Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
of
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
music that originated in
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
communities during the 1940s,
mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles.
It features vocal group
harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...
that carries an engaging melodic line to a simple beat with little or
no instrumentation
Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making.
Instrumentation can refer to ...
. Lyrics are simple, usually about love, sung by a lead vocal over background vocals, and often featuring, in the
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
, a melodramatically heartfelt
recitative
Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repea ...
addressed to the beloved. Harmonic singing of nonsense syllables (such as "doo-wop") is a common characteristic of these songs.
Gaining popularity in the 1950s, doo-wop was "artistically and commercially viable" until the early 1960s, but continued to influence performers in other genres.
[Hoffmann, F]
Roots of Rock: Doo-Wop
In ''Survey of American Popular Music'', modified for the web by Robert Birkline. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
Origins
Doo-wop has complex musical, social, and commercial origins.
Musical precedents
Doo-wop's style is a mixture of precedents in composition, orchestration, and vocals that figured in American popular music created by songwriters and vocal groups, both black and white, from the 1930s to the 1940s.
Such composers as
Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart ...
(in their 1934 song "
Blue Moon"), and
Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first ...
and
Frank Loesser
Frank Henry Loesser (; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals ''Guys and Dolls'' and ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', among others. He won a Tony ...
(in their 1938 "
Heart and Soul") used a
I–vi–ii–V-loop
chord progression
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...
in those
hit song
A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...
s; composers of doo-wop songs varied this slightly but significantly to the chord progression I–vi–IV–V, so influential that it is sometimes referred to as the '
50s progression. This characteristic harmonic layout was combined with the AABA chorus form typical for
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...
songs.
[Ralf von Appen, Markus Frei-Hauenschild (2015)]
"AABA, Refrain, Chorus, Bridge, Prechorus — Song Forms and their Historical Development"
In: ''Samples. Online Publikationen der Gesellschaft für Popularmusikforschung/German Society for Popular Music Studies e.V.'', Ed. by Ralf von Appen, André Doehring
André Doehring (born in 1973) is a German musicologist, who is active in pop music and jazz research.
Work
Born in Uelzen, Doehring studied musicology and sociology. Since 2005 he worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Musicology a ...
and Thomas Phleps Thomas Phleps (2 September 1955 – 5 June 2017) was a German guitarist and musicologist.
Life
Born in Bad Hersfeld, Phleps studieded at the Philipps-Universität Marburg and the University of Kassel and completed his studies in 1981 and 1983 re ...
. Vol. 13, p. 6.
Hit songs by black groups such as the
Ink Spots
The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely ac ...
("
If I Didn't Care
"If I Didn't Care" is a song written by Jack Lawrence that was sung and recorded by the Ink Spots featuring Bill Kenny in 1939.
Background
The Ink Spots recording became the 10th best selling single of all time with over 19 million copies ...
", one of the
best selling singles worldwide of all time,
and "Address Unknown") and the
Mills Brothers
The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies a ...
("
Paper Doll
Paper dolls are figures cut out of paper or thin card, with separate clothes, also made of paper, that are usually held onto the dolls by paper folding tabs. They may be a figure of a person, animal or inanimate object. Paper dolls have been ine ...
", "
You Always Hurt the One You Love
"You Always Hurt the One You Love" is a pop standard with lyrics by Allan Roberts and music by Doris Fisher. First recorded by the Mills Brothers, whose recording reached the top of the '' Billboard'' charts in 1944, it was also a hit for Sammy ...
" and "Glow Worm") were generally slow songs in
swing time
In music, the term ''swing'' has two main uses. Colloquially, it is used to describe the propulsive quality or "feel" of a rhythm, especially when the music prompts a visceral response such as foot-tapping or head-nodding (see pulse). This sens ...
with simple instrumentation. Doo-wop street singers generally performed without instrumentation, but made their musical style distinctive, whether using fast or slow
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
s, by keeping time with a swing-like
off-beat,
while using the "doo-wop" syllables as a substitute for drums and a bass vocalist as a substitute for a bass instrument.
Doo-wop's characteristic vocal style was influenced by groups such as the Mills Brothers,
whose close
four-part harmony
The term "four-part harmony" refers to music written for four voices, or for some other musical medium—four musical instruments or a single keyboard instrument, for example—for which the various musical parts can give a different note for ...
derived from the vocal harmonies of the earlier
barbershop quartet.
The Four Knights
The Four Knights were an American vocal group from Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Their 1954 hit, "I Get So Lonely When I Dream About You (Oh Baby Mine)", sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.
Career
The group was f ...
' "Take Me Right Back to the Track" (1945), the
Cats and the Fiddle
The Cats and the Fiddle was an African American singing group formed in 1937 in Chicago and active until 1951, releasing more than 30 gramophone sides during the period. Their instrumentation included a bass (the "fiddle" of the title), tenor guit ...
's song "I Miss You So" (1939),
and the Triangle Quartette's even earlier record "Doodlin' Back" (1929) prefigured doo-wop's rhythm and blues sound long before doo-wop became popular.
Elements of doo-wop vocal style
In their book entitled "The Complete Book of Doo-Wop", co-authors Gribin and Schiff (who also wrote “Doo-Wop, the Forgotten Third of Rock 'n' Roll“), identify 5 features of doo-wop music: 1) it is vocal music made by groups; 2) it features a wide range of vocal parts, "usually from bass to falsetto"; 3) it includes
nonsense syllables; 4) there is a simple beat and low key instrumentals; and 5) it has simple words and music. While these features provide a helpful guide, they need not all be present in a given song for aficionados to consider it doo-wop, and the list does not include the aforementioned typical doo-wop chord progressions.
Bill Kenny, lead singer of the Ink Spots, is often credited with introducing the "top and bottom" vocal arrangement featuring a
high tenor singing the intro and a
bass spoken chorus.
The Mills Brothers, who were famous in part because in their vocals they sometimes mimicked instruments,
were an additional influence on street vocal harmony groups, who, singing ''
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
'' arrangements, used wordless
onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...
to mimic musical instruments.
For instance, "
Count Every Star" by
the Ravens
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
(1950) includes vocalizations imitating the "doomph, doomph" plucking of a
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
.
The Orioles
The Orioles were an American R&B group of the late 1940s and early 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal groups who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound.
The Orioles are generally acknowledged as R&B's first vocal group. Balt ...
helped develop the doo-wop sound with their hits "
It's Too Soon to Know" (1948) and "
Crying in the Chapel
"Crying in the Chapel" is a song written by Artie Glenn and recorded by his son Darrell Glenn. The song was released in 1953 and reached number six on the ''Billboard'' chart.
The song has also been recorded by many artists including the Orio ...
" (1953).
Origin of the name
Although the musical style originated in the late 1940s and was very popular in the 1950s, the term "doo-wop" itself did not appear in print until 1961, when it was used in reference to the Marcels' song, "Blue Moon", in ''
The Chicago Defender
''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...
'',
just as the style's vogue was nearing its end. Though the name was attributed to radio disc jockey Gus Gossert, he did not accept credit, stating that "doo-wop" was already in use in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
to categorize the music.
"Doo-wop" is itself a nonsense expression. In
the Delta Rhythm Boys
The Delta Rhythm Boys was an American vocal group active from 1934 to 1987.
The group was formed at Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma, in 1934 by Carl Jones, Traverse Crawford, Otha Lee Gaines, and Kelsey Pharr. They moved to Dillar ...
' 1945 recording, "Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin", it is heard in the
backing vocal
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...
. It is heard later in
the Clovers
The Clovers are an American rhythm and blues/ doo-wop vocal group who became one of the biggest selling acts of the 1950s.The Guinness Who's Who of Fifties Music. General Editor: Colin Larkin. First published 1993 (UK). . The Clovers p77. They ha ...
' 1953 release "Good Lovin'" (Atlantic Records 1000), and in the chorus of Carlyle Dundee & the Dundees' 1954 song "Never" (Space Records 201). The first hit record with "doo-wop" being harmonized in the refrain was
the Turbans
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
' 1955 hit, "When You Dance" (Herald Records H-458).
The Rainbows embellished the phrase as "do wop de wadda" in their 1955 "Mary Lee" (on
Red Robin Records
Red Robin Records was a record label that began in 1951 as "Robin Records" in New York City. Owner Bobby Robinson was unaware that another company was already using the name "Robin" and after about four releases was forced to change to "Red R ...
; also a Washington, D.C. regional hit on Pilgrim 703); and in their 1956 national hit, "
In the Still of the Night",
the Five Satins
The Five Satins are an American doo-wop group, best known for their 1956 million-selling song, " In the Still of the Night." They were formed in 1954 and continued performing until 1994. When it was formed, the group consisted of six members, w ...
sang across the bridge with a plaintive "doo-wop, doo-wah".
Development
![The Moonglows 1956](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/The_Moonglows_1956.jpg)
The vocal harmony group tradition that developed in the United States post-World War II was the most popular form of rhythm and blues music among black teenagers, especially those living in the large urban centers of the eastern coast, in Chicago, and in Detroit. Among the first groups to perform songs in the vocal harmony group tradition were
the Orioles
The Orioles were an American R&B group of the late 1940s and early 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal groups who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound.
The Orioles are generally acknowledged as R&B's first vocal group. Balt ...
,
the Five Keys
The Five Keys were an American rhythm and blues vocal group who were instrumental in shaping this genre in the 1950s.
They were formed with the original name of Sentimental Four in Newport News, Virginia, US, in the late 1940s, and initially consi ...
, and
the Spaniels
The Spaniels were an American R&B and doo-wop group, best known for the hit "Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite".
They have been called the first successful Midwestern R&B group. Some historians of vocal groups consider Pookie Hudson to be the first ...
; they specialized in romantic ballads that appealed to the sexual fantasies of teenagers in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The nonsense string of syllables, "doo doo doo doo-wop", from which the name of the genre was later derived, is used repeatedly in the song "Just A Sittin' And A Rockin", recorded by the
Delta Rhythm Boys
The Delta Rhythm Boys was an American vocal group active from 1934 to 1987.
The group was formed at Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma, in 1934 by Carl Jones, Traverse Crawford, Otha Lee Gaines, and Kelsey Pharr. They moved to Dillard U ...
in December 1945.
By the mid-1950s, vocal harmony groups had transformed the smooth delivery of ballads into a performance style incorporating the nonsense phrase
as vocalized by the bass singers, who provided rhythmic movement for ''a cappella'' songs.
Soon, other doo-wop groups entered the pop
charts
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tab ...
, particularly in 1955, which saw such cross-over doo-wop hits as "
Sincerely" by
the Moonglows
The Moonglows were an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group in the 1950s. Their song "Sincerely (song), Sincerely" went to number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, R&B chart and number 20 on the ''Billboard'' Juke Box chart.
They wer ...
,
[ "]Earth Angel
"Earth Angel", occasionally referred to as "Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)", is a song by American doo-wop group the Penguins. Produced by Dootsie Williams, it was released as their debut single in October 1954 on Dootone Records. The Penguins had ...
" by the Penguins
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, the Cadillacs' "Gloria", the Heartbeats' "A Thousand Miles Away", Shep & the Limelites' "Daddy's Home", the Flamingos
The Flamingos are an American doo-wop group formed in Chicago in 1953. The band became popular in mid-to-late 1950s and are known for their 1959 cover version of "I Only Have Eyes for You". They have since been hailed as one of the finest and ...
' "I Only Have Eyes for You", and the Jive Five's "My True Story".
Teenagers who could not afford musical instruments formed groups that sang songs ''a cappella'', performing at high school dances and other social occasions. They rehearsed on street corners and apartment stoops, as well as under bridges, in high school washrooms, and in hallways and other places with echoes: these were the only spaces with suitable acoustics available to them. Thus they developed a form of group harmony based in the harmonies and emotive phrasing of black spirituals and gospel music. Doo-wop music allowed these youths not only a means of entertaining themselves and others, but also a way of expressing their values and worldviews in a repressive white-dominated society, often through the use of innuendo and hidden messages in the lyrics.
Particularly productive doo-wop groups were formed by young Italian-American
Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, w ...
men who, like their black counterparts, lived in rough neighborhoods (e.g., the Bronx and Brooklyn), learned their basic musical craft singing in church, and would gain experience in the new style by singing on street corners. New York was the capital of Italian doo-wop, and all its boroughs were home to groups that made successful records.
By the late 1950s and early 1960s, many Italian-American groups had national hits: Dion and the Belmonts
Dion and the Belmonts were an American vocal trio prominent throughout the 1950s. All of its members were from the Bronx, New York City. In 1957, Dion DiMucci joined the vocal group the Belmonts. The established trio of Angelo D'Aleo, Carlo M ...
scored with "I Wonder Why
"I Wonder Why" is a doo-wop song, written by Melvin Anderson with lyrics by Ricardo Weeks. The song was first recorded by Dion and the Belmonts.
Background
It is sung from the point of view of a man telling his girlfriend that he loves her ...
", "Teenager in Love
"A Teenager in Love" is a song written by Doc Pomus and partner Mort Shuman. It was originally recorded by Dion and the Belmonts, and released in March 1959. It appeared on their album ''Presenting Dion and the Belmonts'' (1959). It reached num ...
", and "Where or When
"Where or When" is a show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical ''Babes in Arms''. It was first performed by Ray Heatherton and Mitzi Green. That same year, Hal Kemp recorded a popular version. The song also appeared in the film version o ...
"; the Capris
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
made their name in 1960 with " There's a Moon Out Tonight"; Randy & the Rainbows
Randy & the Rainbows are an American doo-wop group from Maspeth, New York.
History
The group was formed in 1962 in Maspeth, Queens, and featured two pairs of siblings, along with a fifth member. The Safuto brothers, Dominick and Frank, had p ...
, who charted with their Top #10 1963 single "Denise". Other Italian-American doo-wop groups were the Earls
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
, the Chimes
''The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In'', commonly referred to as ''The Chimes'', is a novella written by Charles Dickens and first published in 1844, one year after ''A Christmas Carol''. It is th ...
, the Elegants
The Elegants was an American doo-wop vocal group, that started in 1958 by Vito Picone, Arthur Venosa, Frank Tardogno, Carman Romano and James Moschello in South Beach, Staten Island, New York. Before their nursery rhyme inspired song, " Little ...
, the Mystics
The Mystics are an American rock and roll group that began in Brooklyn, New York, United States, in the late 1950s. The group was known as The Overons, a quintet that, when signed to Laurie Records, consisted of Phil Cracolici (born 1937, lead) ...
, the Duprees
The Duprees are an American musical group of doo-wop style who had a series of top-ten singles in the early 1960s. Their highest-charting single, " You Belong to Me" reached No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1962. In 1970, they recorded as T ...
, Johnny Maestro
The Brooklyn Bridge (also known as The Bridge and as Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge since the 1980s) is an American musical group, best known for their million-selling rendition of Jimmy Webb's " Worst That Could Happen" (1968).
History
Ne ...
& the Crests
The Crests were an American doo-wop group, formed by bass vocalist J.T. Carter in the mid 1950s. The group had several Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s on Coed Records. Their most popular song, " 16 Candles", rose to #2 on the ' ...
, and the Regents.
Some doo-wop groups were racially mixed. Puerto Rican Herman Santiago
Herman Santiago (born February 18, 1941) is a Puerto Rican rock and roll pioneer and songwriter who was previously a member of the vocal group Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. He (disputedly) co-wrote the group's iconic hit " Why Do Fools Fall ...
, originally slated to be the lead singer of the Teenagers
The Teenagers are an American music group, most noted for being one of rock music's earliest successes, presented to international audiences by DJ Alan Freed. The group, which made its most popular recordings with young Frankie Lymon as lead s ...
, wrote the lyrics and the music for a song to be called "Why Do Birds Sing So Gay?", but whether because he was ill or because producer George Goldner
George Goldner (February 9, 1918 – April 15, 1970) was an American record label owner, record producer and promoter who played an important role in establishing the popularity of rock and roll in the 1950s, by recording and promoting many ...
thought that newcomer Frankie Lymon
Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group Th ...
's voice would be better in the lead, Santiago's original version was not recorded. To suit his tenor voice Lymon made a few alterations to the melody, and consequently the Teenagers recorded the song known as " Why Do Fools Fall in Love?". Chico Torres was a member of the Crests, whose lead singer, Johhny Mastrangelo, would later gain fame under the name Johnny Maestro. Racially integrated groups with both black and white performers included the Del-Vikings
The Del-Vikings (also known as The Dell-Vikings) were an American doo-wop musical group that recorded several hit singles in the 1950s and continued to record and tour with various lineups in later decades. The group is notable for the hit song ...
, who had major hits in 1957 with "Come Go With Me
"Come Go With Me" is a song written by C. E. Quick (a.k.a. Clarence Quick), an original member (bass vocalist) of the American doo-wop vocal group the Del-Vikings. The song was originally recorded by The Del-Vikings (leadsinger Norman Wright) in ...
" and " Whispering Bells", the Crests, whose "16 Candles
''Sixteen Candles'' is a 1984 American coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, and Anthony Michael Hall. Written and directed by John Hughes (filmmaker), John Hughes in his List of directorial ...
" appeared in 1958, and the Impalas
The Impalas were an American doo-wop group in the late 1950s, best known for their hit, "Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)".
The group formed in 1958 in Brooklyn, New York, and was composed of lead singer Joe "Speedo" Frazier (September 5, 1943 ...
, whose "Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)
"Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)" is a song written by Artie Zwirn and Harry Giosasi and produced and arranged by LeRoy Holmes. The single was performed by New York-based doo-wop group The Impalas. It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, U.S. pop ...
" was a hit in 1959.
Female doo-wop singers were much less common than males in the early days of doo-wop. Lillian Leach, lead singer of the Mellows from 1953 to 1958, helped pave the way for other women in doo-wop, soul and R&B. Margo Sylvia was the lead singer for the Tune Weavers
The Tune Weavers were an American vocal group formed in 1957. They had a US top ten hit in 1957 with "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby". After first splitting up in 1962, the group has continued to perform with two original members.
Career
The group f ...
.
Baltimore
Like other urban centers in the US during the late 1940s and early 1950s, Baltimore developed its own vocal group tradition. The city produced rhythm and blues innovators such as the Cardinals
The Cardinals were an American R&B group of the 1950s. Sharing a legacy with the Orioles, The Cardinals are remembered as one of the best R&B ballad acts to come out of Baltimore.
Origins
The Cardinals’ career began in 1946 (one year before ...
, the Orioles
The Orioles were an American R&B group of the late 1940s and early 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal groups who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound.
The Orioles are generally acknowledged as R&B's first vocal group. Balt ...
, and the Swallows. The Royal Theatre in Baltimore and the Howard
Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
in Washington, D.C. were among the most prestigious venues for black performers on the so-called " Chitlin Circuit", which served as a school of the performing arts
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...
for blacks who had migrated from the deep South
The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...
, and even more so for their offspring. In the late 1940s, the Orioles rose from the streets and made a profound impression on young chitlin' circuit audiences in Baltimore. The group, formed in 1947, sang simple ballads in rhythm and blues harmony, with the standard arrangement of a high tenor singing over the chords of the blended mid-range voices and a strong bass voice. Their lead singer, Sonny Til
Earlington Carl Tilghman, known as Sonny Til (August 18, 1928 – December 9, 1981),
- accessed May 2010 was an American singer. He ...
, had a soft, high-pitched tenor, and like the rest of the group, was still a teenager at the time. His style reflected the optimism of young black Americans in the postmigration era. The sound they helped develop, later called '"doo-wop", eventually became a "sonic bridge" to reach a white teen audience.
In 1948, Jubilee Records
Jubilee Records was an American independent record label, specializing in rhythm and blues and novelty records. It was founded in New York City in 1946 by Herb Abramson. His partner was Jerry Blaine. Blaine bought Abramson's half of the compan ...
signed the Orioles to a contract, following which they appeared on Arthur Godfrey's ''Talent Scout'' radio show. The song they performed, "It's Too Soon to Know", often cited as the first doo-wop song, went to number 1 on ''Billboards "Race Records" chart, and number 13 on the pop charts, a crossover first for a black group. This was followed in 1953 by "Crying in the Chapel", their biggest hit, which went to number 1 on the R&B chart and number 11 on the pop chart. The Orioles were perhaps the first of the many doo-wop groups who named themselves after birds.
The sexual innuendo in the Orioles' songs was less disguised than in the vocal group music of the swing era. Their stage choreography was also more sexually explicit, and their songs were simpler and more emotionally direct. This new approach to sex in their performances did not target the white teen audience at first—when the Orioles took the stage, they were appealing directly to a young black audience, with Sonny Til using his entire body to convey the emotion in the lyrics of their songs. He became a teen sex symbol for black girls, who reacted by screaming and throwing pieces of clothing onto the stage when he sang. Other young male vocalists of the era took note and adjusted their own acts accordingly. The Orioles were soon displaced by newer groups who imitated these pioneers as a model for success.
The Swallows began in the late 1940s as a group of Baltimore teenagers calling themselves the Oakaleers. One of the members lived across the street from Sonny Til, who went on to lead the Orioles, and their success inspired the Oakaleers to rename themselves the Swallows. Their song "Will You Be Mine", released in 1951, reached number 9 on the US ''Billboard'' R&B chart. In 1952, the Swallows released "Beside You", their second national hit, which peaked at number 10 on the R&B chart.
Some Baltimore doo-wop groups were connected with street gangs, and a few members were active in both scenes, such as Johnny Page of the Marylanders. As in all the major urban centers of the US, many of the teen gangs had their own street corner vocal groups in which they took great pride and which they supported fiercely. Competitive music and dance was a part of African American street culture, and with the success of some local groups, competition increased, leading to territorial rivalries among performers. Pennsylvania Avenue served as a boundary between East and West Baltimore, with the East producing the Swallows and the Cardinals
The Cardinals were an American R&B group of the 1950s. Sharing a legacy with the Orioles, The Cardinals are remembered as one of the best R&B ballad acts to come out of Baltimore.
Origins
The Cardinals’ career began in 1946 (one year before ...
and the Blentones, while the West was home to the Orioles and the Four Buddies
The Four Buddies were an American doo-wop group, based in Baltimore, Maryland. They recorded in the early to mid-1950s, and focused on melodious and laid-back ballads. Their biggest hit was "I Will Wait", and they recorded for Savoy Records.
Ea ...
.
Baltimore vocal groups gathered at neighborhood record stores, where they practiced the latest hits in hopes that the store owners' connections with record companies and distributors might land them an audition. A King Records talent scout discovered the Swallows as they were rehearsing in Goldstick's record store. Sam Azrael's Super Music Store and Shaw's shoeshine parlor were also favored hangouts for Baltimore vocal groups; Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegun
Ahmet Ertegun (, Turkish spelling: Ahmet Ertegün; ; – December 14, 2006) was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist.
Ertegun was the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records. He discovered and ch ...
auditioned the Cardinals at Azrael's. Some groups cut demos at local studios and played them for recording producers
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
, with the aim of getting signed to a record deal.
Chicago
The city of Chicago was outranked as a recording center in the United States only by New York City in the early years of the music recording industry
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, r ...
. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, independent record labels gained control of the black record market from the major companies, and Chicago rose as one of the main centers for rhythm and blues music. This music was a vital source for the youth music called rock 'n' roll. In the mid-1950s, a number of rhythm and blues acts performing in the vocal ensemble style later known as ''doo-wop'' began to cross over from the R&B charts to mainstream rock 'n' roll. The Chicago record companies took note of this trend and scouted for vocal groups from the city that they could sign to their labels. The record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
s, record distributors, and nightclub owners of Chicago all had a part in developing the vocal potential of the doo-wop groups, but Chicago doo-wop was "created and nourished" on the street corners of the city's lower-class neighborhoods.
The Chicago doo-wop groups, like those in New York, started singing on street corners and practiced their harmonies in tiled bathrooms, hallways, and subways, but because they came originally from the deep South, the home of gospel and blues music, their doo-wop sound was more influenced by gospel and blues.
Vee-Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll.
The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...
and Chess Records were the main labels recording doo-wop groups in Chicago. Vee-Jay signed the Dells
The Dells were an American R&B vocal group. Formed in high school in 1953 by founding members Marvin Junior, Verne Allison, Johnny Funches, Chuck Barksdale, and Michael and Lucius McGill, under the name the El-Rays. They released their first r ...
, the El Dorados
The El Dorados were an American doo-wop group, who achieved their greatest success with the song " At My Front Door", a no. 1 hit on the US '' Billboard'' R&B chart in 1955.
History
The group formed in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in 195 ...
, the Magnificents, and the Spaniels, all of whom achieved national chart hits in the mid-1950s. Chess signed the Moonglows, who had the most commercial success (seven Top 40 R&B hits, six of those Top Ten) of the 1950s doo-wop groups, and the Flamingos, who had national hits as well.
Detroit
In 1945, Joe Von Battle opened Joe's Record Shop at 3530 Hastings Street in Detroit; the store had the largest selection of rhythm and blues records in the city, according to a 1954 ''Billboard'' business survey. Battle, a migrant from Macon, Georgia, established his shop as the first black-owned business in the area, which remained primarily Jewish up to the late 1940s. Young aspiring performers would gather there in hopes of being discovered by the leading independent record company owners who courted Battle to promote and sell records, as well as to find new talent at his shop and studio. Battle's record labels included JVB, Von, Battle, Gone, and Viceroy; he also had subsidiary arrangements with labels such as King and Deluxe. He supplied Syd Nathan with many blues and doo-wop masters recorded in his primitive back-of-the-store studio from 1948 to 1954. As the pivotal recording mogul in the Detroit area, Battle was an important player in the independent label network.
Jack and Devora Brown, a Jewish couple, founded Fortune Records in 1946 and recorded a variety of eccentric artists and sounds; in the mid-1950s they became champions of Detroit rhythm and blues, including the music of local doo-wop groups. Fortune's premier act was the Diablos, featuring the soaring tenor of lead vocalist Nolan Strong, a native of Alabama. The group's most notable hit was " The Wind". Strong, like other R&B and doo-wop tenors of the time, was profoundly influenced by Clyde McPhatter, lead singer of the Dominoes and later of the Drifters. Strong himself made a lasting impression on the young Smokey Robinson, who went out of his way to attend Diablo shows.
In late 1957, seventeen-year-old Robinson, fronting a Detroit vocal harmony group called the Matadors, met the producer Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...
, who was beginning to take up new styles, including doo-wop. Gordy wanted to promote a black style of music that would appeal to both the black and white markets, performed by black musicians with roots in gospel, R&B, or doo-wop. He sought artists who understood that the music had to be updated to appeal to a broader audience and attain greater commercial success. Early recordings by Gordy's Tamla Records
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
, founded several months before he established the Motown Record Corporation
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
in January 1959, were of either blues or doo-wop performances.
" Bad Girl", a 1959 doo-wop single by Robinson's group, the Miracles
The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential group ...
, was the first single released (and the only one released by this group) on the Motown label—all previous singles from the company (and all those following from the group) were released on the Tamla label. Issued locally on the Motown Records label, it was licensed to and released nationally by Chess Records because the fledgling Motown Record Corporation did not, at that time, have national distribution. "Bad Girl" was the group's first national chart hit, reaching #93 on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown Records' president Berry Gordy, "Bad Girl" was the first of several of the Miracles' songs performed in the doo-wop style during the late 1950s.
Los Angeles
Doo-wop groups also formed on the west coast of the United States, especially in California, where the scene was centered in Los Angeles. Independent record labels owned by black entrepreneurs such as Dootsie Williams
Walter D. Williams, Jr. (June 17, 1911–August 21, 1991), known as Dootsie Williams, was an American record producer and record label owner who released early records by Redd Foxx and The Penguins.
Life and career
Williams was born in Mob ...
and John Dolphin
John Robert Vernon Dolphin (1 October 19052 May 1973) was a British engineer and inventor, who joined the Secret Intelligence Service and then became the Commanding Officer of the top-secret Second World War Special Operations Executive (SOE) " ...
recorded these groups, most of which had formed in high schools. One such group, the Penguins, included Cleveland "Cleve" Duncan and Dexter Tisby, former classmates at Fremont High School in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. They, along with Bruce Tate and Curtis Williams, recorded the song "Earth Angel" (produced by Dootsie Williams), which rose to number one on the R&B charts in 1954.
Most of the Los Angeles doo-wop groups came out of the Fremont, Belmont, and Jefferson Jefferson may refer to:
Names
* Jefferson (surname)
* Jefferson (given name)
People
* Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States
* Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...
high schools. All of them were influenced by the Robins
The Robins were a successful and influential American R&B group of the late 1940s and 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal groups who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound. They were founded by Ty Terrell, and twin brothers Bi ...
, a successful R&B group of the late 1940s and the 1950s who formed in San Francisco, or by other groups including the Flairs
The Flairs (or Flares) were an American doo-wop group known for their 1961 hit "Foot Stompin', Pt. 1." Based in Los Angeles, they went through several lineup changes during their existence. Their notable members included Richard Berry (writer of ...
, the Flamingos (not the Chicago group) and the Hollywood Flames
The Hollywood Flames were an American R&B vocal group in the 1950s, best known for their No. 11 hit " Buzz-Buzz-Buzz" in 1957.
Early years
They formed as The Flames in 1949, in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, at a talent show where mem ...
. Many other Los Angeles doo-wop groups of the time were recorded by Dootsie Williams' Dootone Records and by John Dolphin's Central Avenue record store, Dolphin's of Hollywood. These included the Calvanes, the Crescendos, the Cuff Linx, the Cubans, the Dootones, the Jaguars, the Jewels, the Meadowlarks, the Silks, the Squires, the Titans, and the Up-Fronts. A few groups, such as the Platters
The Platters was an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The ac ...
and Rex Middleton's Hi-Fis, had crossover
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
success.
The Jaguars, from Fremont High School, was one of the first interracial vocal groups; it consisted of two African Americans, a Mexican American, and a Polish-Italian American. Doo-wop was popular with California Mexican Americans, who were attracted in the 1950s to its ''a capella'' vocals; the romantic style of the doo-wop groups appealed to them, as it was reminiscent of the traditional ballads and harmonies of Mexican folk music.
In 1960, Art Laboe released one of the first oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...
compilations, ''Memories of El Monte'', on his record label, Original Sound
Original Sound is a Los Angeles, California-based record label. It was founded in the early 1950s by KPOP deejay Art Laboe. It began as a small label that specialized in compiling and re-releasing "oldies" R&B and rock 'n' roll songs.
History
The ...
. The record was a collection of classic doo-wop songs by bands that used to play at the dances Laboe organized at El Monte Legion Stadium in El Monte, California
}
El Monte (Spanish for "The Mountain") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the San Gabriel Valley, east of the city of Los Angeles.
El Monte's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte" and is historically ...
, beginning in 1955. It included songs by local bands such as the Heartbeats and the Medallions
The Medallions were an American doo-wop vocal group led by Vernon Green (1937–2000).
History
The group formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1954, after Vernon Green was heard singing on the street by Walter "Dootsie" William ...
. Laboe had become a celebrity in the Los Angeles area as a disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
for radio station KPOP
K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...
, playing doo-wop and rhythm and blues broadcast from the parking lot of Scriverner's Drive-In on Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...
.
In 1962, Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...
, with his friend Ray Collins, wrote the doo-wop song "Memories of El Monte
"Memories of El Monte" is a doo-wop metasong released in 1963 by the Penguins featuring Cleve Duncan. It was written by Frank Zappa and Ray Collins before they were in the Mothers of Invention. The song was first released as Original Sound 27.
...
". This was one of the first songs written by Zappa, who had been listening to Laboe's compilation of doo-wop singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
. Zappa took the song to Laboe, who recruited the lead vocalist of the Penguins, Cleve Duncan, for a new iteration of the group, recorded it, and released it as a single on his record label.
New York City
Early doo-wop music, dating from the late 1940s and early 1950s, was especially popular in the Northeast industrial corridor from New York to Philadelphia, and New York City was the world capital of doo-wop. There, African American groups such as the Ravens, the Drifters, the Dominoes, the Charts, and the so-called "bird groups", such as the Crows, the Sparrows, the Larks, and the Wrens
The Wrens were an American indie rock band from New Jersey. The group consisted of Charles Bissell (guitar/vocals), brothers Greg Whelan (guitar/vocals) and Kevin Whelan (bass/vocals), and Jerry MacDonald (drums). They released three albums; a fo ...
, melded rhythm and blues with the gospel music they had grown up singing in church. Street singing was almost always ''a cappella''; instrumental accompaniment was added when the songs were recorded. The large numbers of blacks who had migrated to New York City as part of the Great Migration came mostly from Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas. In the 1940s black youths in the city began to sing the rhythm and blues styling that came to be known as doo-wop. Many of these groups were found in Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
.
Blacks were forced by legal and social segregation, as well as by the constraints of the built environment
The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ac ...
, to live in certain parts of New York City of the early 1950s. They identified with their own wards, street blocks and streets. Being effectively locked out of mainstream white society increased their social cohesion
Group cohesiveness (also called group cohesion and social cohesion) arises when bonds link members of a social group to one another and to the group as a whole. Although cohesion is a multi-faceted process, it can be broken down into four main co ...
and encouraged creativity within the context of African American culture. Young singers formed groups and rehearsed their songs in public spaces: on street corners, apartment stoops, and subway platforms, in bowling alleys, school bathrooms, and pool halls, as well as at playgrounds and under bridges.
Bobby Robinson, a native of South Carolina, was an independent record producer and songwriter in Harlem who helped popularize doo-wop music in the 1950s. He got into the music business in 1946 when he opened "Bobby's Record Shop" (later "Bobby's Happy House") on the corner of 125th Street and Eighth Avenue, near the Apollo Theater, a noted venue for African-American performers. The Apollo held talent contests in which audience members indicated their favorites with applause. These were a major outlet for doo-wop performers to be discovered by record company talent scouts. In 1951, Robinson started Robin Records, which later became Red Robin Records
Red Robin Records was a record label that began in 1951 as "Robin Records" in New York City. Owner Bobby Robinson was unaware that another company was already using the name "Robin" and after about four releases was forced to change to "Red R ...
, and began recording doo-wop; he recorded the Ravens, the Mello-Moods, and many other doo-wop vocal groups. He used the tiny shop to launch a series of record labels which released many hits in the US. Robinson founded or co-founded Red Robin Records, Whirlin' Disc Records, Fury Records, Everlast Records, Fire Records and Enjoy Records.
Arthur Godfrey
Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname The Old Redhead. At the peak of his success, in the early-to-mid 1950s, Godf ...
's long-running (1946–1958) morning radio show on CBS, Talent Scouts
Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...
, was a New York venue from which some doo-wop groups gained national exposure. In 1948, the Orioles, then known as the Vibra-Nairs, went to the city with Deborah Chessler
Deborah Chessler (1923 – October 10, 2012) was a songwriter whose song " It's Too Soon to Know" was number one on the American rhythm and blues charts in November 1948 and is considered by some to be the first rock and roll song. Chessler h ...
, their manager and main songwriter, and appeared on the show. They won only third place, but Godfrey invited them back twice. Chessler leveraged a few demo recordings the group had cut, along with the recent radio exposure, to interest a distributor in marketing the group on an independent label. They cut six sides, one of which was a doo-wop ballad written by Chessler called " It's Too Soon to Know". It reached no. 1 on ''Billboard's'' national Most-Played Juke Box Race Records chart, and, in a first for a doo-wop song, the record crossed over to the mainstream pop chart, where it reached no. 13.
The Du Droppers
The Du Droppers were an American doo-wop group formed in Harlem, New York, in 1952. Members of the band were experienced gospel singers in ensembles dated to the 1940s, and were one of the oldest groups to record during the era. Among the Du Dro ...
formed in Harlem in 1952. Members of the band were experienced gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
singers in ensembles dating to the 1940s, and were one of the oldest groups to record during the era. Among the Du Droppers' most enduring songs are "I Wanna Know" and "I Found Out (What You Do When You Go Round There)", which both reached number three on the ''Billboard'' R&B charts in 1953.
Frankie Lymon, lead vocalist of the Teenagers
The Teenagers are an American music group, most noted for being one of rock music's earliest successes, presented to international audiences by DJ Alan Freed. The group, which made its most popular recordings with young Frankie Lymon as lead s ...
, was the first black teen idol
A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups.
By region Asia
East Asia possess ...
who appealed to both black and white audiences. He was born in Harlem, where he began singing doo-wop songs with his friends on the streets. He joined a group, the Premiers, and helped members Herman Santiago
Herman Santiago (born February 18, 1941) is a Puerto Rican rock and roll pioneer and songwriter who was previously a member of the vocal group Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. He (disputedly) co-wrote the group's iconic hit " Why Do Fools Fall ...
and Jimmy Merchant
Jimmy Merchant (born February 10, 1940) is an American singer and musician. He was a member of the doo-wop group The Teenagers. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of the Teenagers. He retired from The Teenage ...
rewrite a song they had composed to create " Why Do Fools Fall In Love", which won the group an audition with Gee Records Gee Records was a New York-based American record label formed as a subsidiary to George Goldner's Tico Records and Rama Records labels in 1953 to honor the million selling hit song " Gee" (1953). Sometime in 1955 Goldner (an inveterate gambler) sol ...
. Santiago was too sick to sing lead on the day of the audition, consequently Lymon sang the lead on "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" instead, and the group was signed as the Teenagers with Lymon as lead singer. The song quickly charted as the number one R&B song in the United States and reached number six on the pop chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...
in 1956, becoming the number one pop hit in the United Kingdom as well.
The Willows The Willows may refer to:
Places
* The Willows, El Paso, Texas, USA
* The Willows, Queensland, a town in Australia
* The Willows, Salford, home of Salford Rugby League club in Salford, England, UK
* The Willows, Saskatoon, a residential community ...
, an influential street corner group from Harlem, were a model for many of the New York City doo-wop acts that rose after them. Their biggest hit was " Church Bells May Ring", featuring Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...
, then a member of the Linc-Tones, on chimes
Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...
. It reached number 11 on the US R&B chart in 1956.
Although they never had a national chart hit, the Solitaires
The Solitaires are an American doo-wop group, best known for their 1957 hit single " Walking Along". Although they never had a national chart hit, they were one of the most popular vocal groups in New York in the late 1950s.
History
The Solitai ...
, best known for their 1957 hit single "Walking Along
"Walking Along" is a song recorded by the American doo wop group the Solitaires in 1957. The group members are individually credited on the Argo Records single release as the songwriters. The single was their best selling record.
This song featu ...
", were one of the most popular vocal groups in New York in the late 1950s.
The heyday of the girl group era began in 1957 with the success of two teen groups from the Bronx, the Chantels
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
and the Bobbettes
The Bobbettes were an American R&B girl group who had a 1957 top 10 hit song called " Mr. Lee". The group initially existed from 1955 to 1974 and included Jannie Pought (1945–1980), Emma Pought (born 1942), Reather Dixon (1944–2014), Laura ...
. The six girls in the Bobettes, aged eleven to fifteen, wrote and recorded "Mr. Lee", a novelty tune about a schoolteacher that was a national hit. The Chantels were the second African-American girl group
A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...
to enjoy nationwide success in the US. The group was established in the early 1950s by five students, all of them born in the Bronx, who attended the Catholic St. Anthony of Padua School in the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, where they were trained to sing Gregorian Chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...
s. Their first recording was "He's Gone" (1958), which made them the first pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
girl group to chart. Their second single, "Maybe" hit the charts, No. 15 on ''Billboard''s Hot 100.
In 1960, the Chiffons
:''The Chiffons also briefly recorded under the name The Four Pennies; for the British band of the latter name see The Four Pennies.''
The Chiffons are an American girl group originating from the Bronx, a borough of New York City, in 1960.
Hist ...
began as a trio of schoolmates at James Monroe High School in the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. Judy Craig, fourteen years old, was the lead singer, singing with Patricia Bennett and Barbara Lee, both thirteen. In 1962, the girls met songwriter Ronnie Mack
Ronald Augustus Mack (July 11, 1940 – November 5, 1963) at the after-school center; Mack suggested they add Sylvia Peterson, who had sung with Little Jimmy & the Tops, to the group. The group was named the Chiffons when recording and releasing their first single, "He's So Fine
"He's So Fine" is a song written by Ronnie Mack. It was recorded by The Chiffons who topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for four weeks in the spring of 1963. One of the most instantly recognizable golden oldies with its ''doo-lang doo-lang doo-la ...
". Written by Mack, it was released on the Laurie Records
Laurie Records was a record label established in New York City in 1958 by brothers Robert and Gene Schwartz, and Allan I. Sussel. Among the recording artists on Laurie's roster were Dion and the Belmonts (both together and as separate acts), ...
label in 1963. "He's So Fine" hit No. 1 in the US, selling over one million copies.
Public School 99, which sponsored evening talent shows, and Morris High School were centers of musical creativity in the Bronx during the doo-wop era. Arthur Crier, a leading figure in the doo-wop scene in the Morrissania neighborhood, was born in Harlem and raised in the Bronx; his mother was from North Carolina. Crier was a founding member of a doo-wop group called the Five Chimes, one of several different groups with that name, and sang bass with the Halos The Halos were an American doo wop group from The Bronx.
The group formed with members Al Cleveland, J.R. Bailey, Harold Johnson, and Arthur Crier (bass). Phil Johnson replaced J.R. Bailey shortly after the recording of "Nag". (Bailey later joined ...
and the Mellows. Many years later he observed that there was a shift in the music sung on the streets from gospel to secular rhythm and blues between 1950 and 1952.
New York was also the capital of Italian doo-wop, and all its boroughs were home to groups that made successful records. The Crests were from the Lower East Side in Manhattan; Dion and the Belmonts, the Regents, and Nino and the Ebb Tides
Nino and the Ebb Tides were a doo-wop musical group based in the Bronx, New York, formed in 1956.
Their first recording, ''Franny Franny'' (credited to "The Ebb Tides"), was the result of meeting talent scout Murray Jacobs in 1957 and was widel ...
were from the Bronx; the Elegants from Staten Island; the Capris
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
from Queens; the Mystics, the Neons, the Classics, and Vito & the Salutations
Vito & the Salutations is an Italian/ Irish/Jewish-American New York City doo-wop group from the 1960s. They began performing their four-part harmonies while still in high school, getting practice by singing in subways and at railroad stations. But ...
from Brooklyn.
Although Italians were a much smaller proportion of the Bronx's population in the 1950s than Jews and the Irish, only they had significant influence as rock 'n' roll singers. Young people of other ethnicities were listening to rock 'n' roll, but it was Italian Americans who established themselves in performing and recording the music. While relationships between Italian Americans and African Americans in the Bronx were sometimes fraught, there were many instances of collaboration between them.
Italian Americans kept African Americans out of their neighborhoods with racial boundary policing and fought against them in turf wars and gang battles, yet they adopted the popular music of African Americans, treated it as their own, and were an appreciative audience for black doo-wop groups. Similarities in language idioms, masculine norms, and public comportment made it possible for African American and Italian American young men to mingle easily when societal expectations did not interfere. These cultural commonalities allowed Italian Americans to appreciate the singing of black doo-woppers in deterritorialized spaces, whether on the radio, on records, at live concerts, or in street performances. Dozens of neighborhood Italian groups formed, some of which recorded songs at Cousins Records, a record shop turned label, on Fordham Road. Italian American groups from the Bronx released a steady stream of doo-wop songs, including "Teenager In Love" and "I Wonder Why" by Dion and the Belmonts, and "Barbara Ann" by the Regents. Johnny Maestro, the Italian American lead singer of the interracial Bronx group the Crests, was the lead on the hit "Sixteen Candles
''Sixteen Candles'' is a 1984 American coming-of-age comedy film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, and Anthony Michael Hall. Written and directed by John Hughes in his directorial debut, it was the first in a string of films Hughes ...
". Maestro said that he became interested in R&B vocal group harmony listening to the Flamingos, the Harptones, and the Moonglows on Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...
's radio show on WINS in New York. Freed's various radio and stage shows had a crucial role in creating a market for Italian doo-wop.
Philadelphia
Young black singers in Philadelphia helped create the doo-wop vocal harmony style developing in the major cities of the US during the 1950s. Early doo-wop groups in the city included the Castelles
The Castelles were among the originators of the " Philadelphia sound", which features a high tenor lead, a bass, and tenors singing in close harmony, and minimal instrumentation. In spite of its popularity with collectors, however, groups with the ...
, the Silhouettes
The Silhouettes were an American doo wop/ R&B group, whose single " Get a Job" was a number 1 hit on the '' Billboard'' R&B singles chart and pop singles chart in 1958. The doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na derived their name from the song's ly ...
, the Turbans, and Lee Andrews & the Hearts
Lee Andrews & the Hearts were an American doo-wop quintet from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, formed in 1953. They recorded on the Gotham, Rainbow, Mainline, Chess, United Artists, Grand and Gowen labels. Managed by Kae Williams, in ...
. They were recorded by small independent rhythm and blues record labels, and occasionally by more established labels in New York. Most of these groups had limited success, scoring only one or two hit songs on the R&B charts. They had frequent personnel changes and often moved from label to label hoping to achieve another hit.
The migration of blacks to Philadelphia from the southern states of the US, especially South Carolina and Virginia, had a profound effect not only on the city's demographics, but on its music and culture as well. During the Great Migration, the black population of Philadelphia increased to 250,000 by 1940. Hundreds of thousands of southern African Americans migrated to the metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
, bringing their secular and religious folk music with them. After World War II, the black population of the metro grew to about 530,000 by 1960.
Black doo-wop groups had a major role in the evolution of rhythm and blues in early 1950s Philadelphia. Groups like the Castelles and the Turbans helped develop the music with their tight harmonies, lush ballads, and distinctive falsettos. Many of these vocal groups got together in secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
s such as West Philadelphia High School
West Philadelphia High School is a secondary school located in the West Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the intersection of 49th Street and Chestnut Street.
History
The original West Philadelphia High School (WPHS) building ...
, and performed at neighborhood recreation centers and teen dances. The Turbans, Philadelphia's first nationally charting R&B group, formed in 1953 when they were in their teens. They signed with Herald Records
Herald Records was an American record label of the 1950s and 1960s.
Herald was founded in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1952 by Fred Mendelsohn. He teamed up with Al Silver and Silver's brother-in-law, who continued Herald Records after Mendelsohn left ...
and recorded "Let Me Show You (Around My Heart)" with its B side, "When We Dance", in 1955. "When We Dance" became a national hit,
rising to no. 3 on the R&B charts and reaching the Top 40 on the pop charts.
The Silhouettes' crossover hit " Get a Job", released in 1957, reached number one on the pop and R&B charts in February 1958, while Lee Andrews & the Hearts had hits in 1957 and 1958 with "Teardrops", "Long Lonely Nights
"Long Lonely Nights" is a song that was originally released by Lee Andrews & the Hearts in 1957. Hit versions were also released by Clyde McPhatter, later in 1957, and Bobby Vinton in 1965. The song was written by Lee Andrews, though Larry Brown ...
", and "Try the Impossible".
Kae Williams Ulysses Kae Williams (February 4, 1921 – December 29, 1987) was an American DJ, record label owner and producer, known as one of the earliest local deejays to play the blues.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, he started in radio around 1 ...
, a Philadelphia deejay, record label owner and producer, managed the doo-wop groups Lee Andrews & the Hearts, the Sensations
The Sensations were an American doo-wop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
The group formed in 1954 under the name the Cavaliers, soon after changing to the Sensations. The group scored two hits on the US R&B chart in 1956 with ...
, who sold nearly a million records in 1961 with the song ''Let Me In'', and the Silhouettes
The Silhouettes were an American doo wop/ R&B group, whose single " Get a Job" was a number 1 hit on the '' Billboard'' R&B singles chart and pop singles chart in 1958. The doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na derived their name from the song's ly ...
, who had a number 1 hit in 1958 with "Get a Job". After the nationally distributed Ember label acquired the rights to "Get a Job", Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting '' American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 19 ...
began to play it on '' American Bandstand'', and subsequently it sold over a million copies, topping the Billboard R&B singles chart and pop singles chart.
Although ''American Bandstands programming came to rely on the musical creations of black performers, the show marginalized black teens with exclusionary admissions policies until it moved to Los Angeles in 1964. Featuring young whites dancing to music popularized by local deejays Georgie Woods
Georgie Woods (1927 – June 18, 2005) was an American radio personality who was best known for his broadcasting career in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area.
Woods came to Philadelphia from New York in 1953 and began broadcasting from AM statio ...
and Mitch Thomas, with steps created by their black teenage listeners, ''Bandstand'' presented to its national audience an image of youth culture that erased the presence of black teenagers in Philadelphia's youth music scene.
Broadcast from a warehouse on 46th and Market Street in West Philadelphia, most of ''American Bandstands young dancers were Italian Americans who attended a nearby Catholic high school in South Philadelphia. Like the rest of the entertainment industry, ''American Bandstand'' camouflaged the intrinsic blackness of the music in response to a national moral panic
A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", us ...
over rock 'n' roll's popularity with white teenagers, and the show's Italian American dancers and performers were deethnicized as "nice white kids", their Italian American youth identity submerged in whiteness.
Dick Clark kept track of the national music scene through promoters and popular disc jockeys. In Philadelphia, he listened to Hy Lit
Hyman Aaron "Hy" Lit (May 20, 1934 – November 17, 2007) was an American disc jockey based in the Philadelphia area from the 1950s until 2005. In his 50-year career, Hy Lit broadcast from WIBG, WDAS/WDAS-FM, WKBS-TV, WIFI, WSNI/ WPGR, KPOL, W ...
, the lone white deejay at WHAT
What or WHAT may refer to:
* What, an interrogative pronoun and adverb
* "What?", one of the Five Ws used in journalism
Film and television
* ''What!'' (film) or ''The Whip and the Body'', a 1963 Italian film directed by Mario Bava
* '' Wha ...
, and African American disc jockeys Georgie Woods and Douglas "Jocko" Henderson on WDAS. These were Philadelphia's two major black radio stations; they were black-oriented, but white-owned.
The program director of WHAT, Charlie O'Donnell, hired Lit, who was Jewish, to deejay on the station in 1955, and Lit's career was launched. From there he went to WRCV and then around 1956 to WIBG, where over 70 percent of the radio audience in the listening area tuned in to his 6–10 p.m. program.
Cameo Records and Parkway Records were major record labels based in Philadelphia from 1956 (Cameo) and 1958 (Parkway) to 1967 that released doo-wop records. In 1957, small Philadelphia record label XYZ had recorded "Silhouettes
A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...
", a song by local group the Rays, which Cameo picked up for national distribution. It eventually reached number 3 on both the R&B Best Sellers chart and Billboard Top 100, and also reached the top five on both the sales and airplay charts. It was the group's only top 40 hit.
Several white Philadelphia doo-wop groups also had chart-toppers; the Capris
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
had a regional hit with "God Only Knows
"God Only Knows" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1966 album '' Pet Sounds''. Written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher, it is a Baroque-style love song distinguished for its harmonic innovation and its subversion of typi ...
" in 1954. In 1958, Danny & the Juniors
Danny & the Juniors are an American doo-wop and rock and roll vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania originally consisting of Danny Rapp, Dave White, Frank Maffei and Joe Terranova. Formed in 1955, they are most widely recognized for th ...
had a number-one hit with "At the Hop
"At the Hop" is a 1950s pop song written by Artie Singer, John Medora, and David White and originally released by Danny & the Juniors. The song was released in the fall of 1957 and reached number one on the US charts on January 6, 1958, becomi ...
" and their song "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay" reached the top twenty. In 1961, the Dovells
The Dovells were an American doo-wop group, formed at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1957, under the name 'The Brooktones'. The original members were Arnie Silver, Len Borisoff, Jerry Gross (alias Summers), Mike Freda, a ...
reached the number two spot with "The Bristol Stomp", about teenagers in Bristol, Pennsylvania
Bristol is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northeast of Center City Philadelphia, opposite Burlington, New Jersey on the Delaware River. It antedates Philadelphia, being settled in 1681 and first incorporat ...
who were dancing a new step called "The Stomp".
Jerry Blavat
Gerald Joseph "Jerry" Blavat (born July 3, 1940), also known as "The Geator with the Heater" and "The Big Boss with the Hot Sauce," is an American disc jockey and performer who has been a major influence in promoting oldies music on the radio. A P ...
, a half-Jewish, half-Italian, popular deejay on Philadelphia radio, built his career hosting dances and live shows and gained a devoted local following.
He soon had his own independent radio show, on which he introduced many doo-wop acts in the 1960s to a wide audience, including the Four Seasons, an Italian American group from Newark, New Jersey.
Jamaica
The history of modern Jamaican music is relatively short. A sudden shift in its style began in the early 1950s with the importing of American rhythm and blues records to the island and the new availability of affordable transistor radios. Listeners whose tastes had been neglected by the lone Jamaican station at the time, RJR (Real Jamaican Radio), tuned into the R&B music being broadcast on the powerful nighttime signals of American AM radio stations, especially WLAC
WLAC (1510 AM) – branded ''Talkradio 98.3 & 1510'' – is a commercial talk radio radio station licensed to serve Nashville, Tennessee. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station covers the Nashville metropolitan area. The WLAC studios are located ...
in Nashville, WNOE in New Orleans, and WINZ in Miami. On these stations Jamaicans could hear the likes of Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...
and doo-wop vocal groups.
Jamaicans who worked as migrant agricultural workers in the southern US returned with R&B records, which sparked an active dance scene in Kingston. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, many working-class Jamaicans who could not afford radios attended sound system dances, large outdoor dances featuring a deejay (selector
Selector may refer to:
*Selector, electrical or mechanical component, a switch
*''Selector'', music scheduling software for radio stations created by Radio Computing Services
*Selector, of music, otherwise known as a disc jockey
*Selector, a pers ...
) and his selection of records. Enterprising deejays used mobile sound systems to create impromptu street parties. These developments were the principal means by which new American R&B records were introduced to a mass Jamaican audience.
The opening by Ken Khouri
Kenneth Lloyd Khouri (1917 – 20 September 2003) was a pioneering Jamaican record producer and founder of Federal Records, the first recording studio in Jamaica, which was sold to Bob Marley's Tuff Gong record label in 1981. He is credited by re ...
of Federal Studios, Jamaica's first recording facility, in 1954, marked the beginning of a prolific recording industry and a thriving rhythm and blues scene in Jamaica. In 1957, American performers including Rosco Gordon
Rosco N. Gordon III (April 10, 1928 – July 11, 2002),
sometimes billed as Roscoe Gordon, was an American blues singer, pianist, and songwriter. He is best known for his hit songs "Booted," (1952), "No More Doggin'" (1952), and " Just a Littl ...
and the Platters
The Platters was an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The ac ...
performed in Kingston. In late August 1957, the doo-wop group Lewis Lymon and the Teenchords arrived in Kingston as part of the "Rock-a-rama" rhythm and blues troupe for two days of shows at the Carib Theatre.
The Four Coins
The Four Coins were a popular American vocal group, consisting of Jimmy Gregorakis, George Mantalis, and brothers George and Jack Mahramas. They were all of Greek heritage and came from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. A local orchestra leader, Lee Barr ...
, a Greek American doo-wop group from Pittsburgh, did a show in Kingston in 1958.
Like their American exemplars, many Jamaican vocalists began their careers by practicing harmonies in groups on street corners, before moving on to the talent contest circuit that was the proving ground
A proving ground (US) is an installation or reservation in which technology such as weapons, military tactics and automobile prototypes are experimented with or tested. Proving grounds can be operated by government bodies or civilian industries. ...
for new talent in the days before the rise of the first sound systems.
In 1959, while he was a student at Kingston College, Dobby Dobson
Highland Ralph Dobson OD (5 July 1942 – 21 July 2020) was a Jamaican reggae singer and record producer, nicknamed "The Loving Pauper" after one of his best known songs.
Biography
Dobson began singing while a student at Central Branch Sc ...
wrote the doo-wop song "Cry a Little Cry" in honor of his shapely biology teacher, and recruited a group of his schoolmates to back him on a recording of the song under the name Dobby Dobson and the Deltas on the Tip-Top label. It climbed to number one on the RJR charts, where it spent some six weeks.
The harmonizing of the American doo-wop groups the Drifters
The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/Soul music, soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, f ...
and the Impressions
The Impressions were an American music group originally formed in 1958. Their repertoire includes gospel, doo-wop, R&B, and soul.
The group was founded as the Roosters by Chattanooga, Tennessee natives Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks and Arthur Bro ...
served as a vocal model for a newly formed (1963) group, the Wailers
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
, in which Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...
sang lead while Bunny Wailer
Neville O'Riley Livingston (10 April 1947 – 2 March 2021), known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. ...
sang high harmony and Peter Tosh
Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963 ...
sang low harmony. The Wailers recorded an homage to doo-wop in 1965 with their version of Dion and the Belmonts' "A Teenager in Love
"A Teenager in Love" is a song written by Doc Pomus and partner Mort Shuman. It was originally recorded by Dion and the Belmonts, and released in March 1959. It appeared on their album ''Presenting Dion and the Belmonts'' (1959). It reached num ...
". Bunny Wailer cited Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, the Platters, and the Drifters as early influences on the group. The Wailers covered Harvey and the Moonglows' 1958 doo-wop hit, "Ten Commandments of Love", on their debut album, ''Wailing Wailers
''The Wailing Wailers'' is the 1965 eponymous debut studio album by the Wailers, later known as Bob Marley and the Wailers. Released on the Studio One label, the album is a compilation of various recordings made between 1964 and 1965 by Nevill ...
'', released in late 1965. The same year, the Wailers cut the doo-wop song "Lonesome Feelings", with "There She Goes" on the B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
, as a single produced by Coxsone Dodd.
Doo-wop and racial relations
The synthesis of music styles that evolved into what is now called rhythm and blues, previously labeled "race music" by the record companies, found a broad youth audience in the postwar years and helped to catalyze changes in racial relations in American society. By 1948, RCA Victor was marketing black music under the name "Blues and Rhythm". In 1949, Jerry Wexler, a reporter for ''Billboard'' magazine at the time, reversed the words and coined the name "Rhythm and Blues" to replace the term "Race Music" for the magazine's black music chart.
One style of rhythm and blues was mostly vocal, with instrumental backing that ranged from a full orchestra to none. It was most often performed by a group, frequently a quartet, as in the black gospel tradition; utilizing close harmonies, this style was nearly always performed in a slow to medium tempo. The lead voice, usually one in the upper register, often sang over the driving, wordless chords of the other singers or interacted with them in a call-and-response
Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...
exchange. Vocal harmony groups such as the Ink Spots embodied this style, the direct antecedent of doo-wop, which rose from inner city street corners in the mid-1950s and ranked high on the popular music charts between 1955 and 1959.
White artists such as Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
performed and recorded covers of rhythm and blues songs created by African American artists that were marketed to a white audience. One consequence of this cultural appropriation was to bring together audiences and artists who shared an interest in the music. Black and white young people both wanted to see popular doo-wop acts perform, and racially mixed groups of youths would stand on inner city street corners and sing doo-wop songs ''a capella''. This angered white supremacists, who considered rhythm and blues and rock and roll a danger to America's youth.
The development of rhythm and blues coincided with the issue of racial segregation
Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
becoming more socially contentious in American society, while the black leadership increasingly challenged the old social order. The white power structure in American society and some executives in the corporately controlled entertainment industry saw rhythm and blues, rooted in black culture, as obscene, and considered it a threat to white youth, among whom the genre was becoming increasingly popular.
Jewish influence in doo-wop
Jewish composers, musicians, and promoters had a prominent role in the transition to doo-wop and rock 'n' roll from jazz and swing in American popular music of the 1950s, while Jewish businessmen founded many of the labels that recorded rhythm and blues during the height of the vocal group era.
In the decade from 1944 to 1955, many of the most influential record companies specializing in "race" music, or rhythm and blues", as it later came to be known, were owned or co-owned by Jews. It was the small independent record companies that recorded, marketed, and distributed doo-wop music. For example, Jack and Devora Brown, a white Jewish couple in Detroit, founded Fortune Records
Fortune Records was an American family operated, independent record label located in Detroit, Michigan from 1946 to 1995. The label owners were Jack and Devora Brown, their son Sheldon Brown recorded for the label. Original releases tapered off ...
in 1946, and recorded a variety of eccentric artists and sounds; in the mid-1950s they became champions of Detroit rhythm and blues, including the music of local doo-wop groups.
A few other Jewish women were in the recording business, such as Florence Greenberg
Florence Greenberg (September 16, 1913 – November 2, 1995) was an American record label owner, music executive, and record producer. Greenberg was the founder and owner of Tiara Records, Scepter Records, Hob Records, and Wand Records. She is ...
, who started the Scepter label in 1959, and signed the African American girl group, the Shirelles
The Shirelles were an American girl group formed in Passaic, New Jersey in 1957. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens (later Shirley Alston Reeves), Doris Coley (later Doris Kenner-Jackson), Addie "Micki" Harris (later Addie Harris McFadd ...
. The songwriting team of Goffin and King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
, who worked for Don Kirshner's Aldon music at 1650 Broadway (near the famed Brill Building
The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. It was built in 1931 as t ...
at 1619), offered Greenberg a song, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?", which was recorded by the Shirelles and rose to number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1961. During the early 1960s, Scepter was the most successful independent record label.
Deborah Chessler, a young Jewish sales clerk interested in black music, became the manager and songwriter for the Baltimore doo-wop group the Orioles. They recorded her song "It's Too Soon to Know" and it reached no. 1 on ''Billboard''s race records charts in November 1948.
Some record company owners such as Herman Lubinsky had a reputation for exploiting black artists. Lubinsky, who founded Savoy Records in 1942, produced and recorded the Carnations, the Debutantes, the Falcons
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
, the Jive Bombers, the Robins, and many others. Although his entrepreneurial approach to the music business and his role as a middleman between black artists and white audiences created opportunities for unrecorded groups to pursue wider exposure, he was reviled by many of the black musicians he dealt with. Historians Robert Cherry and Jennifer Griffith maintain that regardless of Lubinsky's personal shortcomings, the evidence that he treated African American artists worse in his business dealings than other independent label owners did is unconvincing. They contend that in the extremely competitive independent record company business during the postwar era, the practices of Jewish record owners generally were more a reflection of changing economic realities in the industry than of their personal attitudes.
New York rockers Lou Reed
Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...
, Joey
Joey may refer to:
People
*Joey (name)
Animals
* Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial
* Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets
Film and television
* ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horac ...
and Tommy Ramone
Thomas Erdelyi (born Tamás Erdélyi; January 29, 1949 – July 11, 2014), known professionally as Tommy Ramone, was a Hungarian American record producer and musician. He was the drummer for the influential punk rock band the Ramones for ...
, and Chris Stein were doo-wop fans, as were many other Jewish punks
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture ...
and proto-punks. Reed recorded his first lead vocals in 1962 on two doo-wop songs, "Merry Go Round" and "Your Love", which were not released at the time. A few years later, Reed worked as a staff songwriter writing bubblegum and doo-wop songs in the assembly-line operation at Pickwick Records in New York.
Doo-wop influence on punk and proto-punk rockers
The R&B and doo-wop music that informed early rock 'n' roll was racially appropriated in the 1970s just as blues-based rock had been in the 1950s and 1960s. Generic terms such as "Brill Building music" obscure the roles of the black producers, writers, and groups like the Marvelettes
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who wa ...
and the Supremes
The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful ...
, who were performing similar music and creating hits for the Motown label, but were categorized as soul. According to ethnomusicologist Evan Rapport, before 1958 more than ninety percent of doo-wop performers were African-American, but the situation changed as large numbers of white groups began to enter the performance arena.
This music was embraced by punk rockers in the 1970s, as part of a larger societal trend among white people in the US of romanticizing it as music that belonged to a simpler (albeit non-existent) time of racial harmony before the social upheaval of the 1960s. White Americans had a nostalgic fascination with the 1950s and early 1960s that entered mainstream culture beginning in 1969 when Gus Gossert started to broadcast early rock and roll and doo-wop songs on New York's WCBS-FM
WCBS-FM (101.1 FM) is a radio station offering a classic hits format licensed to New York City and is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are in the combined Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood in lower Man ...
radio station. This trend reached its peak in racially segregated commercial productions such as ''American Graffiti
''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed as Ronny ...
'', ''Happy Days
''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...
'', and '' Grease'', which was double-billed with the Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United S ...
' B-movie feature ''Rock 'n' Roll High School
''Rock 'n' Roll High School'' is a 1979 American musical comedy film directed by Allan Arkush, produced by Michael Finnell, and starring P. J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, Clint Howard, and Dey Young. The film featured the punk rock group Ram ...
'' in 1979.
Early punk rock adaptations of the 12-bar ''aab'' pattern associated with California surf or beach music, done within eight-, sixteen-, and twenty-four bar forms, were made by bands such as the Ramones, either as covers or as original compositions. Employing stylistic conventions of 1950s and 1960s doowop and rock and roll to signify the period referenced, some punk bands used call-and-response background vocals and doo-wop style vocables
In the broadest sense of the word, a vocable is any meaningful sound uttered by people, such as a word or term, that is fixed by their language and culture. Use of the words in the broad sense is archaic and the term is instead used for utterances ...
in songs, with subject matter following the example set by rock and roll and doo-wop groups of that era: teenage romance, cars, and dancing. Early punk rockers sometimes portrayed these nostalgic 1950s trope
Trope or tropes may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept
* Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device
* Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...
s with irony and sarcasm according to their own lived experiences, but they still indulged the fantasies evoked by the images.
By 1963 and 1964, proto-punk rocker Lou Reed was working the college circuit, leading bands that played covers of three-chord hits by pop groups and "anything from New York with a classic doo-wop feel and a street attitude".
Jonathan Richman, founder of the influential proto-punk band the Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers were an American rock band led by Jonathan Richman in the 1970s and 1980s. The original band existed from 1970 to 1974 but their recordings were not released until 1976 or later. It featured Richman and bassist Ernie Brooks w ...
, cut the album '' Rockin' and Romance'' (1985) with acoustic guitar and doo-wop harmonies. His song "Down in Bermuda" for example, was directly influenced by "Down in Cuba" by the Royal Holidays. His album '' Modern Lovers 88'' (1987), with doo-wop stylings and Bo Diddley
Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, inc ...
rhythms, was recorded in acoustic trio format.
Popularity
Doo-wop groups achieved 1951 R&B chart hits with songs such as "Sixty Minute Man
"Sixty Minute Man" is a rhythm and blues (R&B) record released on Federal Records in 1951 by the Dominoes. It was written by Billy Ward and Rose Marks and was one of the first R&B hit records to cross over to become a hit on the pop chart. It ...
" by Billy Ward and His Dominoes, "Where Are You?" by the Mello-Moods, " The Glory of Love" by the Five Keys
The Five Keys were an American rhythm and blues vocal group who were instrumental in shaping this genre in the 1950s.
They were formed with the original name of Sentimental Four in Newport News, Virginia, US, in the late 1940s, and initially consi ...
, and "Shouldn't I Know" by the Cardinals
The Cardinals were an American R&B group of the 1950s. Sharing a legacy with the Orioles, The Cardinals are remembered as one of the best R&B ballad acts to come out of Baltimore.
Origins
The Cardinals’ career began in 1946 (one year before ...
.
Doo-wop groups played a significant role in ushering in the rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
era when two big rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
hits by vocal harmony groups, " Gee" by the Crows
The Crows were an American R&B singing group formed in 1951 who achieved commercial success in the 1950s. The group's first single and only hit, " Gee", released in June 1953, has been credited with being the first rock n’ roll hit by a rock ...
, and "Sh-Boom
"Sh-Boom" (sometimes referred to as "Life Could Be a Dream") is an early doo-wop song by the R&B vocal group The Chords. It was written by James Keyes, Claude Feaster, Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae, and William Edwards, members of The Chords, a ...
" by the Chords
Chord may refer to:
* Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve
* Chord ( ...
, crossed over
''Crossed Over'' is a 2002 Canadian television film directed by Bobby Roth, and starring Diane Keaton as Beverly Lowry and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Karla Faye Tucker. It is based on Lowry's memoir ''Crossed Over: A Murder, A Memoir''.
Cast
*Dian ...
onto the pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
charts in 1954. "Sh-Boom" is considered to have been the first rhythm-and-blues record to break into the top ten on the ''Billboard'' charts, reaching #5; a few months later, a white group from Canada, the Crew Cuts, released their cover of the song, which reached #1 and remained there for nine weeks. This was followed by several other white artists covering doo-wop songs performed by black artists, all of which scored higher on the Billboard charts than did the originals. These include "Hearts of Stone
"Hearts of Stone" is an American R&B song. It became a #1 hit on two of the Billboard three lists, ''Best Sellers in Stores'' and ''Most Played in Jukeboxes'' in 1955 for The Fontane Sisters. It was written by Eddie Ray and Rudy Jackson, me ...
" by the Fontaine Sisters (# 1), "At My Front Door
"At My Front Door" is a song written by Ewart Abner and Johnny Moore (singer), John Moore and performed by The El Dorados. It reached #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, U.S. R&B chart and #17 on the Billboard Hot 100, U.S. pop chart in 1955. The so ...
" by Pat Boone
Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...
(# 7), " Sincerely" by the McGuire Sisters
The McGuire Sisters were a singing trio in American popular music. The group was composed of three sisters:
* Ruby Christine McGuire (July 30, 1926 – December 28, 2018)
* Dorothy "Dottie" McGuire (February 13, 1928 – September 7, 2012)
* Ph ...
(# 1), and "Little Darlin'
"Little Darlin'" is a popular Top 40 song, made famous by the Diamonds.
The Gladiolas' version
It was written by Maurice Williams with both melody and doo-wop accompaniment strongly emphasizing the clave rhythm. It was first recorded by ...
" by the Diamonds
The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet that rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with 16 ''Billboard'' hit records. The original members were Dave Somerville (lead), Ted Kowalski (tenor), Phil Levitt (baritone), and Bill Reed (ba ...
(# 2). Music historian Billy Vera
Billy Vera (born William Patrick McCord; May 28, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, and music historian. He has been a singer and songwriter since the 1960s, his most successful record being " At This Moment", a US number 1 ...
points out that these recordings are not considered to be doo-wop.
" Only You" was released in June 1955 by pop group the Platters
The Platters was an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The ac ...
. That same year the Platters had a number one pop chart hit with "The Great Pretender
"The Great Pretender" is a popular song recorded by The Platters, with Tony Williams on lead vocals, and released as a single in November 1955. The words and music were written by Buck Ram, the Platters' manager and producer who was a successfu ...
", released on 3 November. In 1956, Frankie Lymon
Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group Th ...
and the Teenagers
The Teenagers are an American music group, most noted for being one of rock music's earliest successes, presented to international audiences by DJ Alan Freed. The group, which made its most popular recordings with young Frankie Lymon as lead s ...
appeared on the Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American Singing, singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to hi ...
show in New York, which was televised nationally, performing their hit " Why Do Fools Fall in Love?". Frankie Laine referred to it as "rock and roll"; Lymon's extreme youth appealed to a young and enthusiastic audience. His string of hits included: "I Promise to Remember
"I Promise to Remember" is a song written by Jimmy Castor and Jimmy Smith and performed by Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers featuring Jimmy Wright and His Orchestra. It reached #10 on the US R&B chart and #57 on the ''Billboard'' pop chart in 1 ...
", "The ABC's of Love
"The ABC's of Love" is a song written by George Goldner and Richard Barrett and performed by Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers featuring Jimmy Wright and His Orchestra. It reached #8 on the US R&B chart and #77 on the ''Billboard'' pop chart in 1 ...
" and " I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent".
Up tempo doo-wop groups such as the Monotones
The Monotones were a six-member American doo-wop vocal group in the 1950s. They are considered a one-hit wonder, as their only hit single was " The Book of Love", which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1958.
Biography
The Monotones ...
", the Silhouettes
The Silhouettes were an American doo wop/ R&B group, whose single " Get a Job" was a number 1 hit on the '' Billboard'' R&B singles chart and pop singles chart in 1958. The doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na derived their name from the song's ly ...
, and the Marcels had hits that charted on Billboard. All-white doo-wop groups would appear and also produce hits: The Mello-Kings
The Mello-Kings were an American doo-wop group, who became popular in the late 1950s with their song, "Tonite, Tonite" (1957).
The group consisted of brothers Jerry and Bob Scholl, Eddie Quinn, Neil Arena and Larry Esposito. The quintet was formed ...
in 1957 with "Tonight, Tonight", the Diamonds
The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet that rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with 16 ''Billboard'' hit records. The original members were Dave Somerville (lead), Ted Kowalski (tenor), Phil Levitt (baritone), and Bill Reed (ba ...
in 1957 with the chart-topping cover song "Little Darlin'" (original song by an African American group), the Skyliners
The Skyliners are an American doo-wop group from Pittsburgh. The original lineup was: Jimmy Beaumont (lead), Janet Vogel (soprano), Wally Lester (tenor), Jackie Taylor (bass voice, guitarist), Joe Verscharen (baritone). The Skyliners were bes ...
in 1959 with "Since I Don't Have You
"Since I Don't Have You" is a song written and composed by Jackie Taylor, James Beaumont, Janet Vogel, Joseph Rock, Joe Verscharen, Lennie Martin, and Wally Lester. It was first a 1958 hit single for the doo-wop group the Skyliners on the ''Bi ...
", the Tokens
The Tokens were an American doo-wop band and record production company group from Brooklyn, New York City. The group has had four top 40 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, all in the 1960s, their biggest being the chart-topping 1961 hit si ...
in 1961 with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".
The peak of doo-wop might have been in the late 1950s; in the early 1960s the most notable hits were Dion's
Dion’s is a privately owned chain of pizza restaurants based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As of 2020 Dion’s operates 25 restaurants; 20 in New Mexico, 2 in Texas, and 3 in Colorado.
History
Dion’s was founded in 1978 by Jon Patten and Bill Sc ...
"Runaround Sue
"Runaround Sue" is a rock and roll song (in a modified doo-wop style), originally a US No. 1 Hot 100 hit (No. 4 on the Hot R&B chart) for the singer Dion during 1961, after he split with the Belmonts. It was written by Dion with Ernie Mares ...
", " The Wanderer", "Lovers Who Wander
"Lovers Who Wander" is a popular song written by Dion DiMucci and Ernie Maresca
Ernest Peter Maresca (August 21, 1938 – July 8, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter and record company executive, best known for writing or co-writing ...
" and " Ruby Baby" and the Marcels
The Marcels were an American doo-wop group known for turning popular music songs into rock and roll. The group formed in 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and signed to Colpix Records with lead Cornelius Harp, bass Fred Johnson, Gene Bricker, R ...
' " Blue Moon". There was a revival of the nonsense syllable form of doo-wop in the early 1960s, with popular records by the Marcels
The Marcels were an American doo-wop group known for turning popular music songs into rock and roll. The group formed in 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and signed to Colpix Records with lead Cornelius Harp, bass Fred Johnson, Gene Bricker, R ...
, the Rivingtons
The Rivingtons were a 1960s doo-wop band, known for their 1962 novelty hit " Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow". The members were lead vocalist Carl White (June 21, 1932 - January 7, 1980), tenor Al Frazier (d. November 13, 2005), baritone Sonny Harris, and ba ...
, and Vito & the Salutations. The genre reached the self-referential
Self-reference occurs in natural or formal languages when a sentence, idea or formula refers to itself. The reference may be expressed either directly—through some intermediate sentence or formula—or by means of some encoding. In philoso ...
stage, with songs about the singers ("Mr. Bass Man" by Johnny Cymbal
Johnny Cymbal (born John Hendry Blair; February 3, 1945 – March 16, 1993) was a Scottish-born American songwriter, singer and record producer who had numerous hit records, including his signature song, "Mr. Bass Man".
Overview
During a 33-ye ...
) and the songwriters (" Who Put the Bomp?" by Barry Mann), in 1961.
Doo-wop's influence
Other pop R&B groups, including the Coasters
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with " Searchin'" and " Young Blood" in 1957, their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producin ...
, the Drifters
The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/Soul music, soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, f ...
, the Midnighters
The Midnighters were an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan. They were an influential group in the 1950s and early 1960s, with many R&B hit records. They were also notable for launching the career of lead singer Hank Ballard and the wo ...
, and the Platters
The Platters was an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The ac ...
, helped link the doo-wop style to the mainstream, and to the future sound of soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...
. The style's influence is heard in the music of the Miracles
The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential group ...
, particularly in their early hits such as "Got A Job" (an answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer so ...
to " Get a Job"), " Bad Girl", "Who's Loving You
"Who's Lovin' You" is a Motown soul song, written in 1960 by William "Smokey" Robinson. The song has been recorded by many different artists including The Miracles, who recorded the 1960 original version, The Temptations, The Supremes, Terence ...
", " (You Can) Depend on Me", and "Ooo Baby Baby
"Ooo Baby Baby" is a song written by Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore. It is a classic 1965 hit single by The Miracles for the Tamla (Motown) label.
The song has inspired numerous other cover versions by other artists over the years, including c ...
". Doo-wop was a precursor to many of the African-American musical styles seen today. Having evolved from pop, jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
and blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
, doo-wop influenced many of the major rock and roll groups that defined the latter decades of the 20th century, and laid the foundation for many later musical innovations.
Doo-wop's influence continued in soul, pop, and rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
groups of the 1960s, including the Four Seasons, girl group
A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...
s, and vocal surf music
Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental su ...
performers such as the Beach Boys
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...
. In the Beach Boys' case, doo-wop influence is evident in the chord progression
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...
used on part of their early hit " Surfer Girl". The Beach Boys later acknowledged their debt to doo-wop by covering the Regents' 1961 #7 hit, "Barbara Ann
"Barbara Ann" is a song written by Fred Fassert that was first recorded by the Regents as "Barbara-Ann". Their version was released in 1961 and reached number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The more famous version was recorded by the ...
" with their #2 cover of the song in 1966. In 1984, Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
released "The Longest Time
"The Longest Time" is a doo-wop song by Billy Joel, released in 1984 as the fourth single from the 1983 album '' An Innocent Man''. Following the theme of the album in paying tribute to Joel's musical influences, the song is presented in the st ...
", a clear tribute to doo-wop music. Doo-wop continued to influence pop/rock throughout the 1980s and beyond, as one of the most commercially successful bands of that time period, Huey Lewis and the News, drew heavily from doo-wop influences, lending the band a distinctive and infectious vocal harmony sound that contributed to their popular appeal.
Revivals
Although the ultimate longevity of doo-wop has been disputed, at various times in the 1970s–1990s the genre saw revivals, with artists being concentrated in urban areas, mainly in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
, and Los Angeles. Revival television shows and boxed CD sets such as the "Doo Wop Box" set 1–3 have rekindled interest in the music, the artists, and their stories.
'' Cruising with Ruben & the Jets'', released in late 1968, is a concept album of doo-wop music recorded by Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...
and the Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention (also known as The Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows.
Originally an R&B band ...
performing as a fictitious Chicano
Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...
doo-wop band called Ruben & the Jets. In collaboration with Zappa, singer Ruben Guevara went on to start a real band called Ruben and the Jets
Ruben and the Jets was an American rock and roll band from Los Angeles, California. The band originated as an alias for The Mothers of Invention, Frank Zappa's band, to release '' Cruising with Ruben & the Jets'' (1968). Later, musician Rubén G ...
. An early notable revival of "pure" doo-wop occurred when Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na was an American rock and roll doo-wop group. Formed in 1969, but performing a song-and-dance repertoire based on 1950s hit songs, it simultaneously revived and parodied the music and the New York street culture of the 1950s. After g ...
appeared at the Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aquar ...
. Soul group the Trammps recorded "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart
"Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" is a 1935 popular song with words and music by James F. Hanley. It was introduced by Hal Le Roy and Eunice Healey in the Broadway revue '' Thumbs Up!''
The most notable recordings were made by Judy Garland, ...
" in 1972.
Over the years other groups have had doo-wop or doo-wop-influenced hits, such as Robert John
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
's 1972 version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and recorded by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube" for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. Linda's original was written in isiZulu, while the English version's lyrics were wri ...
", Darts
Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...
successful revival of the doo-wop standards " Daddy Cool" and "Come Back My Love
"Come Back My Love" is a song by American doo-wop group The Wrens, released in 1955 by Rama Records. The song is best known for the version by the British doo-wop revival band Darts in 1978, which peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.
T ...
" in the late 1970s, Toby Beau
Toby Beau is an American band from Texas, formed in the early 1970s and perhaps best known for the 1978 hit single, " My Angel Baby". The band is still in existence today and continues to perform on the club circuit. The band's name was based from ...
's 1978 hit "My Angel Baby", and Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
's 1984 hit "The Longest Time
"The Longest Time" is a doo-wop song by Billy Joel, released in 1984 as the fourth single from the 1983 album '' An Innocent Man''. Following the theme of the album in paying tribute to Joel's musical influences, the song is presented in the st ...
". Soul and funk bands such as Zapp released the single (""). The last doo-wop record to reach the top ten on the U.S. pop charts was "It's Alright" by Huey Lewis and the News, a doo-wop adaptation of the Impressions
The Impressions were an American music group originally formed in 1958. Their repertoire includes gospel, doo-wop, R&B, and soul.
The group was founded as the Roosters by Chattanooga, Tennessee natives Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks and Arthur Bro ...
' 1963 Top 5 smash hit. It reached number 7 on the U.S. '' Billboard'' Adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
chart in June 1993. Much of the album had a doo-wop flavor. Another song from the ''By the Way'' sessions to feature a doo-wop influence was a cover of "Teenager In Love", originally recorded by Dion and the Belmonts
Dion and the Belmonts were an American vocal trio prominent throughout the 1950s. All of its members were from the Bronx, New York City. In 1957, Dion DiMucci joined the vocal group the Belmonts. The established trio of Angelo D'Aleo, Carlo M ...
. The genre would see another resurgence in popularity in 2018, with the release of the album "Love in the Wind" by Brooklyn-based band, the Sha La Das, produced by Thomas Brenneck
Thomas "Tommy" Brenneck is an American guitarist, record producer, and engineer. He became known as the leader of the Menahan Street Band and a member of The Budos Band, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and El Michels Affair. He is the founder of ...
for the Daptone Record label.
Doo-wop is popular among barbershoppers and collegiate a cappella
Collegiate a cappella (or college a cappella) ensembles are college-affiliated singing groups, primarily in the United States, and, increasingly, the United Kingdom and Ireland, that perform entirely without musical instruments. The groups are typ ...
groups due to its easy adaptation to an all-vocal form. Doo-wop experienced a resurgence in popularity at the turn of the 21st century with the airing of PBS's doo-wop concert programs: '' Doo Wop 50'', ''Doo Wop 51'', and ''Rock, Rhythm, and Doo Wop''. These programs brought back, live on stage, some of the better known doo-wop groups of the past. In addition to the Earth Angels
The Earth Angels are a Spanish doo-wop vocal group from Barcelona, Catalonia which performs a cappella music. On tour, they also sing on city streets. The group formed in 2007, when bass-baritone Christian Carrasco (son of Rafael Carrasco, second ...
, doo-wop acts in vogue in the second decade of the 2000s range from the Four Quarters to Street Corner Renaissance.
Bruno Mars
Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical s ...
and Meghan Trainor
Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...
are two examples of current artists who incorporate doo-wop music into their records and live performances. Mars says he has "a special place in isheart for old-school music".
The formation of the hip-hop scene beginning in the late 1970s strongly parallels the rise of the doo-wop scene of the 1950s, particularly mirroring it in the emergence of the urban street culture of the 1990s. According to Bobby Robinson, a well-known producer of the period:
Doo-wop originally started out as the black teenage expression of the '50s and rap emerged as the black teenage ghetto expression of the '70s. Same identical thing that started it – the doowop groups down the street, in hallways, in alleys and on the corner. They'd gather anywhere and, you know, doo-wop doowah da dadada. You'd hear it everywhere. So the same thing started with rap groups around '76 or so. All of a sudden, everywhere you turned you'd hear kids rapping. In the summertime, they'd have these little parties in the park. They used to go out and play at night and kids would be out there dancing. All of a sudden, all you could hear was, hip hop hit the top don't stop. It's kids – to a great extent mixed-up and confused – reaching out to express themselves. They were forcefully trying to express themselves and they made up in fantasy what they missed in reality.
See also
* List of doo-wop musicians
This is a list of doo-wop musicians.
A
*The Accents
*The Ad Libs
*The Alley Cats (doo-wop group), The Alley Cats
*Lee Andrews & the Hearts
*The Angels (American group), The Angels
*The Aquatones
*The Ardells
*The Avons
B
*Hank Ballard
*The ...
* Scat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...
* Vocalese
Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist's improvisation.
Definition
Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing, which uses nonsen ...
* 50s progression, also known as the "Doo-wop" progression
* Boogie
Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mus ...
References
Further reading
* Baptista, Todd R. (1996). ''Group Harmony: Behind the Rhythm and Blues.'' New Bedford, Massachusetts: TRB Enterprises. .
* Baptista, Todd R. (2000). ''Group Harmony: Echoes of the Rhythm and Blues Era.'' New Bedford, Massachusetts: TRB Enterprises. .
* Cummings, Tony (1975). ''The Sound of Philadelphia.'' London: Eyre Methuen.
* Engel, Ed (1977). ''White and Still All Right.'' Scarsdale, New York: Crackerjack Press.
* Gribin, Anthony J., and Matthew M. Shiff (1992). ''Doo-Wop: The Forgotten Third of Rock 'n Roll.'' Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications.
* Keyes, Johnny (1987). ''Du-Wop.'' Chicago: Vesti Press.
* Lepri, Paul (1977). ''The New Haven Sound 1946–1976.'' New Haven, Connecticut: elf published
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "l ...
* McCutcheon, Lynn Ellis (1971). ''Rhythm and Blues.'' Arlington, Virginia.
* Warner, Jay (1992). ''The Da Capo Book of American Singing Groups.'' New York: Da Capo Press.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doo-Wop
Rhythm and blues music genres
Pop music genres
African-American music
African-American cultural history
Italian-American culture
1950s in music
1960s in music