herb Reed, the final member of the original Platters, resigned in 1969. He would eventually lead an "official" Platters group under license from The Five Platters, Inc. Nelson had left in 1967, and later worked with Herb Reed's group until suffering a fatal heart attack in 1984. Dawn left in 1969.

Sonny Turner left in 1970 and was replaced by Monroe Powell. Turner led his own Platters group starting in 1970. Powell remained a constant member from 1970 to 1995, amid many other lineup changes. One notable member during Powell's tenure was bass singer Gene Williams (himself a member for over 20 years), whose son Brian Williams was a member of the Chicago Bulls 1996-97 championship basketball team; Brian, having changed his name to Bison Dele, later disappeared at sea, presumably murdered by his older brother Kevin Williams (aka Miles Dabord). In 1995 a dispute between Powell and owner/manager Jean Bennett (who had purchased Personality Productions, the booking/management arm of The Platters business, from Ram in 1966) led to the two parting ways. At the time, the group's lineup was in limbo, leaving one person, Kenn Johnson, as the only other group member. Powell and Johnson continue touring as "The Platters", with Bennett hiring five new singers to be the "Buck Ram Platters," with lead Myles Savage.

Legal battles

A profusion of legal challenges ensued among the many groups of Platters. Those looking to hear the classic lineup of songs had their pick of approved, disputed, and ersatz Platters, including Sonny Turner's, Zola Taylor's, Ritchie Jones' (member 1984-85), Milton Bullock's (member 1967-70), the late Paul Robi's (managed by his wife), Jean Bennett's "Buck Ram Platters," Monroe Powell's, Herb Reed's, and several other groups with no current ties to the original group. Many had once contained former members who were now retired or deceased.

Monroe Powell, who had been touring under the Platters name, was sued by Jean Bennett for breach of contract. It was eventually determined that Powell would be able to tour, but only as "The Platters featuring Monroe Powell." Powell continues to tour worldwide. In 1994, Jean Bennett licensed the name to a tribute group for a show at the Sahara casino in Las Vegas; that show ran for 15 years.

Shortly before Paul Robi succumbed to pancreatic cancer on February 1, 1989, he won a long court battle against Ram's estate and was awarded compensation and the right to use The Platters' name. Those rights were stripped from Robi's widow in 1997, and the exclusive right to tour as "The Platters" was awarded to Herb Reed. A series of rulings in 1999, 2002 and 2004 gave Jean Bennett the common law right to the name. The 2002 case legally rescinded Herb Reed's exclusive trademark rights, and the trademark was returned to The Five Platters, Inc. and Jean Bennett.

In January 2006, Bennett sold her corporate Platters-related assets and intellectual property rights to the Las Vegas-based company G.E.M. Group, Inc. But there was an immediate disagreement between Bennett and G.E.M., which filed a lawsuit to attain certain corporate assets, Bennett's personal property and the assets of the 1950s Platters. In June 2006, G.E.M. entered into an agreement with Sonny Turner, who'd been the lead singer of The Platters from 1960 to 1970. Turner had not been able to bill himself as "The Platters" since 1972 due to a legal injunction. However, Turner later sued G.E.M.

Currently, there are four acts using variations of the name: "The Buck Ram Platters", Herb Reed and His Platters, Monroe Powell and The Platters, and Sonny Turner (former lead singer of The Platters). In 2007, Herb Reed discussed the abundance of touring Platters groups: "I have to laugh because when you ask me how I feel about it, I'm irate, I'm infuriated... I've lost 25 weeks of work a year."