The second LP by
the Drifters was, almost as much as its predecessor
Clyde McPhatter & the Drifters, a catch-up effort comprised of three years of recordings by a group whose membership was in a constant state of flux. The lead singers were
Johnny Moore,
Bobby Hendricks,
Gerhart Thrasher, or
David Baughn,
McPhatter's successors from 1955 through 1958. This collection lacks the mystique of the first album, partly because none of these singers approached
McPhatter's name recognition, and also because the records themselves simply weren't as good. (This isn't meant to put them down -- it's difficult to imagine a body of 20-plus songs that could match
the Drifters' output from 1953-1954.) Additionally, these were all very different vocalists.
Johnny Moore was as close as any of them to his predecessor's style and he lacked
McPhatter's sheer power, although he had excellent intonation and on occasion sounded remarkably like
Jackie Wilson (nowhere more than on "It Was a Tear"). However, his ballads lacked the almost otherworldly quality that imbued
McPhatter's work, and his tenure with the group, as represented here, was a far more conventional period without much commercial success.