The Platters - Great But Before My Time

I've always enjoyed listening to such standards as "Only You," "The Great Pretender" and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" by The Platters. But, they were before my time -- in the mid- to late-'50s -- and between generations since my dad didn't listen to that type of music on the car radio and me, being born in 1953, didn't pay attention to music until just before The Beatles arrived.

Still, it's great to see an interest in The Platters in Eastern Iowa as one of the group's former members, Sonny Bryant (left), comes to the Elkader Opera House in Elkader for a concert Saturday night. He met the brother of Elkader's Harry Erickson while Sonny and Harry's brother, John, were in the same hospital room in Mankato, Minn. (See today's Ramblin' column in The Gazette.)

Sonny was with The Platters from 1969 into the mid-1980s, a time when the group didn't generate any big new hits but kept their old standards alive. I looked Sonny up on the Internet and found very little about him except for a My Space page. I couldn't even find out how old he is. So, contrary to popular belief, everything isn't out there in cyberspace.

The Platters, on the other hand, are easy to find. And one of the most reliable sites I think is that of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, which inducted the group in 1990. (You can read that account by clicking here.) It's not a long account but gives you the basics.

A more encompasing site is Herb Reed and The Platters (click here) that says the group recorded more than 400 songs and sold more than 100 million copies of those songs.

Herb Reed was the original lead singer and founder of the group in 1953. It's first hit record, "Only You," hit the charts in 1955. After a series of court battles related to a variety of lineup changes, Reed was given the exclusive rights in 1997 to tour as The Platters, which he still does today.

As for Sonny Bryant, he went out on his own in the '80s. He has performed all around the world and has had a popular Las Vegas act.  

I hear tickets are going well for Sonny's concert Saturday night in Elkader. They're $12 each and can be purchased at the Elkader Opera House or in advance by calling it at (563) 873-2378 or by visiting

www.elkaderoperahouse.com