Ray Pollard - The Drifter . ( Northern Soul )
The Drifter – United Artists, 1965
This release was a popular record at The Twisted Wheel, Manchester in the sixties.
Ray Pollard fell foul of signing with Shrine records which subsequently went bankrupt and his recordings were never released at that time. They have been released in recent years. The Drifter was a well known and popular track at the Twisted Wheel and The Blue Note in Manchester. Even though Long John Baldry covered the track and played many times at ‘The Wheel’, it was always the Ray Pollard version that was played by Roger The DJ.
Kev Roberts includes “The Drifter” at 368 on his Top 500.
Prior to going solo, Ray Pollard was the lead singer with The Wanderers, the 1950s group who were similar in output to The Inkspots. Ray fought in the Korean war and lost a hand as a result. The ‘B’ side of The Drifter was Let Him Go. The Drifter was covered in 1968 by Don Charles but this was an inferior version.
Died 2005 – Las Vegas – Cause of death Lung Cancer