PARRIS IN SPRING

As the number of rock ’n’ roll originators diminishes, it’s an honor to be able to recognize a still-active performer on his 85th birthday: Fred Parris of The Five Satins.

Back in the early- to mid-1950s, when Black vocal groups were developing the doo-wop sound on street corners, teenage Parris and his high school friends went into a New Haven, Conn., church basement and recorded a few songs. One of them, “In the Still of the Night,” would become one of the most enduring hits of the decade. It conjures the era—and, really, youth itself—like few other songs.

Whether you heard it when it was first released in 1956, on the first edition of the Oldies But Goodies series or the soundtrack to American Graffiti or countless other films, take time to enjoy a true classic from the early days of rock ’n’ roll.