Herb Reed (L) and the Platters

               Herb Reed (August 7, 1928 – June 4, 2012)

(LA Times) Herb Reed was in his 20s when he founded the Platters in
Los Angeles in 1953, naming his vocal group after the term used by
radio DJs for the vinyl records of the day. Well into his 80s, Reed was
still touring and singing bass on "Only You," "The Great Pretender,"
"Twilight Time" and the other hits that made the Platters one of the
top R&B groups of the 1950s. Reed, the last surviving member of
the five original members of the Platters when they signed with
Mercury Records in the 1950s, died Monday in a hospice house
in Danvers, Mass., said Fred Balboni, his personal manager.