The Coasters

History

The Coasters were formed in October 1955 as a spin-off of the Robins, a Los Angeles–based rhythm-and-blues group that included Carl Gardner and Bobby Nunn. The original Coasters were Gardner, Nunn, Billy Guy, Leon Hughes (who was replaced by Young Jessie on a couple of their early Los Angeles recordings), and the guitarist Adolph Jacobs. Jacobs left the group in 1959.

The songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller started Spark Records and in 1955 produced "Smokey Joe's Cafe" for the Robins (their sixth single with Leiber and Stoller). The record was popular enough for Atlantic Records to offer Leiber and Stoller an independent production contract to produce the Robins for Atlantic. Only two of the Robins—Gardner and Nunn—were willing to make the move to Atlantic, recording their first songs in the same studio as the Robins had done (Master Recorders). In late 1957, the group moved to New York and replaced Nunn and Hughes with Cornell Gunter and Will "Dub" Jones. The new quartet was from then on stationed in New York, although all had Los Angeles roots.

The Coasters' association with Leiber and Stoller was an immediate success. Together they created a string of good-humored "storytelling" hits that are some of the most entertaining from the original era of rock and roll. According to Leiber and Stoller, getting the humor to come through on the records often required more recording "takes" than for a typical musical number.

Their first single, "Down In Mexico", was an R&B hit in 1956 and appears (in a re-recording from 1973—still with Gardner singing the lead) on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof. The following year, the Coasters crossed over to the pop chart in a big way with the double-sided "Young Blood"/"Searchin'". "Searchin'" was the group's first U.S. Top 10 hit and topped the R&B chart for 13 weeks, becoming the biggest R&B single of 1957 (all were recorded in Los Angeles).

"Yakety Yak" (recorded in New York), featuring King Curtis on tenor saxophone, included the famous lineup of Gardner, Guy, Jones, and Gunter, and became the act's only national number 1 single, topping the R&B chart. The next single, "Charlie Brown", reached number 2 on both charts. It was followed by "Along Came Jones", "Poison Ivy" (number 1 for almost two months on the R&B chart), and "Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)".

Changing popular tastes and a changes in the group's lineup contributed to a lack of hits in the 1960s. During this time, Billy Guy was also working on solo projects; the New York singer Vernon Harrell was brought in to replace him for stage performances. Later members included Earl "Speedo" Carroll (lead of the Cadillacs), Ronnie Bright (the bass voice on Johnny Cymbal's "Mr. Bass Man"), Jimmy Norman, and guitarist Thomas "Curley" Palmer. The Coasters signed with Columbia Records' Date label in 1966, reuniting with Leiber and Stoller (who had parted ways with Atlantic Records in 1963), but never regained their former fame. In 1971, the Coasters had a minor chart entry with "Love Potion Number Nine", a song that Leiber and Stoller had written for the Coasters but instead gave to the Clovers in 1959. In Britain, a 1994 Volkswagen TV advertisement used the group's "Sorry But I'm Gonna Have To Pass", which led to a minor chart placement in that country.

In 1987, the Coasters became the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, crediting the members of the 1958 configuration. The Coasters also joined the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.

Several groups used the name in the 1970s, touring throughout the country, though original member Carl Gardner held the legal rights to it. Gardner continued to tour with the Coasters and made many attempts to stop bogus groups with no connection to the original group using the name. In late 2005, Carl's son Carl Gardner Jr. took over as lead with the group when his father retired. The Coasters' lineup then consisted of Carl Gardner Jr., J. W. Lance, Primo Candelara, and Eddie Whitfield. Carl Jr. later left this group and has started his own group with Curley Palmer. Carl's widow Veta owns the rights to the Coasters name.

Leon Hughes is the only surviving member of the original Coasters and performs with his own group. Some of the former members suffered tragic ends. The saxophonist King Curtis (the "fifth Coaster") was stabbed to death by two junkies outside his apartment building in 1971. Cornelius Gunter was shot to death while sitting in a Las Vegas parking garage in 1990. Nate Wilson, a member of one of Gunter's offshoot Coasters groups, was shot and his body dismembered in 1980. Former manager Patrick Cavanaugh was convicted of the murder, which took place after Wilson threatened to notify authorities of Cavanaugh's intent to buy furniture with stolen checks. Cavanaugh was convicted of the murder and given the death sentence in 1984, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison. He died at 60 in 2006, in Ely State Prison, in Nevada.

The Coasters continue to appear regularly on "oldies" shows and PBS specials as old favorites and are available for bookings.

The hits list below is from Joel Whitburn's Top R&B Singles and from the Pop positions published in Bill Millar's book The Coasters (1975).

Carl Gardner published his autobiography, Carl Gardner: Yakety Yak I Fought Back: My Life With The Coasters, in 2007.

The Coasters' recordings produced by Leiber and Stoller for Date/King (1966–1972) were released on the CD Down Home by Varèse Vintage (Varèse Sarabande) in 2007. The complete Atco recordings (1954–1966) were released in a four-CD set, There's a Riot Goin' On: The Coasters on Atco, by Rhino, also in 2007.

Legacy

The Coasters' repertoire had a significant impact on rock artists in the 1960s and 1970s. Leon Russell performed "Young Blood" at the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971, imitating the group's arrangement of the song with four different solo voices. Bad Company's version of the song reached number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1976. Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen recorded the Robins' "Riot in Cell Block Number 9"; the Beach Boys recorded aversion with revised lyrics by Mike Love, entitled "Student Demonstration Time", in 1971. The novelty singer Ray Stevens reached number 27 on the U.S. pop singles chart with a 1969 remake of "Along Came Jones". Elvis Presley included "Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)" in the soundtrack of his 1964 film Roustabout. The first two British hits of the Hollies were "(Ain't That) Just Like Me" and "Searchin'". The Monkees reached number 10 on Cashbox with "D. W. Washburn". (The Coasters recorded it first, but when Date declined to release it, Lester Sill, former Coasters manager and now head at Columbia/Date sent it as a demo to the Monkees. After the Monkees charted, the Coasters's original recording was issued.) Several Coasters songs were part of the Beatles' repertoire before the British rock group began its recording career; George Harrison is among the singers on the above-mentioned Leon Russell live recording. The Grateful Dead similarly performed several Coasters songs in their early days; they were influenced by a weekend in 1965 in which the group (still called the Warlocks) served as pickup band for the Coasters at a lounge in Belmont, California. When the Beach Boys and the Grateful Dead united on stage to perform a brief set at New York City's Filmore East, they performed "Searchin'" and "Riot In Cell Block No. Nine". Numerous groups have recorded "Poison Ivy".

Coasters hits also comprised a major portion of the song score for the 1994 musical revue Smokey Joe's Cafe, a retrospective of Leiber and Stoller songs that received one Grammy Award and seven Tony Award nominations following its 1995 Broadway debut. Their title of their song "Baby, That Is Rock and Roll" has served as the main title for a biography/songbook of Leiber and Stoller songs and a Bravo television documentary on the songwriters.

In addition, Coasters songs and the Coasters themselves have been referred to by later popular musicians. Frank Zappa referenced the group in the lyrics of the song "Status Back Baby" on his second album, Absolutely Free. Sly Stone titled a 1971 number 1 album by his group Sly & The Family Stone after the tag line from "Riot In Cell Block Number Nine": There's A Riot Goin' On. The folksinger David Bromberg quoted from "Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)" in his 1972 song "Sharon". Paolo Nutini regularly covers "Down In Mexico" in live performances.

Group members

Session musicians

Studio albums

Singles

Notes: Non-charting singles include month and year of release. All Atco recordings above issued on There's a Riot Goin' On: The Coasters on Atco CD. Three of the Cash Box pop entry dates slightly differ (by a week or two – either way; e.g. "Yakety Yak" entered the Cash Box Pop Chart In May). UK chart entry dates also differ from US chart entry dates.
* "T'Ain't Nothin' To Me" R&B position is from Cash Box since Billboard did not publish an R&B chart in 1964. The Date sides were reissued on King singles and on On Broadway.

Lineups from the US singles

The line-ups are presented for general overview and do not always fit with issue dates.

Label and catalog number followed by month/year of issue, and by track titles (with lead and recording dates).

The Robins (only singles featuring Carl Gardner are listed)

(Carl Gardner, Bobby Nunn, "Ty" Terrell Leonard, Billy Richard, Roy Richard, Grady Chapman)

leads: CG-Gardner; BN-Nunn; GC-Chapman; RB-Richard Berry (guest lead) (Los Angeles)

(all of the above later issued on EP, LP, and CD compilations as The Coasters).

The Coasters (all "true"/legal Coasters singles are listed)

(Carl Gardner, Bobby Nunn, Billy Guy, Leon Hughes)

leads: CG-Gardner; BN-Nunn; BG-Guy (Los Angeles, Chicago*, New York**)

(Gardner, Guy, Will Jones, Cornell Gunter)

leads: CG-Gardner; BG-Guy; WJ-Jones, CoG-Gunter (New York)

(Gardner, Guy, Jones, Earl Carroll)

leads: CG-Gardner; BG-Guy; WJ-Jones; EC-Carroll (New York, Los Angeles*)

(Gardner, Guy, Carroll, Ronnie Bright)

Carl Gardner & The Coasters

(Gardner, Carroll, Bright, Jimmy Norman)

Free Soul / Beautifully Day released 11/15/2010 by Carl Gardner Jr. Through tunecore

CD Compilations

Important British public-domain compilations

(Complete recordings 1954-1962) 61 tracks with extended Coasters history

(Alternate stereo takes and album tracks 1957-1962) 49 tracks including never before issued outtakes, with detailed disographical info

True Coasters recordings (not on single)

No live recordings included (Note: there also are several alternates and edited masters of the singles, not listed below).

Recorded in New York unless otherwise indicated.
Lead singers: Carl Gardner (CG), Billy Guy (BG), Will "Dub" Jones (WJ), Ronnie Bright (RB), Jimmy Norman (JN).