Carl Gardner obituary

Singer and founding member of the R&B hitmakers the CoastersMany African-American close harmony groups flourished in the US in the 1950s, but few appealed to both black and white audiences as much as the Coasters. Their success owed a lot to the witty lyrics of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller on such songs as Charlie Brown and Yakety Yak, but it was also founded on the characterful vocals of Carl Gardner, who has died after a long illness aged 83.Gardner was born in Tyler, Texas, where he was expo...

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