The Platters

The Platters were a successful vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition, and the burgeoning new genre. The act went through many personnel changes, with the most successful incarnation comprising lead tenor Tony Williams, David Lynch, Paul Robi, Alex Hodge, and Zola Taylor.

Band Formation & Early Years

The Platters formed in Los Angeles in 1953 and were initially managed by Ralph Bass. The group had a contract with Federal Records but had found little success before meeting music entrepreneur and songwriter Buck Ram. Ram made some changes to the lineup, most notably the addition of lead vocalist Tony Williams 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 #2 Earth Angel single, 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. In order 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

Tony Williams and Jean Bennett convinced Ram "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, exceeded their debut. It became the Platters' first national #1 hit. The Great Pretender was also the act's biggest R&B hit, with an eleven-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 further Hot 100 number one hits. 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 tasteful Platters-style arrangement. The Platters were also the first rock and roll group to have a Top Ten album in America.

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in its inaugural year of 1998. The Platters were the only act to have three songs included on the "American Graffiti" soundtrack: "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 original 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 Tony Williams' voice and his ability to bring life to Ram's songs. Within a year, Hodge, Jefferson, and Gunter were out, and Paul Robi, Zola Taylor, and new lead Tony Williams were in. This lineup lasted until 1960. At that time Williams left for a solo career, and was replaced by 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 elapsed.

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) and Paul Robi (who departed in 1965). The Buck Ram Platters had the fewest actual members (zero) but the strongest contractual claim to the name. Despite the confusion, "The Platters" lineup with lead vocalist Sonny Turner, Nate Nelson, David Lynch, Herb Reed and Sandra Dawn signed to Musicor Records and enjoyed a short chart renaissance in 1966-67, with the comeback singles I Love You 1000 Times and With This Ring.

Herb Reed, the final Platter, left in 1969. He would eventually lead an "official" Platters group under license from The Five Platters, Inc., with former Platter Nate Nelson, who had filled Robi's vacancy in 1967. Sonny Turner left in 1970 and was replaced by Monroe Powell. (Turner led his own Platters group starting in [[1970].) Powell remained the most constant member from 1970 to 1995. That year, 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 continued touring as The Platters, with Bennett hiring a new "Buck Ram Platters" with lead Tyrone Sweet.

A number of legal challenges have flown between the many groups of Platters. Monroe Powell was sued by Jean Bennett, and his group must now include his name in billing (e.g. The Platters feat. Monroe Powell). Those looking to hear the classic lineup of songs had their pick of approved, disputed, and ersatz Platters, such as 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 Platters, Monroe Powell's group, and several groups with no current ties to the original group (many had once contained former members, who were retired or deceased).

Recent History and Consolidation

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 exclusive rights to the "Platters" name. In turn, those rights were later stripped from Robi's widow in 1997, and the exclusive right to tour as "The Platters" was awarded to Herb Reed. In 2002, Herb Reed's exclusive trademark rights were legally rescinded. A member of the 1954-69 lineup, his group still tours as Herb Reed's Platters.

In January 2006, Jean Bennett, owner of Five Platters Inc., and Personality Productions, entered into an agreement to sell all of her Platters-related assets and intellectual property rights to the Las Vegas-based company G.E.M. Group, Inc. In June 2006, G.E.M. Group entered into an agreement with Sonny Turner, former lead singer of The Platters, to be licensed as another of the "official" Platters groups. Turner, who had not been able to bill himself as Sonny Turner of The Platters since 1972 due to a legal injuction, became the leader of "The Platters starring the legendary Sonny Turner". He performs internationally under the management wing of G.E.M.

External Links

• 'The Platters' Vocal Group Hall of Fame Page
• Platters info site
• How to book The Platters
• The Platters - by Dr. Frank Hoffmann
• The Platters - Biography

Hit singles

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