Song:Supernatural Thing Pt. 1
Album:The Very Best of Ben E. King
Of course most music fans are familiar with the Ben E. King classic Stand By Me which was a top ten hit in 1961 and again in 1986 when Rob Reiner's film Stand By Me was released. And he sang lead on several Drifters hits. King had one other top ten hit after a long dry period. That was Supernatural Thing in 1975. After the success of Stand By Me, King continued to record for Atco. He just couldn't duplicate that success especially after the British Invasion took over the music business. King recorded six albums for Atco. After his 1967 album What Is Soul produced by Bert Berns didn't do well, he left Atco. He released the album Rough Edges in 1970. It was on Maxwell Records owned by veteran producer Bob Crewe. And then he recorded The Beginning of it All in 1972 on Mandala Records. It looked like King's career was over. But he returned to Atlantic with the 1975 album Supernatural produced by Tony Sylvester of The Main Ingredient and Bert DeCoteaux who worked frequently with Sylvester. The single Supernatural Thing Pt. 1 reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written by Haras Fyre AKA Patrick Grant who also wrote The Drifters classic Under the Boardwalk. Of course King sang lead on that song. Co-writer Gwen Guthrie sang backup vocals on the album and she would go on to chart success in the 80s. This was King's final big hit. You can get all his hits on this budget comp. After King left Atlatic in 1981, he recorded for EMI-Manhattan, Ichiban, Half Note and other small labels. King continued to tour until his death on Apr. 30, 2015 at age 76. Here's Ben E. King performing Supernatural Thing Pt. 1 on Soul Train 1975.
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