Ben E. King (1938 - 2015) tells us about the start of his career with The Drifters and the inspiration for 'Stand by me'. A short documentary by Top 2000 a gogo from 2006 (Dutch Public Television).
He seems to be a down to earth, honest and humble guy, Ben E. King. It took such a man to write and perform a classic which will never be forgotten. 🎸🎤
I grew up playing in bands in the 60's, and it was exactly that way. We used to call it Battle Of The Bands. All of us grew so much musically in those days.
that man was a treasure : "Imagine having written a top hit about your greatest love for it only to be rejected by the friends you cherrish the most and then being able to admit it never had sounded as good as when they sang it " ... a humble man. So sorry to hear this song held regrets for him....
I always think of River Phoenix when I hear this song. So sad and so horrible, he was my idol as a kid. Such a beautiful, bittersweet song. Mr King is such a sweet and humble man.
Before the great voice of Ben E. King, there was first the late great Clyde McPhatter! Both of these gentlemen and the other later lead singers were all great!
When I was 16 years of age I bought a vinyl LP called 'The Drifters Greatest Hits'. I bought the record because of the magnificent lead voice of Ben E. King on 'There Goes My Baby', 'Save the Last Dance For Me', 'This Magic Moment', 'Dance With Me' and 'I Count The Tears'. This man still gives me goosebumps. How the manager of the Drifters could let Ben E. King go amazes me. Then I heard 'Stand By Me' by Ben as a solo artist. More goosebumps and a determination to find a girl who would Stand By Me (and she has for 51 years). Stand By Me is my favourite Soul Ballad of all time. I am so grateful that I heard all these great songs by Ben E King and the Drifters in the early 60's.
I couldn't even imagine another version of this, to be better... the emotions expressed at the recording was real! Not having the Drifters and being newly wedded, brought out the right feelings to accomplish what is "to me" a perfect song.
3:17 sublime example of a moment in life that your world crumbles,you feel backstabbed, could lose and did loose faith in the world and people in general...but now, decades later, you laugh about it.
"Good lord, does this man realize he is an absolute LEGEND?!" < What I was about to write until I read the description and realized he passed in 2015....DAMMMIT!! Once upon a time, I saw him perform with the Drifters in a Murray the K show at the Brooklyn Fox. Afterwards, across the street w my friends at an Orange Julius or Nedicks or similar, we were talking around a table when I glanced up at the counter and there stood a man taking his turn placing an order wearing a suit with a satin stripe down the side. "Look!" I whispered excitedly to my friends. "That's Ben E. King!"
It's good to know this song was written, by Ben E. King with his wife in mind, and not just written by someone else, just for him to sing and act the part. The love was genuine and could be felt. It's like when I found out La, La, La, was written for one of Delfonics daughter, made me love that song even more. I hope Ben E. King know how his song Stand by me, renewed love back, to many couples. I once had a mighty handsome boyfriend who looked like Ben E.King, that I loved a great deal. And this song always remind me of him, though I feel a little sadness, too, because he's in heaven, now, where he should be feeling the real Love. ✌❤🎵🙏🌹
Great to hear the artist talk about his song and what a nice and humble guy he appeared. First time I heard this song was in the movie Stand By Me, which I found an amazing movie and this song also had an impact on me. It meant a step outside of the music genres I used to listen to.
Such a great and heartwarming tale by a legend. Every song is special and there is always a good story behind writing and recording it. I love this series. I wrote more than 400 songs but sadly im in a 3rd world country (Philippines) where art and artists are not valued that much. I hope someday that i could get my stories soon..
The Dancers in the background are from Dick Clark's American Bandstand (1961) where Ben E. King performed this. I wonder how many know they have been immortalized by the performance of a classic. And I wonder how many are alive. Would be interesting to track them down and hear of their stories.
Love this song. Just learned it on the guitar recently and did a RU-vid video and dedicated it to my wife. Very fitting that he wrote it for his. Thank you Ben. Much love
Dude everytime i play this song memkries from my good child hood come in my mind making me cry knowing that wont be able to live those good old days and i just cry because i feel like i got not way to show or tell my childhood
Please check out the British Airways video of this song done so beautifully by the Kingdom Choir. I've watched and shared it often, and I imagine Ben smiling warmly as they honor him and all those who take this to heart and live it.
@@harlowblackadder356 forgot the year setting.. I'm Dutch-Caribbean and never experienced segregation or discrimination on this level.... until I moved to Holland early seventies..now, that was a shock ...with my Caribbean looks..background, being rejected in some white clubs and discos..
5:20 So at some point they not only performed this song, but performed it better than anybody since that time. Does anybody know if there exists anywhere any tape of that performance? That would truly be music to my ears.
It's amazing how many of the most timeless pieces of music are composed very quickly ( same happened with Live to Tell by Madonna ), and always come from deep pain and emotions, that just shows you, you don't need super fancy technology and a massive budget to create gold, the real gold comes from the human mind.....
What a great and decent guy, I amaze that he still regret not having perform this song with " his band/ friend", even if this song was an international success.
@ProjectDystopia Because of the sound of the four male voices singing together. The band! Ben E. King told how he got into singing professionally - starting from the bands performing on the street corners in Harlem. /It hurts hard now to learn how very badly they, and other black artists, were paid at that time. The Drifters were signed to Atlantic Records (Ahmet Ertegun?). You can tell from his voice that Ben loved those Drifters boys, loved recording and performing with them. Painful to make that stand about the group's payments - and be told he could leave if he didn't like it. The message was very clear: 'We don't think you're worth paying any more. We don't need you - you're replaceable - you need us. We're not going to tolerate any protests from our artists' etc etc
He did not comment that he showed the song to Leiber and Stoller . King and one of them went to lunch and when they came back that signature beat had been added.
I know Ben E King and this song but I don’t know the drifters. Man what a kind man is this that he went back to the group while they stabbed him and he even offered them a new song. Mr King didn’t need anyone, he’s a legend!
I didn't finish watching this video, but I do hope he mentioned the origins of the tune. The tune though was originally from a Baptist church. It's a gospel song and he changed some lyrics.
