Clyde McPhatter, a falsetto-voiced pioneer of early rock-and-roll, who launched his highly influential but short career in the churches of Durham, will soon grace an North Carolina historic marker on the streets where he first learned to sing.
Born in 1932, McPhatter grew up in a Baptist family in Durham’s Hayti neighborhood, where he sang solos in the choir at his preacher father’s church, Mount Cavalry Baptist, but he soon moved to New York, formed a gospel group based in Harlem — The Mount Lebanon Singers.
Like many crooners of his era, McPhatter followed the powerful draw of secular music, and he lent his voice to the early 1950s blend of rhythm and blues. This combination of gospel soulfulness and free-spirited, sexually charged energy led the country into a new rock and roll era…