05-05-2015, 10:49 AM
On April 30, 2015 Benjamin Earl Nelson, better known as soul singer Ben E. King and the man who gave us the timeless classic "Stand By Me," passed away at the age of 76.
King started his career in doo-wop in the late 1950s with a group called the Five Crowns, which later became The Drifters, a group that King had several hits with including "There Goes My Baby" and "Save The Last Dance For Me." In 1961, King left The Drifters and found commercial success with his hit single "Spanish Harlem," which he followed with "Stand By Me."
"Stand By Me" was an instant smash-hit, topping the R&B charts and reaching the Top Ten twice - once in 1961 and then again in 1986 when it was re-released to coincide with a Rob Reiner film by the same name. The song has also been recorded over 400 times by other artists and has gone to the Top Ten an additional seven times, most notably in a version performed by John Lennon.
http://www.wimp.com/stand-by/
King started his career in doo-wop in the late 1950s with a group called the Five Crowns, which later became The Drifters, a group that King had several hits with including "There Goes My Baby" and "Save The Last Dance For Me." In 1961, King left The Drifters and found commercial success with his hit single "Spanish Harlem," which he followed with "Stand By Me."
"Stand By Me" was an instant smash-hit, topping the R&B charts and reaching the Top Ten twice - once in 1961 and then again in 1986 when it was re-released to coincide with a Rob Reiner film by the same name. The song has also been recorded over 400 times by other artists and has gone to the Top Ten an additional seven times, most notably in a version performed by John Lennon.
http://www.wimp.com/stand-by/