Ben E. King - Spanish Harlem | Soul Sunday

In 1947 *Benjamin Earl Nelson*, age 9, bade Henderson, North Carolina, farewell when his family moved to Harlem in New York City, where after singing in gospel choirs for several years, he formed a doo-wop outfit. The Four B’s sang occasionally at the Apollo Theater. In 1958, young Nelson joined the Five Crowns, another doo-wop outfit that was drafted by impresario George Treadwell to replace the original Drifters, who Treadwell had fired. Nelson sang lead on that group’s 1959 hit for Atco, “There Goes My Baby,” which he co-wrote, as well as on several smashes written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman—among them “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “This Magic Moment,” and “I Count the Tears. In all Nelson recorded only 13 songs with the Drifters before going solo in 1960 under the stage name Ben E. King. He needed several tries to score definitively on his own but did so in a big way in 1961 with “Spanish Harlem,” a Jerry Leiber/Phil Spector composition that reached #15 on the R&B chart and crossed over in pop at #10. King followed with the redoubtable “Stand By Me,” stamping that timeless hit as a classic in the vein of King’s favorite balladeers: Sam Cooke, Roy Hamilton, and Brook Benton. In summer 1963, he unleashed “I (Who Have Nothing),” continuing his streak. Fallow for several years, his career regained momentum in 1975 with “Supernatural Thing.” King made nice with the Drifters, rejoining the group from 1982 to 1986. On the heels of that reunion, “Stand By Me” returned to the charts after 25 years thanks to service as the title song to a hit movie, making King the first artist to reach the Hot 100 in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. At the end of 1999, performing rights society BMI crowned “Stand By Me” as a Song of the Century. King continued to record and perform well into his later years. He passed away in April 2015 at age 74.

Ben E. King - Spanish Harlem
Single Released in 1961 on Atlantic
Album: Spanish Harlem
Album Released in 1961 on Atlantic

Written By:

Jerry Leiber, Phil Spector

Produced By:

Jerry Leiber, Phil Spector

Performed By:

Ben E. King

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