Personnel: Ty Terrell Leonard, Earl "Speedo" Carroll, Leon Hughes, Billy Richard, Grady Chapman, Cornell Gunter, Young Jessie (tenor); Thomas Palmer, Adolph Jacobs, Sonny Forriest (guitar).
Liner Note Author: Mandy Bolster.
Recording information: 03/1954-07/1962.
Photographers: Claus R”hnisch; Veta Gardner.
Between 1956 and 1961 the Coasters put out a dozen or so classic singles that brilliantly detailed teenage angst, love, and lust, all of them given a slight comic spin that allowed the songs to nestle into AM pop radio with undetected subversive intent. It helped, too, that the Coasters' material was written, produced, and arranged by the great team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who knew exactly what to do and how to do it. This anthology includes just the hits and the B-sides, which is probably all that most listeners will need. ~ Steve Leggett
