Clyde Lensley McPhatter was born in the tobacco town community of Hayti, near Durham, North Carolina, on November 15,1932, and raised in a religious Baptist family; the son of Rev. George McPhatter and wife Beulah (though some accounts refer to her as Eva). Starting at the age of five, he sang in his father’s church gospel choir along with his three brothers and three sisters. When he was ten, Clyde was the soprano-voiced soloist for the choir. In 1945, Rev. McPhatter moved his family to Teaneck, New Jersey, where Clyde attended High School. He worked part-time as a grocery store clerk, and eventually was promoted to shift manager upon graduating high school, where Clyde formed the gospel group The Mount Lebanon Singers.
In 1950, after winning the envied “Amateur Night” at Harlem’s Apollo Theater, McPhatter returned to his job as store manager but later was recruited by Billy Ward & the Dominoes, and was present for the recording of Sixty Minute Man for Federal Records, a song some regard as the “first record of rock ‘n roll”. (this is dubious as there is ample evidence of rock’n roll recordings as early as 1947-49. Although, Sixty Minute Man, produced by Ralph Bass, was one of the first to get a lover’s description o f his hour-long sexual exploits on record).
Billy Ward and his Dominoes was one of the top R&B vocal groups in the country, garnering more popularity than the Clovers, the Ravens and the Five Keys, largely due to Clyde’s fervent, high-pitched tenor. He is regarded as the main singer to infuse a gospel-steeped singing style into mainstream R&B, though blues singer Roy Brown was actually the first to do so. Even though Roy Brown started the trend, McPhatter was more widely imitated, and was a much bigger influence in the shaping of Doo-Wop/R&B. In his book, The Drifters, Bill Millar names Ben E. King, Smokey Robinson of the Miracles, Sammy Turner and Marv Johnson among the vocalists who patterned themselves after McPhatter. “Most important,” he concludes, “McPhatter took hold of the Ink Spots’ simple major chord harmonies, drenched them in call-and-response patterns and sang as if he were back in church. In doing so, he created a revolutionary musical style from which—thankfully- –popular music will never recover.”
Oddly enough, McPhatter didn’t think much of his own singing abilities. The countless imitators tell a different story, including Bobby Hendricks, an interim Drifter, Nolan Strong of the Diablos, Bobby Day and Dee Clark. Patsy Cline shows McPhatter’s influence ( listen to his version of “Someday You’ll Want Me to Want You”, recorded in 1954 with the Drifters. Compare it to Cline’s version, which seems to follow that example).
In the course of his career Elvis Presley recorded several of McPhatter’s songs. Presley’s version of White Christmas has strong similarities to McPhatter’s. After recording several more songs, including Have Mercy Baby, Do Something for Me, and The Bells, McPhatter left the Dominoes on May 7, 1953. He was sometimes passed off as “Clyde Ward , Billy’s little brother.” Others assumed it was Billy Ward doing the lead singing. As a member of The Dominoes, Clyde didn’t earn much money. Ward paid him $100 a week, minus deductions for food, taxes, motel bills, etc. During an interview in 1971 McPhatter told journalist Marcia Vance “whenever I’d get back on the block where everybody’d heard my records – half the time I couldn’t afford a Coca-Cola. Because of such occurrences, and because he was frequently at odds with Ward, McPhatter decided he would quit the Dominoes, intent on making a name for himself. McPhatter announced his intent to quit the group.
Auditions for a replacement were held at Detroit’s Fox Theater and a young Jackie Wilson would later take over as lead tenor for the Dominoes, influencing Wilson’s singing style and stage presence. “I fell in love with the man’s voice. I toured with the group and watched Clyde and listened…”—and apparently learned. Privately, McPhatter and Ward often argued, but publicly Clyde expressed his appreciation to Ward for giving him his start in entertainment. “I think Billy Ward is a very wonderful musician and entertainer. I appreciate all he did for me in giving me my start in show business.”
Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abramson founders of Atlantic Records eagerly sought McPhatter after noticing he was not present for an appearance the Dominoes once made at Birdland, which was “an odd booking for the Dominoes”, in Ertegün’s words. After locating him, McPhatter was then signed to Atlantic on the condition that he form his own group. McPhatter promptly assembled a group and called them the Drifters. They recorded a few tracks in June 1953, including a song called Lucille, written by McPhatter himself. This group of Drifters did not have the sound Atlantic executives were looking for however, and Clyde was prompted to assemble another group of singers. The revised lineup recorded and released such hits as Money Honey, Such a Night, Honey Love, White Christmas and Whatcha Gonna Do, with the record label proudly displaying the group name “Clyde McPhatter & the Drifters.” (The story of the Drifters is full of personnel changes. The first group of Drifters Clyde assembled were mostly members of the Mount Lebanon Singers.)
In late 1954, McPhatter was inducted into the Army and assigned to Special Services in the continental United States, which allowed him to continue recording. After his tour of duty was up, he left the Drifters and launched a solo career. His first solo hit occurred just after being discharged – Love Has Joined Us Together (with Ruth Brown). He released several R&B recordings in the next few years, including Rock and cry, Seven Days (later a bigger hit for Tom Jones, Treasure of Love, Just to Hold my Hand, and his biggest solo hit, A Lover’s Question written by Brook Benton and Jimmy T. Williams, which peaked at No. 6 in 1958.
Clyde moved to several different labels and had a final Top Ten hit Lover Please, in 1962. It was after Lover Please that McPhatter saw a downward turn in his career, as musical styles and tastes were constantly changing during the 1960s. These directional changes were the main reason McPhatter turned to alcohol abuse, as more sporadic recordings failed to chart. In 1970, he made a few appearances in rock ‘n roll revival tours, but remained mostly a recluse. Hopes for a major comeback with a Decca album were crushed on June 13, 1972, when he died in his sleep at the age of 39 from complications of heart, liver, and kidney disease, brought on by alcohol abuse. That abuse was fueled by a failed career and resentment he harbored towards the fans he felt deserted him. During his interview with journalist Marcia Vance, McPhatter told Vance “I have no fans.”
Ruth Brown acknowledged in her later years that McPhatter was the actual father of her son Ronald, born in 1954.
Here is Clyde from 1962 with Little Bitty Pretty One. https://youtu.be/27zUTUYEH1k
Enjoy (or Not).
Rick
Rick's Music Trivia 