The Clovers occupy an exalted place in the history of R&B in the minds of many listeners and hard-core devotees. Unfortuately, another group, The Drifters,{1} tended to eclipse The Clovers, by virtue of their longer history and the string of hits that they had in the '60s.

The truth is that The Clovers not only started earlier than any other act on Atlantic Records, but they scored more hits in their six years there than any other R&B act in the label's history.

The group's origins, like those of so many R&B vocal outfits, goes back to the members' middle-teenage years.

Tenor/baritone, Harold "Hal" Lucas, tenor, Billy Shelton, and bass Thomas Woods were students at Armstrong High School in Washington, D.C., during the mid-'40s when they formed a trio led by Lucas. A fourth member, John "Buddy" Bailey, another tenor, joined up and eventually became their lead singer, while Lucas started singing baritone. At this point they started calling themselves, The Four Clovers.