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_teporter Tod Strachan on the
Pop music of the 1950's; taken

> from interviews with the stars

who played in Terrace during
the Legends of Rock ‘n’ Roil
concert in July,

This week's story features Ray

Carroll, a member of the unfor-"

_ gettable Platters. che
Im the 1950s, rock and roll

music: wasn’t all- ‘bebop’ and

jive’. ..

; by Tod Strachan

There was another sound to
‘the music of that era, It was

soft, romantic music, with velvet
voiced singers of still unchal-

_lenged talent singing romantic.

lyrics... They were songs - that
became every teen’s dream of a
Promising and happy future, —
The Platters were one of these
groups. The titles of their songs
alone kindled visions of ro-

mance in the imagination of the

listener. Titles like, ‘Only

“You’’, “The Great Pretender”’,
“*Twilight Time?’, “‘My

_Prayer’’, “Smoke Gets In Your
Eyes’’ and ‘‘The Magic Touch’’.

It was music with a quality

that. has withstood the test of -

time and is still popular today.
_ _ Tony Williams was the origin-
al lead singer of The Platters

over 30 years ago and has since
passed away. But other members -

Of the original group have each
gone out on their own, each for-

‘ming their own. edition of The.
Platters and keeping the music |

alive. ;

~_-Ray Carroll was a member of
The Platters from 1955 to 1962

_and recently put a group to-
gether in Vancouver for the Ex-
po 86 Legends of Rock ’n Roll.
The group was later chosen as
the top group out of 35 of the
best acts and joined the Legends
of Rock ’n Roll tour that visited
Terrace recently, © .t

_ ~ In describing his group, which
includes himself as lead singer,
Sonny Byers as the musical di-

. rector, and Gloria Weems and U

Me-Me, Carroll said, ““We may
sing those ‘big finish’ high notes
in “Only You” and “Smoke
Gets In Your Eyes” a little bit

lower than the recording you.

remember at the high school
dance... but I'll guarantee every-
one an enchanting evening of
romance, nostalgia and good
times’’. . |
'Many people who saw the
Legends of Rock ’n Roll concert
in Terrace would agree with that
statement made by Carroll.

eR
b

KITSUMKALUM
 .Jerrace

_ The three junior members of

ye

~ “PEOPLE OF
GILA-QUOEX”
at

Come
and witness!

Platters sing from the heart: P

The Platters started: their. seg-
‘ment of the show by singing a
lead-in for Carroll's entrance.
When Carroll came On stage
and lifted his voice in song, the
audience stilled, They became
‘hypnotized ‘by the quality of a
voice so clear and ‘strong it
defied any just description, -
But it wasn’t his voice alone

. that captured the audience. It

-was through his emotional union
with the music and lyrics that
Carroll was able.to project into

his audience a sense of.

peace...and that momentary ‘re-

- lease from-everyday reality,
Carroll said that he first
Started with The Platters in 1955
-to replace a- member who had

fallen ill, but after a few years -

returned to his first love, writing

_ and producing music,

- In the mid-sixties, he produc-

~ eda show called ‘The Evolution
of the Blues” and toured the

- United States for a while before
moving to California to work on.

several TV productions, such as. .

the Diana Ross Specials.

- In 1981, Carroll moved to

Vancouver where he produced a

‘rhythm and blues. show on
| CIAZ radio until 1984,

Shortly. after this, Carroll
went to the States to recruit
members for a new edition of
The Platters, an ensemble that
turned out to be the number one
choice of audiences at the Le-
“86. .

“They’ve got the feel and
they’ve got the music and it’s
really nice’’, said Carroll.
“They’ve really worked hard on

‘ the sound and ‘their harmonies

are good”’. | .
After his experience with the
’ Legends of Rock 'n Roll, Car-

- roll is convinced that the style of

the fifties has returned and it
will have an effect on the music
of the eighties that hasn’t been
felt in thirty years,
“It’s back...and I think to
stay’, he said. “These songs
wouldn’t be coming back if they
weren’t good”’,
““You see, at the time, we just
did it because that was a part of
our éra’’, he said. ‘““That was the
way we felt,’’ Ce,
‘But these were songs you
could listen to, . The words
weren’t distorted, they weren’t
sexually oriented, we weren’t
protesting anything,

-.*"We just sang. from the

heart...and you can’t duplicate
that.” a,

Morality, the impersonal rela-
tionship between musicians,
technology and computers, and

- can be alive and -have feeling |

gends of Rock ’n Roll at Expo

RKEKES

RRNA KEE EKAGRAGKE

Terrace Review — Wednesday, July 29, 1987 13

an apparent lack of voice train- i
ing have all joined forces, in
Carroll’s. opinion, to create an E
inferior product today which is —
responsible for the revival of the
fifties style of music.

“‘When we were in the studio
the band was there too, We
rehearsed in the morning,
recorded in the afternoon and’
there was a relationship between
the musicians, .

“Today, the band goes. in,
they lay down a track. The’
singer comes two weeks later
and he lays down a.track: And |
he’s probably never even seen
the band. He doesn’t even know
them.

“*Today,’’ Carroll said, ©
“there’s no feeling in recording,
They’re using electronic things
like. metronomes and nothing

that has that.’’

‘‘Machines don’t have
feeling.” .
“Therefore you can’t get that
quality...the spontaneity.”’ 7
Carroll had one last criticism 2
for the singers of today’s music,
They don’t sing, they scream. -
“These kids are screaming. [ee
What is this? Do you think these Ee
songs will last 30 years?” _&
“I can stand in the middle of
an auditorium, without a
microphone, and sing. BecauseI §
was brought up the proper way ff
voice-wise,”” .
“This is the difference,” he &
said. — - G
“The kids today do not learn ff
real music. They turn up. the —

yolume acid au Ray Carroll of The Platters sald at a recent performance In Terrace, “We may
‘ "* _ sing those ‘big finish’ high notes:in “Only. You” and “Smoke Gets in Your

oe : Eyes” a little bit lower than the recording you remember at the high school
dance... but I'll guarantee everyone an enchanting. evening of romance,.
nostalgia and good times.” , \

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