Category Archives: B – Rock & Roll

1955-1959 The golden age of Rock & Roll – All the great fifties hits comprising of R&B music and vocal packaged as rock & roll.

B - Rock & Roll

Rock & Roll Defined

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Rock & Roll Defined

Rock & Roll music vs. Rock music

First, I’d like to define rock & roll as I use the term. Rock & roll to me, is different from “rock music”. To me rock & roll is specific to a time period starting roughly in the late 1940s, growing throughout the early fifties and peaking in the years 1955 to 1959, a “Golden Age of Rock & Roll” if you will, and then peaking again 1962-64 and then slowly giving way to the newer sounds of the mid-sixties.

There is a specific sound that the rock & roll period has exclusive to the 50s and early 60s. This period has a certain sound because of a combination of the vintage recording technology of the period, the way the band was recorded (using few and simple mike arrangements and baffles), the easy quick song structure (usually under three minutes)  and the upbeat tempos.

Rock & Roll lasted, starting roughly in 1949, lasting a good 15 to 20 years if you count the “doo-wop” (Vocal R&B) wing of rock & roll, which later peaked in 1961 to 1963 before morphing into “soul”. The resurgence of rock & roll brought out by the British Invasion in 1964 both helped and hurt the existence of good “old time” rock & roll. Then in 1965 true “old time” rock & roll gave way to the many new forms of “rock music” (like folk rock, garage rock and blues rock, etc.)

Rock music, as I know it, is a new genre coming out of rock & roll starting around 1965. A further distinction between rock music starting in the mid-sixties and rock & roll music of the late fifties is that the music is much happier and peppier, you can’t help but be happy or at least distracted by the catchiness of the sound. In most cases, it is hard to maintain sadness with a 50’s style rock & roll song,

 

The Term: Rock & Roll

The term, rock & roll, or rocking and rolling originally was a euphemism which meant engaging in sex. Or it could have also meant the movement of the members of a gospel church when it is in full swing, rocking and rolling from side to side or a dance movement during an upbeat R&B tune, whatever makes you comfortable, right?

The term turns up in a lot of other musical genres like R&B, gospel, blues and swing jazz going back to the 20’s. The term rock & roll turns up as a song title for the Boswell Sisters in 1937, and a Sister Rosetta Tharpe song called “Rock Me”,  and also “The Rock & Roll Inn”. Rock & roll was also the name of a music venue in New Jersey,  in Cleveland radio disc jockey Alan Freed coined the phrase “Rock & Roll” to describe a backbeat type music popular in the black community called rhythm & blues (R&B) music.

It is generally accepted that rock & roll had its “roots” in rhythm and blues or what was called “race music” (before Billboard Magazine started a category called “R&B” in 1948). However, rock and roll is really a big mix of music encompassing rhythm & blues (R&B) which contains “Rural blues” (Delta & Mississippi blues); “Urban blues” (Chicago & Electric blues); “Jump blues” (a la Louis Jordan);  Doo Wop or Vocal R&B;  “Gospel music” (specially Urban Contemporary Gospel and Southern Gospel) all mixed up and garnished with Rockabilly or elements of “hillbilly” folk music;  “Country & Western” (C&W) music; “Boogie Woogie” jazz and “Swing” Jazz, all rolled up in to one.

 

 

The Rock & Roll Band

Rock & roll was primarily made up of a band consisting of, but not limited to: a well coordinated vocal group or sometimes just an outrageous solo lead vocalist; a tinkling boogie-woogie and blues styled piano, sometimes as a lead instrument sometimes a rhythm instrument; a swinging  upright bass; an electric guitar, blues styled as a lead guitar or sometimes as a rhythm guitar;  a drummer,  using a definite backbeat rhythm accentuated by the snare drum; and the spicing on the cake one blaring tenor or alto saxophone usually as the lead instrument or with other horn instruments (trumpet, cornet, trombone, saxes) and rhythm instruments (conga, tambourine, maracas).

 

 The First Rock & Roll song

It is very hard to discern what was the first rock & roll record, this issue is subject to fierce debate and arguments with no real generally accepted specific one song (except maybe Rocket 88). There are many candidates such as but not limited to:

  • Arthur Crudup “That’s Alright Mama” – 1946
  • Roy Brown “Good Rocking Tonight” – 1947
  • Wild Bill Moore “We’re Gonna Rock, We’re Gonna Roll” -December 1947
  • Muddy Waters “I Can’t Be Satisfied” 1948
  • Amos Milburn “Chicken Shack Boogie” – 1948
  • Stick McGhee and His Buddies “Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee” – 1949
  • Wild Bill Moore “Rock and Roll” – 1949
  • Goree Carter’s “Rock Awhile” -April 1949
  • Jimmy Preston’s “Rock the Joint” – July 1949
  • Fats Domino’s – “The Fat Man” – January 1950
  • The Dominoes “Sixty Minute Man” – December 1950
  • Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (which were really Ike Turner and The Kings of Rhythm) “Rocket 88” (which has a bit of consensus) -April 1951
  • Fats Domino “Goin Home” – 1952
  • Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thorton “Hound Dog” – 1952
  • The Crows “Gee” – 1953
  • Bill Haley and His Comets “Crazy Man Crazy” – 1953
  • Ray Charles “Mess Around” – 1953
  • Big Joe Turner – “Shake, Rattle & Roll” – 1954
  • The Chords “Sh-Boom” – 1954
  • Bill Haley & the Comets “Rock Around the Clock” -1954
2 - Golden Age of Rock 'n Roll

1955 R&B Crosses Over – The Architects of Rock & Roll

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1955 R&B Crosses Over – The Architects of Rock & Roll

In 1955 the popular music of the day wasn’t rock & roll. By far, the popular artists of the day ruled with hits like The McGuire Sister’s “Sincerely” or Perez Prado’s “Cherry Pink & Apple BlossomWhite”, Les Baxter’s “Unchained Melody”, Bill Hay’s and his “The Ballad of Davy Crocket”, or Mitch Miller’s “Yellow Rose of Texas”.Pop out numbered rock & roll in number one hits eleven to one “Rock Around the Clock”.

However,

The year of 1955 started out with Ray Charles and his first gospel R&B crossover hit “I’ve Got A Woman” an R&B #1 on January 22nd.  This song, in particular, is very important in rock & roll. It demonstrates the use of suggestive or “secular” lyrics to a gospel beat in full swing.

The Penguins had a major genre defining song with “Earth Angel” breaking through the pop barrier on the Billboard top ten at #8 on February 5th;

The Wrens a local Bronx group had a regional hit with “Come Back My Love” early in 1955… as did LaVerne Baker with “Tweedle Dee” starting as an R&B #4  on January 15 and eventually breaking through to Billboard’s #14 spot on April 2nd – 4/2/1955;

Fats Domino continued to roll out all that heavy R&B which would eventually be called rock & Roll with “Thinking of You (Oh Mother Do)” hitting an R&B #14 on February 12th…

…while a Los Angeles local group Don Julian & The Meadowlarks had a hit with “Heaven and Paradise“;

 

As Bill Haley & the Comets “Rock Around The Clock” slowly continued to climb up the charts he had a double hit with “Birth of the Boogie” a #17 March 19th and B-Side “Mambo Rock” hitting an #18 on the Billboard charts March 5th;

Bo Diddley raised eyebrows with his latin tinged “Bo Diddley” rhythm an recorded an R&B hit that eventually went number one in August 7th, also in August was Fats Domino’s crossover hit and all around iconic rock & roll song ,”Ain’t It a Shame (Ain’t That a Shame)“, which went to #10 on August 27th after being an R&B #1 hit since May 14th;

Bill Haley & the Comets finally got there Number one billboard chart and basically opening the flood gates to other rock & roll artists with the quintessential “Rock Around the Clock” hitting the top of the charts on July 9th and also managing to get on the R&B charts at  #3 on June 11th

The Drifters continued a streak with the song “Hot Ziggity” released in Aug 1955 as Chuck Berry’s rock & roll classic “Maybellene” broke through Billboard at #5 on Sept 10th after hitting number one on the  R&B Charts in August 6th;

 

Elvis Presley released “That’s All Right” on July 19th which didn’t hit the charts until way after it was released becoming “Rolling Stone Magazines #113 on the 2010 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, Boyd Bennett had a hit with “Seventeen” at #5 on September 3rd.

Bill Haley & the Comets “Razzle Dazzle” hit #15 on July 23rd and Bo Diddley B-side to Bo Diddley’s first single “I’m A Man” would become one of the quintessential rock & roll songs of 1955. The Drifters had another hit ” Everybody’s Laughing” also  released in Aug with Chuck Berry  R&B hit “Wee Wee Hours” hitting number 10 on  9/10/1955. Also in September was Fats Domino and his number one R&B hit “All By Myself” on the 17th;

The R&B Vocal group The Heartbeats from Jamica, Queens had a regional hit with “Crazy For You” in September while the b-side of Elvis’s July single “Blue Moon of Kentucky” gained popularity;

 

The Drifters released the number one R&B classic “Adorable” on November 5th while the Platters released the quintessential rock & Roll classic “Only You” becoming a breakthrough #5 hit for 7 weeks also on November 5th, after being a R&B #1 hit since July 30th;

The Robins or the soon to be Coasters released Dec 3rd the #10 R&B hit “Smokey Joe’s Café” which hit #79 on the billboard charts on December 10th. Bill Haley with “Burn That Candle” hit #9 on both the billboard and the R&B charts October 19th while Bo Diddley with the Moonglows gave the R&B chart a #11 in July 16th with “Diddley Daddy“;

Chuck Berry had a further hit on October 29th with “Thirty Days” an R&B #2 hit rocker while The Valentines had a New York regional hit with “Lily Maebelle“.

November had four great hits with Fats Domino’s “Poor Me (It’s Hard to Sell)” an R&B #1 – 11/26/1955, The El Dorados with “At My Front Door (Crazy Little Mama)” breaking through to #17 on 11/12/1955 as a R&B #1 hit September 24th and Tennessee Ernie Ford’s big hit “Sixteen Tons” a #1 billboard Hit on 11/26/1955;

 

Bill Haley & the Comets had a sleeper B-side hit with “Rock-A-Beatin’ Boogie” eventually hitting #23 on November 19th, The Drifters had a #5 R&B hit with “Steamboat” December 12th and  Fats Domino had another R&B hit with #6 “I Can’t Go On (Rosalie)” early December 3rd;

The year was ended with Little Richard’s and Rock & Roll classic “Tutti Frutti” an R&B #2 hit released November 26th and breaking on through at #17 on the billboard charts on Febuary 4th 1956 and The Platters with the super ballad “Great Pretender” reaching number one on the R&B charts on December 17th and eventually reaching number one on February 18th 1956 on the Billboard charts for 7 weeks.

 

For further Albums and Compilations try:

 

Fats Domino – Fats Domino Jukebox: 20 Greatest Hits and Greatest Hits: Walking To New Orleans

The Drifters – The Drifters All Time Greatest Hits (1959-1965) , Let The Boogie Woogie Roll: (1953-1958) , Up On The Roof: The Best Of The Drifters  and Under The Boardwalk: The Drifters

Bill Haley & The Comets – Rock Around The Clock , 20th Century , From The Original Master Tapes , Portrait of An Artist and Behind The Legend

Chuck Berry – The Definitive Collection, 20th Century Masters , Gold , The Great 28 and Johnny B. Goode: His Complete 50’s Chess Recordings

Bo Diddley – The Chess 50th Anniversary Collect, The Chess Box , 20th Century Masters and Ride On The Chess Masters 1960-1961

Little Richard – Georgia Peach, The Essential Little Richard, Here’s Little Richard and The King of Rock & Roll: The Complete Reprise Recordings

Ray Charles – The Atlantic Years , Forever , The Genius Of , Genius Loves Company and Pure Genius: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1952-1959)

The Platters – All Time Greatest Hits, 20th Century Masters, The Magic Touch Anthology, The Very Best Of and and 20 Greatest Hits

Elvis Presley – The Essential, ELV1S: 30 #1 Hits, If I Can Dream: Elvis with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Complete Million Dollar Quartet, That’s The Way It Is (Deluxe) and Elvis 75′ Good Rocking Tonight 

Doo-Wop Classics Vol 1, Doo-Wop Classics Vol 2, Doo-Wop Classics Vol 3, Doo-Wop Classics Vol 4, Doo-Wop Classics Vol 5, Doo-Wop Classics Vol 6

 

 

 

1 - Doo-Wop

Doo-Wop 1

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Doo-Wop

Doo-Wop began in the late 40s, influenced by vocal groups like the Ink Spots, the Mills Brothers and the Delta Rhythm Cats, to name a few. Although these influences are not true doo-wop, these vocal groups were very popular in the late 30s and early 40s and had a major influence on a new generation of vocal groups that were beginning to sprout up throughout the cities and urban centers of post WWII America.

The term “Doo-Wop”, it’s said, was coined in 1961 in the black newspaper “The Chicago Daily Defender” well after the genre had broken through and dominated the mainstream pop charts in the mid-to-late-fifties. The term “doo-wop” has been argued by some, to demean the genre, and some have preferred the term “R&B group vocal harmony” rather than the term doo-wop. But R&B group vocal harmony is not specific enough for what the genre represents. Vocal groups like The Inks Spots, the Mills Brothers or later groups like the Beatles, sing in vocal group harmony, yet they don’t use nonsense syllables in their original songs but rather actual words; nor do they incorporate the doo-wop arrangements (such as the independence of the bass, falsetto, lead tenor and other vocals). So, doo-wop should be seen as a sub-category of R&B group vocal harmony. Doo-Wop is a vast and colorful side of music that lasted for at least two decades as popular American mainstream music.

 

Vocal R&B (Doo-Wop): The Pioneers

The roots of it all started with the Ravens, the Orioles, the Robins (later to be re-named the Coasters), the Clovers, and the Dominoes. They set the trends and were the first groups to do what would become for some a very lucrative industry. With mass production and technology the industry would grow to be a multi-million dollar business never seen before in pre-war America. However, there was a great disparity concerning who got the money between the black artists/groups and the white record label owners and business managers (who often cheated the groups out of royalties and touring income).

As far as the music was concerned, there were many stars and super-groups but there were many more “one hit wonders” and/or groups that received regional popularity but never achieved national or syndicated fame. However it is my opinion that these regional groups or “one hit wonders” helped enliven and extend the reach of Doo-Wop. They really have such beautiful songs and harmonies that the lack of longevity is irrelevant – again my opinion.

People tend to remember songs more, rather than the groups or bands that sang them when it comes to “one hit wonders”. These songs give us a sound that is as authentic and original as the day it was recorded; an inspiration for more than one generation that would last a half a century, at least, and would achieve many musical and artistic heights.

Starting in 1948, after the success of the R&B genre-defining performers like Louis Jordan, Big Joe Turner and the veterans Lionel Hampton and Cab Calloway, many new generation vocal groups like the Ravens and the Orioles ushered in a mellow, smoother sound of a harmonizing form of R&B. Doo-wop manifested in the late 40s early 50s with pioneer groups like the Ravens, the Orioles, the Robins, the Larks, the Swallows, the Cardinals (notice the bird theme), the Clovers, the Five Keys and the Dominoes between the years of 1948 to 1951. There were also solo artists and duos that sang in the doo-wop style like Otis Williams (and the Charms), Jesse Belvin and Marvin & Johnny just to name a few.

In 1951, the charts saw a rise in many new black vocal R&B groups, as the genre began to develop. These early groups began to create the structures that would define Doo-Wop and the “rules” and the boundaries that would make Doo-Wop unique and separate from regular band oriented R&B. This early period was a time of great experimentation and discovery. It started essentially with the Ravens and the Orioles as the main progenitors.

Now, it must be said that many of the black vocal R&B groups that were setting up and creating the “Doo-Wop” genre were inspiring a lot of white copy cats or “cover” acts who would continue to creep into the doo-wop and rock & roll “industry”. All throughout the fifties these white acts sometimes usurped the original black groups of fame, chart position and, most of all, money. This was actually a long time practice in the music business in America, particularly with Jazz, since the beginning of the very early decades of 20th century.

Doo-wop started as being counted as rhythm and blues (R&B) early in the 50s but then came into its own in the mid-fifties and took over the charts from the old style of pop music. Doo-Wop dominated the mainstream in the late 50s and early 60s, lasting over 15 years as a new form of pop music. The genre peaked in the years of 1955 to 1958; saw a slight decline in 1959, and then bounced back in a big way in the years of 1961 to 1963 before losing its hold on mainstream pop after 1964. This was mostly due to the then newer genres of soul (spearheaded by Motown), the British Invasion, and the rise of folk rock and blues rock in 1965 as pop music.

The day that “rock & roll” became considered an America cultural sensation (sometime in 1955) was actually the “recognition” of the dominance of black R&B and Doo-Wop music as mainstream pop music. In my opinion R&B was simply re-labeled rock & roll to attract the white audience. The music of R&B and rock & roll are essentially the same music sharing the boogie woogie outline, and was just another blatantly racist infringement on black R&B groups by white music business executives.

The systematic stealing of “race” records or R&B music from black original R&B artists and then marketed with a white face was a common practice. In many instances the versions of the white copy cats were, in my opinion, a more watered down, stiff, plastic coated and artistically inferior product. Listen for yourself in songs like the Crew Cuts version of “Sh-Boom” original recorded by the black group the Chords or the Crew Cuts version of “Earth Angel” which was originally recorded by the Penguins. However Pat Boone takes the cake with a watered down and soulless version of “Ain’t It A Shame”, originally recorded by the master Fats Domino. Again this is my opinion, you decide.

The a features picture above is of the Ravens

 

 

 

1 - Doo-Wop

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Where did “Doo-Wop” come from?

Doo-Wop originally sprouted up on the east coast of America particularly in New York City, Baltimore and Philadelphia, in the mostly urban African American neighborhoods in the years during and after World War II. Groups would gather on street corners, in the subways, in school stairways, halls and even in alleys that had good acoustics.

The singers would gather and sing a cappella. These groups would employ what is called scat singing and/or a technique of “signifyin'” musical instruments. The term signifyin’, in Jazz, is an expression that means to mimic other musical instruments or voices, such as a saxophone mimicking a laugh or, in Doo-Wop, a voice mimicking a piano, a guitar, bass, drums or brass and stringed instruments, examples include non musical sound like a car horn “beep beep” or the “click clack” of a train going by on the train tracks.

Doo-Wop soon spread in the late 40s, early 50s to the mid-west cities like Chicago and Cincinnati, and to the west coast cities like Los Angeles. The genre soon grew to enormous heights in many urban cities, mostly in the United States and would topple older mainstream genres like Swing, Popular Standards, and Broadway & Vaudeville music.

Below is a cursory glance of the key groups and songs that made up the genre Doo-Wop. It is by no means complete and lists some of the more popular songs. The genre is so big that there are literally thousands of groups and songs. I will attempt in the future to cover the basics of key groups and songs in separate posts. For a greater detailed and comprehensive look at the groups and their songs, I suggest you check out Marv Goldberg’s R&B Articles or doo-wop.blogg.org.

 

New York City

A whole new world opened up to the absolutely beautiful and musically clever close range harmonies of R&B vocal/Doo-Wop groups that began to sprout up from cities all across America, primarily the east coast cities. The first groups initially came out of east coast cities like New York with the Ravens (“Write Me a Letter” to “Rock Me All Night Long”), the Dominoes (“Sixty Minute Man”, “Have Mercy Baby”, the cover of “Stardust” and “Jennie Lee”), the Crows (“Gee”) and the Chords (“Sh-Boom”).

New York City would be, by far, “the” major hub of Doo-Wop with more groups like the great hit makers the Drifters, who lasted the whole 20 years of the Doo-Wop era; they had multiple revolving lead and backing singers. From Clyde McPhatter (1953-1955), Johnny Moore (1955-1957, 1964-1967), Bobby Hendricks (1958), Ben E. King (1958-1960) and Ruby Lewis (1962-1964) the Drifters were a Doo-Wop super-group.

Later in New York there would emerge the Cadillacs (“Speedo”), Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers (“Why Do Fools Fall in Love” and “I Want You to Be My Girl”), Earl Lewis & the Channels of regional fame, the Bobbettes (“Mr. Lee” and “Loop De Loop”) one of the first “girl groups”, the very popular and authentic white group Dion & the Belmonts (“I Wonder Why”, “No One Know” and “A Teenager In Love”), Little Anthony & the Imperials (“Tears On My Pillow” and “Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko Pop”), the Chiffons ( with the song “He’s So Fine”, which was later to be the subject of a legal suit against George Harrisons’ song entitled “My Sweet Lord” in the 70s; the Chiffons also had the Gerry Goffin/Carol King penned hit song “One Fine Day”). New York City definitely takes the crown for being the city that produced an overwhelming amount of doo-wop groups.

 

Other East Coast Cities

Baltimore had one of the first two pioneer groups of the era (second to the Ravens), the Orioles (from “It’s Too Soon To Know” to “Crying In The Chapel”) as well as the Swallows (“Will You Still Be Mine” and “Itchy Twitchy Feeling”), the Cardinals and the Four Buddies. The city of “Brotherly Love”, Philadelphia had the Cheers (“Bazoom, I Need Your Lovin'” and “Black Denim Trousers”), the Turbans (“When You Dance”), the Castelles of regional fame, Danny & the Juniors (“At the Hop” and Rock & Roll Is Here To Stay”), and the Silhouettes (“Get A Job”); Pittsburg had the Del-Vikings (Come Go With Me”), the Marcels (“Blue Moon”) and the Skyliners (“Since I Don’t Have You”). Even Toronto Canada contributed the Diamonds (with the remake from the Gladiolas “Little Darlin'” which became a mega hit).

New Jersey

Cities in New Jersey like Newark had the Ad-Libs (the original “Boy from New York City”), the Kodaks of regional fame, the Monotones (“Book of Love”) and of course Frankie Valli who started out in Doo-Wop as early as 1953 and went through many name changes until 1962 as Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons with so many #1 hits (“Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Walk Like A Man” and “Rag Doll”); too many to list here. (See the Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons post, later to be posted); Passaic had one of the biggest, most successful groups, the Shirelles (who started recording in 1958 with hits like the Goffin/King “Tonight’s the Night”, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”, “Dedicated to the One I Love”) also too many to list (see the post, to come); and Orange, NJ had the Angels (“My Boyfriend’s Back”).

More East Coast Cities

Washington D.C. had the pioneering group, the Clovers (“One Mint Julep”, “Ting-A-Ling” way too many R&B hits to list) and the Pastels (“Been So Long”); Durham, North Carolina had the pioneering group the Larks (“Eyesight to the Blind”). As the 50s progressed, other northern east coast cities caught the bug of doo-wop such as Boston’s the Tune Weavers (Happy, Happy Birthday Baby”); New Haven’s the Five Satins (“In the Still of the Night”) and the Nutmegs (“Story Untold”). Charlotte’s the Four Knights, Providence’s the Castaleers, and Winston-Salem had the 5 Royals in North Carolina, just to name a few.

The Mid-West Cities

Many mid-western cities had successful groups as well. Chicago had the El Dorados (“At My Front Door”) and the Flamingoes (“I Only Have Eyes for You”); Cleveland gave us Johnny Cymbal (“Hey, Mr. Bass Man”), the Coronets (“Nadine”) and the Moonglows (“Sincerely”); and Cincinnati brought us Otis Williams & the Charms (“Heart of Stone”, “Ling, Ting, Tong” and “Ivory Tower”).

Detroit the then future capitol of Soul Music, Motown, gave us Hank Ballard & the Midnighters (the pioneering songs “Work with Me Annie”, “Sexy Ways” and “Annie Had A Baby”) that were very suggestive for the time in, 1954. The Falcons had (“You’re So Fine”), the female mega hitters the Marvelettes (“Please Mr. Postman”). Detroit also gave us the future super Soul artists Martha & the Vandellas (“Heatwave”, “Quicksand” and “Dancing in the Street”), as well as Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (“Shop Around” and “You Really Got a Hold on Me”). The two aforementioned groups started out as Doo-Wop but then helped invent Soul Music. There were many other mid-western cities that produced great Doo- Wop groups like Akron’s Ruby & the Romantics (the #1 Billboard hit “One Day Will Come”), Gary Indiana’s The Spaniels (“Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight” and “Everyone’s Laughing”), Kansas City’s the Chandeliers and in Memphis the Astors.

A special note should go to the city of Indianapolis, who gave us the very influential vocal group the Ink Spots. They are generally not considered Doo-Wop but had an enormous impact on the pioneering groups like the Ravens, the Orioles and the Clovers.

The South

Also cities in the South like New Orleans had the Dixie Cups (“Chapel of Love”), Lancaster S.C. had the Gladiolas/Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs (the original version of “Little Darlin'” and the #1 hit “Stay”), Charlotte N.C. had the pioneering group the Four Knights, Jackson Miss. had the Orbits. All these southern groups had many regional hits, thereby adding a little spice to the Doo-Wop genre.

Los Angeles & the West Coast

Doo-Wop was mostly an East Coast and Midwest phenomenon. However, Los Angeles was one of the biggest hubs of Doo Wop on the west coast. Good old L.A. produced quite a few successful groups that would become genre-defining groups, such as the Robins (“Riot in Cell Block #9” and the crossover hit “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”). The Robins would later become the mega hit group the Coasters (“Young Blood”, “Searchin'”, “Yakety Yak” and “Charlie Brown” among many more). There was the Penguins with their 1954 pivotal crossover hit (“Earth Angel”), the Meadowlarks (“Heaven and Paradise” and “The Jerk”), Marvin & Johnny’s (“Baby Doll” and Tick Tock”), the Blossoms (“He’s A Rebel”), the Olympics (“Western Movies”), Bobby Day & the Satellites (“Rockin’ Robin”), Thurston Harris & the Sharps (“Little Bitty Pretty One” and “Do What You Did”). Los Angeles also gave to us the extremely successful #1 mega hit vocal group the Platters (“Only You”, “The Great Pretender”, “The Magic Touch”, “The Prayer” and many, many more. Another notable city on the west coast was Seattle, who gave us the mega hitters the Fleetwoods (“Come Softly to Me” and “Mr. Blue” just to name a few).

Again, there are way too many to name here and I have missed some great acts. There were literally over a thousand regional groups. However, I am going to do a year by year analysis soon and hope to cover all the great acts including chartless regional acts that have added to the vast cannon of Doo-Wop.

For specific info, please see the micro analysis posts of Doo-Wop coming soon or check out the in depth website of Marv Goldberg’s R&B articles.

 

1 - Doo-Wop

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The Characteristics of Doo-wop

 

Group Name Trends

Doo-wop has many recurring themes in both group names and in the lyrical subject matter. Group names such as the “bird groups” (the Orioles, the Ravens, the Robins, the Cardinals, the Crows, etc.), the “flower groups” (the Clovers, the Carnations, the Orchids), the “car groups” (the El Dorados, the Cadillacs, the Chryslers, the Edsels), the “gem groups” (the Jewels, the Rubies, the Diamonds), the “tone groups” (the Harptones, the Monotones, the Aquatones) and then there are the “kiddie acts” like Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, Lewis Lymon & the Teenchords and finally the very successful “girl groups” like the Bobbettes, the Chantels and the Shirelles. (For more info, please see the individual articles on the doo-wop groups).

Nonsense Words or Syllables

There are several characteristics that distinguish doo-wop from group vocal harmony. First, doo-wop’s most distinctive feature is the use of nonsense syllables. Many different nonsense words or syllables (or “scat words”) were used like “Ooh-Wah”, “Doh-doh”, “Rama Lama”, “Ditty Bop”, “Ting-a-Ling”, “Dip-dip-dip”, “Dum-dum-dum”, “Shang-a-Lang” and of course “Doo-wop”, just to name a very few. The phrasings of the syllables are very rhythmic and “signify” or imitate musical instruments and propel the music. Much of doo-wop’s nonsense syllables were influenced by “scat singing”, which was introduced to music by a ragtime singer Gene Greene, jazz singer Al Jolson, and Louis Armstrong, the great Jazz trumpet, and cornet player, who made scat singing famous with the song “Heebie Jeebies” back in 1926.

Close Harmony

Next, doo-wop is obviously a genre that must have multiple voices. For the most part, for a song to be in a doo-wop style, there have to be two or more voices, up to six. Sometimes an artist is credited as the sole artist for a particular song to attract an audience, but for that song to be considered doo-wop the artist has to incorporate backup singers to all sing along in harmony together or in syncopated harmonies such as Hank Ballard & the Midnighters or Otis Williams & the Charms.

Harmony can be sung together as the same pattern of words or syllables or they can be syncopated patterns (different voices singing in different rhythms and not in unison but in a related key). This allows for great complexity in experimentation of harmony and rhythm. Although doo-wop is thought to be simplistic in its construct, the singers make it seem to be simple when in reality it is very complex and takes a lot of practice.

Doo-wop has a wide range of voices such as the lead voice (usually a tenor), one or more tenor voices, baritone voice(s), a bass voice and many sometimes a falsetto voice. The blending of the voices in harmony and rhythm are generally a cappella or with a simple band playing as an accompaniment. Doo-wop is considered urban music, which means it takes advantage of halls, stairways, subways and alleyways in the city, which provided natural reverb or echo effects. These “effects” helped provide louder volume and enhancement of the voices to blend and mix together.

The lead voice (and the other voices as well) often uses what is called a melisma (derived from gospel music), that is when you sing a word or syllable in several notes. A good example of a melisma is the song “The Great Pretender” by the Platters with the opening line “Oh-ooh-oh, yes, I’m the great pretender” which is one of the most well-known doo-wop songs of all time.

Another distinctive feature of the doo-wop groups is their “close harmonization” of three or more voices. Close harmony is when all voices sing close together, in what are called chords, instead of a spread out chord pattern. See the two figures below for the contrast.

Close Harmony

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To understand harmony, we need a brief simple lesson in theory. The above two figures are examples of the chord of C major. The bottom notes in both figures are “Middle C” which identifies the chord as C.   C major is comprised of three notes sung together, spelled out as “C, E, G” for three voices. The top figure is a “close harmony” example of a C chord. The bottom figure is also a C chord except the voices are spread out as “C, G, and high E”. Much of this close harmony music in doo-wop style is similar in construction to the “Barber Shop Quartet” style of vocal harmony.

Voices in doo-wop are similar to opera. There is a hierarchy based on tones from high to low. Opera incorporates (from high to low) soprano, mezzo-soprano, contra-alto, alto, “castrato”, tenor, baritone and bass voices, but they use many more voices than the Doo-Wop groups and use both sexes to sing in the same choir.

Incidentally, the term castrato refers to the practice of castrating a male singer before puberty to maintain the high tone of voice at or near soprano, mezzo-soprano, and contra-alto. The practice had been used in the early Byzantine Empire around 400 CE and also in mid-sixteenth century Italy when opera was in its heyday.

Doo-Wop uses on the other hand (from high to low) uses, the falsetto voice; the high tenor, lead or first tenor voice; sometimes a second tenor voice; baritone voice; and finally a bass voice. Generally, Doo-Wop groups have to have two or more voices, but not exceeding five or six voices. Usually, the Doo-Wop groups will be either all male or all female with few exceptions of having both sexes represented in a single group, such as the Platters or the Fleetwoods.

 

The individual Voices 

The Lead – The lead is often a tenor or high tenor. However, in the early years of doo-wop (1950-1954), the bass voice sometimes carried the “lead” role. More often than not, the lead is a first tenor who gets most of the attention in singing the verses and the chorus, some great examples of the tenor voice is that of Clyde McPhatter of the Dominoes and then later the Drifters, Hank Ballard (& the Midnighters), Otis Williams (& the Charms) on through to Ben E. King (of the early 60s era Drifters). Some notable high tenors were as high as castratos (although they were not literally castrated), like the teenage Frankie Lymon (& the Teenagers) and his brother Lewis Lymon (& the Teenchords) as well as Michael Jackson when he was just a kid in the early 1970s with the Jackson Five were all high enough for castrato. At the beginning of Doo Wop, the bass voice was the lead singer of the song which took up the verses such as Bill Brown of the Dominoes on the song “Sixty Minute Man”.

The Falsetto – The falsetto voice is used quite a lot in doo-wop with mostly slow ballad songs, although it is used in many fast-paced songs as well. The falsetto would sometimes lead. However, it usually runs above the lead or in a harmonic context along with the other voices of the chorus. Occasionally, the falsetto could be doubled up by the lead or one of the other voices to add more dimensions to the harmony (or it could be sung by a female in a mixed gender group). Frequently the falsetto is used generously in the intros and endings of the song. Maithe Marshall of the Ravens was influential in pioneering the style of falsetto that was to be used by many of the doo-wop groups that were to come after.

The Chorus (Tenors & Baritones) –

The chorus (not to be confused with “the” chorus of a song) is a mix of many varieties of tonal textures with many different colors and mixes between tenor, mezzo and baritone voices.  The chorus also incorporates alto and soprano voices as well with mix gender groups. The basic point of the chorus is that it is the foundation, the skeleton on which the music rests its harmony and a wide range of vocal colors. Harmony is a lot harder to accomplish than it sounds and these groups make it look easy.

The Bass – The Bass often starts a song and is used on a lot of the fast-paced songs. Although there are many cases where the bass is used in slow ballads as well, the bass tends to be separate from the rest of the chorus, running under the lead and the other voices. Influential, in the development of the “doo-wop” bass vocal style, were Hoppy Jones of the Ink Spots (spoken bass parts) on “Tune In on My Heart ” and Jimmy Ricketts of the Ravens taking the lead on “Write Me A Letter” in 1/10/1948. Showing the importance of the Inks Spots, the Ravens and the Orioles in providing the blueprint for the mid-50s to early 60s styles in doo-wop.