YAKETY YAK, I'LL TALK BACK

Nothing in the world is more difficult to achieve than a long-term career in the second field of being funny. But, THE COASTERS have had a long unbroken string of hits all containing humorous materials. In this respect THE COASTERS are certainly unique.

THE COASTERS first hit, "DOWN IN MEXICO" released in 1956, sold approximately 500,000 copies. In 1957 they hit the charts with a double-sided smash "YOUNG BLOOD" the "A" side and "SEARCHING" the "B" side. Both sold a million copies. This put THE COASTERS on the road.

In 1958 THE COASTERS again had two block-buster hits, "YAKETY YAK" and "CHARLIE BROWN". From then on it was hit after hit with such songs as "POISON IVY", "ALONG CAME JONES", "LITTLE EGYPT", "RUN RED RUN", "LOVE POTION #9" and many, many more. All of THE COASTERS materials were written and produced by Leiber and Stoller, the famous songwriters who wrote for Elvis Presley and also Peggy Lee.

The original line-up of THE COASTERS were Carl Gardner, first tenor, Billy Guy, baritone, Bobby Nunn, Bass and Leon Hughes, second tenor. This line-up stayed together from 1955 to 1957 when Leon Hughes and Bobby Nunn left and were replaced by Will Jones And Cornell Gunter.

Between 1961 and 1968 there were some personal changes in the group. The present line-up of THE COASTERS consists of Carl Gardner, lead tenor, Jimmy Norman, second tenor, Ronnie Bright, Bass and Thomas (Curly) Palmer, musical Director and arranger have been together for over 28 years.

Although THE COASTERS have often been imitated they can never be duplicated. The group continues to maintain the same style and quality of the 50's under the leadership of Carl Gardner, the original lead singer and founder of THE COASTERS.

THE COASTERS have toured internationally with such greats as THE PLATTERS, CHUCK BERRY, FATS DOMINO, THE SHIRELLES, LITTLE ANTHONY AND THE IMPERIALS, JERRY LEE LEWIS, THE FIVE SATINS, THE DRIFTERS, MARTHA REEVES AND THE VANDELLAS, LAVERNE BAKER, RUTH BROWN AND THE CRYSTALS.

ON JANUARY 21, 1987 THE COASTERS (Carl Gardner, Billy Guy, Will Jones and Cornell Gunter) were inducted into THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME.

INTRODUCTION

Thank God I'm back home now, safe and sound. Although it's three o'clock in the morning, and I'm emotionally drained and weak I simply cannot sleep. I've wandered my way through the house, like some sort of Charlie Brown who was missing something. Something earned, something promised, but not yet delivered. So I sat myself down in my home office and for some reason began to think about a few of the unknown oddities in my career. Things like acid rocker Jimi Hendrix once backing my Coasters group, and Paul McCartney, cornering me years ago in some small club and bending my ear, saying that he and the other Beatles had enjoyed my work, and warning me that in the very near future I might just recognize some of their upcoming stuff as my own. I sat there in the dark, surrounded by the entrapments of businesses around the world. Fax machines, files, multiple phone lines, computers, publicity photos, bios, and all the rest. I couldn't help but wonder if Paul McCartney, or any of the others in the multitude of superstars I had the joy of meeting, ever experienced this same exact moment. A moment when you wonder what actually happened? You sort of peer back into the period of your life when you arrived at your peak. Then as your mind wanders through your heyday, you find yourself heading towards your present situation when you are just coasting.

I was a pioneer, until they changed the sound. And then they became the pioneers, until somebody like Michael Jackson came along and changed not only the sound, but also the rules on the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and everybody else. I'm trying hard not to be bitter here in the dark. After all, I am still the lead singer of the very first group to ever be inducted to the legendary ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME. But can I now pioneer the sound back on myself, like fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Tina Turner has done? Like Little Richard and Ike and Tina Turner, at my million selling zenith my group was considered a "novelty act", but unlike the others I ran a clean act. And that I feel has been one of the key ingredient of our continued success. Novelty acts have been notoriously hard to place without a current hit record. But despite that fact, I comfort myself here in the dark, that almost forty years into a career that people still want my type of act. And that's something to be proud about.

I'm proud of the accomplishments in my career. The list of television performances that span the decades and include everything from the show biz staples of yesteryear, like the Ed Sullivan Show, several Dick Clark Shows, all the way up to the staples of today, Entertainment Tonight and even tabloid TV's Inside Edition.

My concern appears as my group's lead singer covers the scope from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, all the way around the world to the London Palladium. Also, the New York "Fearsome Foursome", the Apollo, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden and the Queen Mother of them all Carnegie Hall.

My lead vocals have been coveted by Hollywood in many movies including Stand By Me, and the Arnold Schwarzenegger - Danny DeVito blockbuster, TWINS. I have also several TV commercials to my credit.

I've tangled with the mob, broken the color barrier in Las Vegas, cursed out racist audiences who had come to hear "race music", and at times carried a gun on stage. At times I got run off of stage, and right out of town. But yet and still I managed to sell over thirty million records on the National Record Charts, in my time. My group has often been ripped off by many claiming to be me, using my name with their voice and cashing my check. I steeled myself and stood up to it all. The glamour, the danger, the glory and the bullshit. In my weakest moment I still marched on.

Through all the ups and downs of a joyous and yet painful career, I have come out unlike many others. Still performing, still standing, still sane, and intact. The goal was to be rich and famous. And I became both, for a while. But in the end I have ended up coasting on the fame, and trying to see just who had gotten rich.

Now I know why I'm sitting here in my office in the wee hours of the morning staring down the dawn. I know what I'm missing. I know what I earned, I know what was promised, and I realize now with some bitterness what little I got. Granted it's comfortable and not the nightmare and losing battle that many other artists of my time have endured, but it is not what was promised.

I'm a long way from my hometown of Tyler, Texas. Although I didn't put Tyler, Texas on the map, the way the Branch Davidians put Waco, Texas on the map, that was never my original intention. All I ever wanted to do was sing, what I actually did was much more.

I never dreamed that so many problems and dangers came with being a star. And so little money, even though I've sold millions and millions of records. My story is wonderful given the circumstances, yet shocking given the outcome. Thank God, I've moved past the bitterness and anger that for years plagued me. With only faith and sheer determination I was able to overcome all of the horror, and begin to write about it.