Musician. Born on August 15, 1925, in Dalzell, Sumter County, Pinkney began singing gospel songs as a child while working in South Carolina\u2019s cotton fields. He would go on to a stellar career performing around the globe as an original member of the Drifters. The group became a rhythm and blues (R&B) pioneer, and in 1988 members of the Drifters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
The young Pinkney mixed his love of music with baseball, earning a pitching position with the New York Blue Sox in the Negro Baseball League. In 1949, while singing in gospel quartets, he met Clyde McPhatter, a young gospel singer who at the time was performing with Billy Ward and the Dominoes. Within two years McPhatter recruited Pinkney and brothers Gerhardt and Andrew Thrasher to form a new musical group, the Drifters. In 1953 the Drifters were offered a contract with Atlantic Records, and they eventually became, according to the label\u2019s founder, Ahmet Ertegun, \u201cthe all time greatest Atlantic recording group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moving beyond their gospel origins, the Drifters became internationally famous, creating a unique sweet soul sound that expanded the R&B genre. Later members, also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, included Johnny Moore, Ben E. King, Rudy Lewis, and Charlie Thomas. The Drifters\u2019 best-selling song, \u201cWhite Christmas,\u201d was recorded in 1954 and featured Pinkney as lead bass singer. In 2002, in his seventy-seventh year, Pinkney continued to perform with the Original Drifters, a permutation of the legendary group.<\/p>\n
Though the Drifters are closely associated with Carolina beach music, Pinkney disputes the notion that the state\u2019s popular beach sound is any different from the gospel-influenced R&B fare enjoyed in other regions. \u201cThe backbone of all R&B was created from gospel. Sam Cook did both, Otis Redding did both, and I did both,\u201d said Pinkney. \u201cBeach music (in the Carolinas) is a mind thing,\u201d he said. \u201cA song that might be called a beach song here is just R&B someplace else.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Musician. Born on August 15, 1925, in Dalzell, Sumter County, Pinkney began singing gospel songs as a child while working in South Carolina\u2019s cotton fields. He would go on to a stellar career performing around the globe as an original member of the Drifters. The group became a rhythm and blues (R&B) pioneer, and in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":-1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","class_list":["post-10531","entry","type-entry","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","ecms-a-z","ecms-african-americans","ecms-art","ecms-civil-rights-era-1955-1969","ecms-encyclopedia","ecms-great-depression-1930-1938","ecms-jazz-age-1919-1929","ecms-midlands","ecms-p","ecms-post-war-america-1946-1954","ecms-recreation-and-leisure","ecms-sumter-county","ecms-the-modern-state-1970-present","ecms-world-war-ii-1939-1945"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n