Linda Hayes

Sister of Platters singer Tony Williams, Linda Hayes had a fairly lengthy career of her own as an R&B singer in the 1950s, recording singles between 1952 and 1959 on the Recorded in Hollywood, King, and Antler labels. Her biggest success by far was the 1953 number two R&B hit "Yes I Know," an "answer" record to Willie Mabon's R&B chart-topper "I Don't Know." "Take Me Back" briefly slipped into the R&B Top Ten in early 1954, but otherwise she had little commercial success, and boasted relatively little to distinguish her from other R&B belters in the era when the music was in the early throes of a transition to rock & roll. Hayes sings on a few of the very early (pre-hit) Platters singles, the group also backing her on a couple of her mid-'50s solo discs and Tony Williams singing with her on "Oochi Pachi." Most of her key singles were collected on Atomic Baby: Hollywood R&B from the Platters First 'Dish', released by Shout! in 2009. ~ Richie Unterberger