Under The Boardwalk

This release is a modified reissue of the Under the Boardwalk album (ultilizing the more distinctive second cover), confined entirely to Johnny Moore's work with the group from the spring of 1963 through to his taking over as lead singer following Rudy Lewis' death, and extended to the group's last chart hits, "Sand in My Shoes" and "Saturday Night at the Movies." The songs themselves are superb pieces of early- to mid-'60s soul, some of it with a pop veneer but a good deal of it showing a surprisingly raw edge, including "If You Don't Come Back," "One Way Love," and the tortured, gorgeous "I Don't Want to Go on Without You" (the B-side of "Under the Boardwalk"). Written by Bert Berns and Jerry Wexler and sung by Charlie Thomas, "I Don't Want to Go on Without You" became a de facto eulogy to Rudy Lewis (and, in a pale cover, also became a minor hit for the Searchers).
The upshot of listening to this CD is to discover precisely how close the Drifters came to making it through to the mid-'60s and beyond as a major recording act. They had what it took to generate a sound as hard and soulful as the contemporary work of Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, et al., but instead were pushed into more of a pop direction by their label. Even then, the music was usually good and, at times, extraordinary -- "Answer the Phone," produced by Jerry Wexler and co-written by Wexler and Johnny Moore, sounded almost more like Sam Cooke than Cooke himself (and, ironically, was cut just a few days after Cooke's death). This reconfiguration transforms a superb album into a killer CD that's all the more startling in light of the way that the quality of the group's recorded work fell off after the sessions represented here.
One of the special highlights of the Sequel CD is the presence of all five official live cuts, recording during the summer and winter of 1964, ever issued on the Drifters, assembled in one place for the first time. "Under the Boardwalk" is a marvel to take in as a singalong in which Moore's lead and Johnny Terry's bass have no trouble punching through and guitarist Billy Davis even gets a featured solo in a very Spanish-tinged vein. "On Broadway" becomes a much more intense experience in its concert guise, with more elegant pyrotechnics by Davis and some flourishes by the Earle Warren Orchestra. Moreover, we hear how the group used to perform "There Goes My Baby," which, with its complex orchestration and dense recording, would have been a difficult number to do in concert -- the answer is that they transform it into a much more upbeat, celebratory piece, horns subbing for the violins and lots of activity by the backing singers while Moore pours his heart out.
In all, this is one of the best Drifters CDs that it's possible to buy, which is especially surprisingly since it comes at what is usually perceived as the tail end of their career, and it is essential listening not only for fans of the group (who should own it even if they already have the Rhino box) but for any devotee of '60s soul. ~ Bruce Eder|