DOO-WOP

Doo-wop was a musical style from the early rock’n’roll era that featured a particular type of a cappella, that is, without instruments, ensemble singing. The term itself, which represents the “doo waaah” sung by backing singers, was coined in the early 1970s by New York disc jockey Gus Gossert. In doo-wop’s heyday in the late 1950s, however, the style was considered an indistinguishable part of rock’n’roll.

Music historian Bob Hyde described doo-wop as “the combination of a rumbling, prominent bass voice, a secondary, lyrical soprano or falsetto voice in the background, and some form of three-or-more part harmony from the rest of the group.” While this explains doo-wop’s sound, much of the style’s nostalgic magic comes from the guileless naivete of its content. Or, as Hyde puts it, “doo-wop music in its purest form is simple, innocent, joyous, romantic, and almost spiritual.” In its simplicity, doo-wop captured the essence of a free-spirited youth culture prior to the turmoil of the late 1960s.

ORIGINS OF DOO-WOP

Doo-wop’s roots are in the African-American musical culture of the 1930s and the 1940s, primarily from popular groups such as the INK SPOTS and the Mills Brothers. Other musical influences included gospel (the Swan Silvertones and the Pilgrim Travelers), and swing jazz (Count BASIE and Lionel Hampton). In 1948, Sonny Til and the Orioles from Baltimore became the first doo-wop group to score a chart hit with “Too Soon to Know.” The tune fused the smooth sound of the pop groups with gospel’s vigorous and emotional ensemble singing. Doo-wop substituted voices for instruments when using the swing-based arrangements in which voices were used instead of brass parts, both in the low sustained chords of a ballad and the lively punctuations from an up-tempo number. The nonsense syllables sung by doo-wop performers were simply used to imitate instruments.

The street-corner simplicity of doo-wop’s vocals was a crucial element in its rise. Virtually anyone who could carry a tune could become part of a hit record, and these vocal groups became a fixture of African-American teenage life, particularly on the East Coast. New York established itself as the style’s centre in the early 1950s, with hits by the Dominoes (“Sixty-Minute Man”), the Drifters (“Money Honey”), the Chords (“Sh-Boom”) and the Crows (“Gee”). But the trend quickly spread from Detroit to Los Angeles.

In the mid-1950s, rock’n’roll began to dominate the airwaves and doo-wop slipped naturally into the context of rhythm and blues (R&B). Singles from Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (“Why Do Fools Fall in Love”), The Dell Vikings (“Come Go with Me”), and the Silhouettes (“Get a Job”) neared the top of the pop charts. As the style spread into the white community, kids from the Italian-American neighbourhoods started performing doo-wop. The Italian-Americans had many of their own groups, such as Dion and the Belmonts, but even more importantly, African-Americans and Italian-Americans sang together in ensembles such as the Crests, the Dell Vikings, and the Impalas.

Toward the end of the 1950s, many of the small, independent labels that recorded and released doo-wop began to decline. As rock’n’roll continued to develop stylistically, the a cappella style was being left behind. In 1959, however, the first of a series of compilation albums of vocal groups called Oldies But Goodies was released. This album included many classic doo-wop tracks, and some obscure examples of the genre.

An incalculable number of doo-wop recordings were made in the 1950s and 1960s, although most lost money. Today, however, doo-wop albums are highly valuable. The music has survived partly due to zealous doo-wop collectors and the enduring popularity of nostalgic radio programmes.

Greg Bower