Please Stay
The Drifters
1961
Annual listening list: initial release cycle, with recent carryovers; not an original-release-date field. Release chronology remains partly unverified.
Release year not established
Release year not establishedDate review open
A first-release date was not established in the available metadata.
The large badge identifies this listening list, not a newly issued recording. Later reissues and renewed chart popularity do not replace an original release date. How years are assigned.
About The Drifters
Song-specific inspiration or recording background is not established for this entry. This sourced artist profile provides career context.
The Drifters connected gospel-influenced rhythm and blues with the more orchestrated soul records of the 1960s. Their changing lead singers included Clyde McPhatter, Ben E. King, Rudy Lewis and Johnny Moore. Working with songwriters and producers such as Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the group recorded stories of romance and city life with strings and Latin-influenced rhythms. There Goes My Baby, Up on the Roof and Under the Boardwalk illustrate different stages of that evolving vocal-group history.
Artist background sources
The Drifters - Rhino historical biography
Read group history, changing lead singers, Leiber/Stoller collaboration, arrangement features and named recordings. No solo recording is attributed to the group; omit rankings and personal/death claims. | Retrieved 2026-10-19
Profile reviewed: 2026-10-19. Artist background does not establish a song's creative origin or release date.
Retained annual-list context
Please Stay by The Drifters appears at number 100 in the reviewed U.S. year-end table for 1961. No reliable song-specific account of its inspiration was established in this review.
Annual-list context only; songwriting inspiration remains unestablished
Billboard year-end 1961 table (Wikipedia transcription)
Secondary transcription reviewed 2026-10-11: title, artist and annual chart association; not original release date or complete recording metadata.
Other appearances and versions
catalog version unspecified
Original release date and exact pressing/version are not independently established.
An annual chart year and an original release date are different. Similar titles may be covers or different masters; no audio fingerprint has been performed.
Sources and scope
Source-backed annual association (secondary source; not a complete discographic review)
Editorial artist-repertoire classification
Billboard year-end 1961 table (Wikipedia transcription)
Secondary transcription reviewed 2026-10-11: title, artist and annual chart association; not original release date or complete recording metadata.
Browse by year
1960-2025. Each year contains 150 selections.