1966
UP IN THE STREETS OF HARLEM * THE DRIFTERS * ATLANTIC 584020 * UK
Written and produced by Bert Berns and recorded in February 1966, with Johnny Moore on lead vocals, this is an early example on record of an emerging 'black consciousness' that was struggling for identity in the wake of the Civil Rights movement lead by the Reverent Martin Luther King. The previous year had witnessed the assassination of Malcolm X the outspoken and articulate voice of the oppressed (allegedly by members of the Nation of Islam after he broke with the group) and the unprecedented an sustained civil unrest culminating in the Watts section of Los Angeles riots, leading to the passing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by Congress.
See also:
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| I Don’t Want To Go On Without You |
