Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents information about The Platters and showcases their R&B classic song "The Great Pretender".
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the Platters for their musical legacy. Thanks also to Buck Ram, the composer of "The Great Pretenders" for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this film clip on YouTube.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLATTERS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Platters
"The Platters are an American vocal group formed in 1952. They were one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre. The act went through several personnel changes, with the most successful incarnation comprising lead tenor Tony Williams, David Lynch, Paul Robi, Herb Reed, and Zola Taylor. The group had 40 charting singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1955 and 1967, including four number-one hits. The Platters are one of the first African-American groups to be accepted as a major chart group and were, for a period of time, the most successful vocal group in the world.[1]
[...]
Charting hits
... Released in the summer of 1955, [“only You”] became the group's first Top Ten hit on the pop charts and topped the R&B charts for seven weeks. The follow-up, "The Great Pretender", with lyrics written in the washroom of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas by Buck Ram,[6] exceeded the success of their debut and became the Platters' first national #1 hit. "The Great Pretender" was also the act's biggest R&B hit, with an 11-week run atop that chart. In 1956, the Platters appeared in the first major motion picture based around rock and roll, Rock Around the Clock, and performed both "Only You" and "The Great Pretender".[9]
The Platters' unique vocal style had touched a nerve in the music-buying public, and a string of hit singles followed, including three more national #1 hits and more modest chart successes such as "I'm Sorry" (#11) and "He's Mine" (#23) in 1957, "Enchanted" (#12) in 1959, and "(You've Got) The Magic Touch"[6] (#4) in 1956. The Platters soon hit upon the successful formula of updating older standards, such as "My Prayer",[6] "Twilight Time", "Harbor Lights", "To Each His Own", "If I Didn't Care", and Jerome Kern's "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes".[10] This latter release caused a small controversy after Kern's widow expressed concern that her late husband's composition would be turned into a "rock and roll" record. It topped both the American and British charts in a Platters-style arrangement.
[...]
The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in its inaugural year of 1998. The Platters were the first rock and roll group to have a Top Ten album in the United States. They were also the only act to have three songs included on the American Graffiti soundtrack that fueled an oldies revival already underway in the early to mid-1970s: "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "The Great Pretender", and "Only You (and You Alone)"."...
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG THE GREAT PRETENDER
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Pretender
" "The Great Pretender" is a popular song recorded by The Platters, with Tony Williams on lead vocals, and released as a single on November 3, 1955. The words and music were written by Buck Ram,[1] the Platters' manager and producer who was a successful songwriter before moving into producing and management. "The Great Pretender" reached the number one position on both the R&B and pop charts in 1956.[2] It also reached the UK charts peaking at number 5.
Platters' version
Buck Ram reports that he wrote the song in about 20 minutes in the washroom of the Flamingo Hotel in order to have a song to follow up the success of "Only You (And You Alone)"….
In 2004, the song was voted 360th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone.[3] Plas Johnson played tenor saxophone.”...
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LYRICS- THE GREAT PRETENDER
Oh oh, yes I'm the great pretender
Pretending that I'm doing well
My need is such I pretend too much
I'm lonely but no one can tell
Oh oh, yes I'm the great pretender
Adrift in a world of my own
I've played the game but to my real shame
You've left me to grieve all alone
Too real is this feeling of make believe
Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal
Yes I'm the great pretender
Just laughin' and gay like a clown
I seem to be what I'm not, you see
I'm wearing my heart like a crown
Pretending that you're still around
Too real is this feeling of make believe
Too real when I feel what my heart can't conceal
Yes I'm the great pretender
Just laughin' and gay like the clown
I seem to be what I'm not, you see
I'm wearing my heart like a crown
Pretending that you're still around
(Still around)
Writer/s: BUCK RAM
Publisher: Peermusic Publishing
Source: https://www.songfacts.com/lyrics/the-platters/the-great-pretender
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YOUTUBE VIDEO: The Platters - The Great Pretender (Original Footage HD)
Solrac Etnevic, Published on Sep 18, 2013
(P)(C) Mercury Records (USA) 1955
"The Great Pretender" is a popular song recorded by The Platters, with Tony Williams on lead vocals, and released as a single on November 3, 1955. The words and music were created by Buck Ram, the Platters' manager and producer who was a successful songwriter before moving into producing and management. The Great Pretender reached the number one position on both the R&B and pop charts in 1956.[1] In 2004, the song was voted 360th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone.
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