Nostalgia Lane With

Cornell Gunter's

COASTERS

On the tour, "Thirthieth Anniversary of Rock & Roll," which was three summers in a row, by the way. "We would end the tour and fly directly to the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon," Edwin states.

CLOCKWISE FROM UL: Edwin with Sonny Gerraci (& Climax), "Precious & Few."

UR: With Mitch Ryder, The Detroit Wheels; Edwin; Pat Upton, Spiral Staircase.

BELOW: Al Wilson, "Show & Tell;" Bobby Day, "Rockin' Robin;" Cornell Gunter, Edwin Cook, and Chuck Negron of Three Dog Night, whose voice gave us "Joy To The World," and "One (Is The Loneliest Number)."

Oldies 94.5 FM at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV, sponsored by the station, proved to be a very successful gig for Cornell Gunter's COASTERS.

LEFT, LtoR: At the mics, Charlie, Cornell and Edwin. They always attracted whoever was in the main showroom, as well as other celebrities just passing through. As you can see from the audience, as well as the balconies above, which surrounds all four sides, not even standing room.

LL: Edwin and Ric Flair, Professional Wrestling's "Nature Boy."

LR: Rodney Dangerfield, Actor & Comedian, stopped in to watch CGC at the Trop.

Cornell Gunter's COASTERS performed at another star-studded event at The Showboat Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Clockwise starting

UL: Sam & Dave, "Soul Man," "When Something is Wrong With My Baby," and Edwin; Dave died in an auto accident in 1988.

LL: Just had to throw this one in...Edwin's good friend Brace; John Lovitz, Actor/Comedian, and "ME" Edwin at McCarran International Airport, coming home.

UR: Peter Noone, Hermans Hermits, "There's A Kind of Hush," "Something Good," and Edwin;

LR: Edwin and Del Shannon, "Runaway;" Sadly, Del committed suicide in February, 1990.

ABOVE: Little did Edwin and Charlie know that the above photo taken latter part of 1989 while they were working on a new album at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California, would depict the last recording session they would share with Cornell Gunter.

BELOW: The headline speaks for itself, and it's probably the saddest day Edwin has ever experienced in his show biz career. The fans all over the United States, even the world, and the community of Las Vegas who had come to know Cornell were shocked and distraught by this horrific tragedy, but no one felt the shock and loss greater than the people closest to him... his family and his friends he shared his stage with.

CLOCKWISE beginning UL: An engagement at the Christy Lane Theater in Branson, Missouri.

UR: "WHY is everybody picking on me?" "Just because you were in the audience in the center front row, and you were an easy target!  How's that for an excuse?"

LL: An encore brought performers back onstage. Tony Orlando would bring everyone who would come with him from his audience at the Yellow Ribbon Theater to the Christy Lane Theater every night and hang out with CGC and Al Wilson (also performing) and enjoy the show, and he even joined Edwin onstage during an encore at the end of the show one night.

LR: Mitch Ryder, (The Detroit Wheels) would come to the show, tell his jokes and was all the time digging at Joe Frazier, the champion fighter. Edwin told him one night that he'd better stop picking on Joe, that Joe Frazier was gonna show up and kick his *** if he wasn't careful. So Edwin showed up one night looking like his (weak) version of the famous JF and walked onstage to take on Mitch Ryder. The audience was rolling out of their seats with laughter. Edwin has often said, "I didn't realize how much fun I was having until it was over."

An extremely successful week in Branson, Missouri, they closed every show with a standing ovation.

BELOW: Back to Las Vegas to The Mint Hotel & Casino.

ABOVE LEFT & RIGHT: In Acoma, New Mexico, Edwin and CGC at the afternoon sound tech before the concert later that evening.

BELOW LEFT: We had a singer out because of surgery. Rather than replace him with a fill-in, which can sometimes be more trouble than it's worth, we just did the show without a fourth guy this particular evening.

BELOW RIGHT: Another concert, another day, this one in Reno, Nevada.  Brenda shot video this evening, and she hasn't had the time to pull some still shots from the footage of the concert.  She took this shot before the show.

FROM L to R: Cornell Gunter, Lead Tenor; Billy Guy, Baritone; Manager Lester Sill; William "Dub" Jones, Bass; and Carl Gardner, founding member and Lead Vocalist of THE COASTERS who never left the original recording group since he was handpicked by Lieber & Stoller and Lester Sill in the mid 1950's.

There were only ever two other singers who recorded with THE COASTERS:  They are Bobby Nunn and Leon Hughes who were with THE COASTERS from 1955-57.  When they declined to move from California to new York with the group in 1957 because of a new contract with Atlantic Records, Manager Lester Sill and Songwriters Lieber & Stoller, who were synonymous with the hits of THE COASTERS, released Bobby and Leon from their contracts.  They replaced the two of them with Cornell Gunter and "Dub" Jones.  It is this group of four men....Cornell, Billy, "Dub," and Carl....who are credited with THE COASTERS catapult to the longtime fame they've enjoyed since 1955, as they were the original recording artists of the group.

Cornell Gunter's COASTERS evolved when there was an airplane incident (an engine caught fire), and all of the members of the group except Cornell no longer wanted to fly.   (The SPOTLIGHT and the Review Journal articles above refer to this incident, as well as the caption beneath the RJ picture.)   This was an agreement between Carl and Cornell, as disappointment to fans across the country, even out of the country, was a concern. Even after Cornell's death, Edwin and Charlie maintained a cordial and respectful relationship with Carl and his wife Veta, the Manager for THE COASTERS. Carl and Veta have aided Edwin and Charlie numerous times in fighting bogus groups popping up everywhere, including those of Larry Marshak, none of which are legitimate Cornell Gunter's COASTERS.   If Edwin or Charlie or both are not on the stage, then they are not legitimate Cornell Gunter's COASTERS.  All other former members of CGC are deceased.

Even though Edwin was awarded joint ownership of the name "Cornell Gunter's COASTERS," along with Charlie Duncan, in a Federal District Court, State of Nevada, Clark County, Case No.: CV-S-91-946 HDMLRL, in 1993, out of respect for Carl Gardner and THE COASTERS, he still prefers to present his group as A Tribute to THE COASTERS.  Edwin never allows himself to be booked as THE COASTERS, only as Cornell Gunter's COASTERS featuring Edwin Cook.

In Memory Of:

Cornell Gunter 11/14/1936 - 02/27/1990

William "Dub" Jones 05/14/1928 - 01/16/2000

Billy Guy 09/20/1925 - 11/15/2002