Linda Hayes

Linda Hayes, sibling of Platters vocalist Tony Williams, maintained her own extended run as an R&B performer across the 1950s, releasing singles from 1952 to 1959 on Recorded in Hollywood, King, and Antler. Her clearest commercial peak came with the 1953 R&B number-two single “Yes I Know,” composed as a reply to Willie Mabon’s chart-topping “I Don’t Know.” Early the following year “Take Me Back” made a brief appearance inside the R&B Top Ten, yet additional hits remained scarce and her style offered little to set her apart from the many other R&B belters active while the music was beginning its shift toward rock & roll. She appears on several pre-breakthrough Platters sides, the group in turn supporting her on two mid-1950s solo outings, and Tony Williams shares the vocal on “Oochi Pachi.” Shout! assembled most of those key tracks on the 2009 collection Atomic Baby: Hollywood R&B from the Platters First ‘Dish’.