Riverside, Calif. – Zola Taylor, the first female member of one of the first major R&B crossover acts in the 1950s, The Platters, has died. She was 69, according to her family.
Taylor, bedridden following several strokes, died Monday from complications of pneumonia at Parkview Community Hospital, said her niece, Zola Taylor Jr.
Unhappy with the Platters’ sound in 1954, manager Buck Ram replaced a man with Taylor’s contralto.
The band’s smooth, romantic songs started taking off. “Only You” reached No. 5 in the pop charts in 1955. It was soon followed by the No. 1 hit “The Great Pretender” in 1956.
“She was the cutest little girl and had that spark. The guys became jealous because Zola was going over so well, and they started to work harder,” Ram recalled in the 2000 book “L.A. R&B Vocal Groups: 1945 to 1965.” After Taylor joined the group, they were sometimes referred to as the Four Platters and a Dish.
From 1955 to 1960, the Platters had four No. 1 hits and 16 gold records, including “My Prayer,” “Harbor Lights” and two releases based on older songs: “Twilight Time” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” They toured the world and were an international sensation in the late 1950s, according to “Contemporary Musicians” (1999).
Taylor left the Platters when the group disbanded in the early 1960s. She attributed the break-up to the Beatles-inspired upheaval of pop music.
Scandal also may have played a part: The four men in the Platters were arrested on sex charges in Cincinnati in 1959. They were found innocent but many radio stations quit playing their singles, “Contemporary Musicians” recounted.
Taylor, lead singer Tony Williams and Herb Reed continued to perform with groups called the Platters.
“Nostalgia changed everything back,” Taylor told the Los Angeles Times in 1990. “Wherever we go, fans bring old records wrapped up tight for me to sign. Platters music is as big as it ever was.”
