Doc Green, 54; Singer With the Drifters of 1950s and ‘60s

Doc Green, a baritone member of the 1950s and ‘60s rock group the Drifters, has died of cancer at his home in New York, family members said Monday. He was 54.

Green began singing on Harlem street corners as a youngster and joined the group sometime after it was formed in the mid-1950s. The singers, whose hits were to include “There Goes My Baby,” “Sweets for My Sweet,” “Under the Boardwalk,” and “Up on the Roof,” initially called themselves Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters during the late 1950s. The name was later shortened to the Drifters. According to the anthology “Who’s Who in Rock,” the name was used because so many of the members “drifted” back and forth to other groups.

The original group broke up in the late 1960s, although a variety of acts continued to use the name.

His family said Green continued working as a singer with other groups, including, most recently, Vito and the Salutations.

Green, who died Friday, is survived by his wife and mother, four sons, four daughters and five grandchildren.