The Clovers - Very Best of the Clovers - Music & Performance - CD

Signed by Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun in 1950, The Clovers were the label's 1st successful vocal group and helped usher in the Rock & Roll Era. The Clovers hit the national charts 21 times between 1951-59 and this set is the group's only comprehensive single-disc career retrospective, gathering 16 of their biggest R&B/Soul hits and choicest album tracks for Atlantic including "Don't You Know I Love You," "Fool, Fool, Fool," "Ting-A-Ling," "One Mint Julep" and more. [Note: This product is an authorized CD-R and is manufactured on demand].

Includes liner notes by Billy Vera and James Austin.

Digitally remastered by Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch (DigiPrep).

As Atlantic Records' first successful vocal group, the Clovers would be noteworthy if only for the fact that their success laid the groundwork for the Coasters, the Drifters, and other great vocal acts. However, even though the group was not as well remembered as the groups that followed, the Clovers were giants of the '50s R&B world in their own right, scoring 11 top-10 hits on the Billboard R&B chart. Their recordings of "One Mint Julep," "Devil or Angel," and "Love Potion Number 9" are instantly recognizable classics, and their other hits are equally good.

Like their contemporaries the "5" Royales and Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, the Clovers used a disarming sense of humor to mask the raunchiness of their best material. There can be little doubt what lead singer Buddy Bailey is after in songs like "Good Lovin,'" "Hey, Miss Fannie," and "Lovey Dovey" (from which Steve Miller lifted several lyric passages for his "The Joker"). When the group drops all pretense--as it does on "Down in the Alley," later covered faithfully by Elvis Presley--the results are practically obscene.