Carl Gardner, Leader of the Coasters, Dies at 83

The great rock and roll and R&B singer Carl Gardner, Sr., leader of the Coasters, died yesterday at age 83. “Carl was one of the great lead voices of the early rock and roll era,” says Sam Moore, his Atlantic Records labelmate. Gardner was also a leader in the effort to combat fake groups using the names of early groups. He fought to keep the Coasters name away from pretenders. It was a good thing, too, since the Coasters had lots of good will built up from their hits like “Charlie Brown,” “Poison Ivy,” “Yakety Yak,” “Youngblood,” “Searchin,” “Love Potion No. 9,” and “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” most of which were written by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYnlVu9z1UM Gardner and the original Coasters are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in its early days.