96-551: The Penguins were an American doo-wop group from Los Angeles, California , that were active during the 1950s and early 1960s. They are known for their 1954 hit song, " Earth Angel ", which was one of the first rhythm and blues songs to cross over to the pop charts. The song would ultimately prove to be their only success. The song peaked at No. 8 on the US Billboard Best Sellers in Stores pop chart but had
192-475: 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 arrangements, used wordless onomatopoeia to mimic musical instruments. For instance, " Count Every Star " by the Ravens (1950) includes vocalizations imitating
288-402: A 45 released that was credited to Belvin and The Capris . The single "Beware" was composed by J. Dolphin and backed with "Endless Love", a composition by K. C. Reeth and Robert Hafner . Inspired by his wife and manager Jo Ann to develop his style, Belvin signed to RCA Records in 1959, and immediately had a top 40 hit with "Guess Who", written by his wife. This song originally started as
384-601: A Detroit vocal harmony group called the Matadors, met the producer Berry Gordy , 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 , founded several months before he established
480-615: A backing group, the Viceroys. Later, the group was Duncan, Saulsberry, Vesta and Evelyn King, and Vera Walker. (Duncan and the King sisters had recorded a record as "Cleve Duncan and the Radiants" in 1959.) By the late 1960s, the group was being billed as the "Fabulous Penguins", and featured Duncan, Walker, and new member Rudy Wilson. By the 1970s, the members were Duncan, the returning Walter Saulsberry, and new member Glenn Madison, formerly of
576-869: A bass instrument. Doo-wop's characteristic vocal style was influenced by groups such as the Mills Brothers, whose close four-part harmony derived from the vocal harmonies of the earlier barbershop quartet . The Four Knights ' "Take Me Right Back to the Track" (1945), the Cats and the Fiddle '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. In The Complete Book of Doo-Wop , co-authors Gribin and Schiff (who also wrote Doo-Wop,
672-625: A common practice of the time, radio stations frequently featured segregated playlists. Thus, "Earth Angel" was simultaneously recorded by the white group The Crew-Cuts in 1955. The Crew-Cuts cover peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 chart, five spots higher than the Penguins version. The single's success contributed to the Crew-Cuts' own successful career of recording crossover -friendly covers of R&B hits. The songwriting genesis for "Earth Angel"
768-540: A crucial role in creating a market for Italian doo-wop. Jesse Belvin Jesse Lorenzo Belvin (December 15, 1932 – February 6, 1960) was an American singer, pianist and songwriter popular in the 1950s. Belvin co-wrote the 1954 Penguins ' doo-wop classic " Earth Angel ", which sold more than 10 million copies, while his top recording was the 1956 single " Goodnight My Love ", a song that reached No. 7 on Billboard 's R&B chart . Belvin's success
864-417: A decade later on Frank Zappa 's " Memories of El Monte ", an elegiac 1963 song in which he suddenly breaks into "Earth Angel" as one of the various songs remembered. El Monte , a city near Los Angeles, had spawned such popular performers as Tony Allan, Marvin & Johnny , and The Shields as well as the Penguins. Those groups were also emulated as part of Zappa's tribute to early days of rock and roll. In
960-478: 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 formed in Harlem in 1952. Members of
1056-714: A head-on collision near Hope, Arkansas . Police suspected Belvin's car was tampered with. Jackie Wilson told the press that he had requested his lawyer look into the matter, but no official determination was ever made. Belvin was declared dead at the scene as was their driver. His wife died later in the hospital. He was 27; Jo Ann, 23. The Belvins were buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles . Crown Records released The Unforgettable Jesse Belvin in 1961. The next year, 1962, Belvin's single "Tonight My Love", backed with "Looking for Love",
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#17327801309291152-407: A high tenor singing over the chords of the blended mid-range voices and a strong bass voice. Their lead singer, Sonny Til , 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
1248-488: A lead vocal over background vocals, and often featuring, in the bridge , a melodramatically heartfelt recitative 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 and continued to influence performers in other genres. Doo-wop has complex musical, social, and commercial origins. Doo-wop's style
1344-441: A love letter from her to him, and Belvin turned it into the hit song it became. He also recorded the album Just Jesse Belvin , developing a mature and sophisticated sound on ballads. His style was influenced by Nat "King" Cole and Billy Eckstine , and became a model for Sam Cooke and others. He acquired the nickname "Mr. Easy", and the record company began molding him as a potential crossover star for white audiences, as well as
1440-763: 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 , 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 's long-running (1946–1958) morning radio show on CBS, Talent Scouts ,
1536-557: A member of The Hollywood Flames . In late 1953, they decided to form a new vocal group and added Tisby and Tate. Their midtempo performance style was a cross between rhythm and blues and rock and roll . Williams brought with him a song, "Earth Angel", on which he had worked with Gaynel Hodge, another member of the Hollywood Flames. The Penguins were one of a number of doo-wop groups of the period named after birds (such as The Orioles , The Flamingos , and The Crows ). One of
1632-648: 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,
1728-545: 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
1824-503: 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
1920-509: A professional rival to Capitol Records ' recording star Nat "King" Cole. Belvin recorded a further series of tracks later in the year, with arranger Marty Paich and an orchestra including saxophonist Art Pepper . The songs included soulful covers of standards such as " Blues in the Night ", " In the Still of the Night ", and " Makin' Whoopee ", and were issued on the album Mr. Easy . Before
2016-565: A three-week run at No. 1 on the R&;B chart. The original members of The Penguins were tenor Cleveland Duncan (July 23, 1935 – November 7, 2012), Curtis Williams (baritone/bass)(December 11, 1934 – August 10, 1979), Dexter Tisby (tenor)(March 10, 1935 – May 2019) and Bruce Tate (baritone)(January 27, 1937 – June 20, 1973). Duncan and Williams were former classmates at Fremont High School in Los Angeles , California , and Williams had become
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#17327801309292112-421: A white teen audience. In 1948, Jubilee Records 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 Billboard' s "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
2208-583: Is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in 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, D.C., and Los Angeles. It features vocal group harmony that carries an engaging melodic line to a simple beat with little or no instrumentation . Lyrics are simple, usually about love, sung by
2304-542: 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 (in their 1934 song " Blue Moon "), and Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser (in their 1938 " Heart and Soul ") used a I–vi–ii–V -loop chord progression in those hit songs ; composers of doo-wop songs varied this slightly but significantly to
2400-762: The Billboard R&;B chart (the only Penguins song to chart that high) and held that place for three weeks early in 1955. By 1966, the disc had sold four million copies. The Penguins followed up this hit with a Christmas release "A Christmas prayer" with "Jingle Jangle." The Penguins performed for the eleventh famed Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr . on July 24, 1955. Also featured Big Jay McNeely , Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra , The Medallions and James Moody and his Orchestra. Duncan sang lead on "Earth Angel". He reprised his performance
2496-781: The Motown Record Corporation in January 1959, were of either blues or doo-wop performances. " Bad Girl ", a 1959 doo-wop single by Robinson's group, the Miracles , 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
2592-622: 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 high schools. All of them were influenced by the Robins , a successful R&B group of the late 1940s and
2688-621: The "doomph, doomph" plucking of a double bass . The Orioles helped develop the doo-wop sound with their hits " It's Too Soon to Know " (1948) and " Crying in the Chapel " (1953). 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 , just as
2784-489: The "most gifted of us all. Even now I consider him the greatest singer of my generation. Rhythm and Blues, Rock and Roll, crooner, you name it, he was going to be bigger than Sam Cooke , bigger than Nat Cole ." Belvin was born in San Antonio, Texas , and moved with his family to Los Angeles, California , at the age of five. On July 10, 1949, Belvin did the opening act with Big Jay McNeely and Lionel Hampton at
2880-548: The 1950s doo-wop groups, and the Flamingos, who had national hits as well. 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
2976-401: 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 compilations, Memories of El Monte , on his record label, Original Sound . The record was a collection of classic doo-wop songs by bands that used to play at
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3072-862: The 1950s who formed in San Francisco, or by other groups including the Flairs , the Flamingos (not the Chicago group) and the Hollywood Flames . 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,
3168-605: The 5th Cavalcade of Jazz that was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. in Los Angeles at the Wrigley Field ballpark. In 1950, he joined Three Dots and a Dash, saxophonist Big Jay McNeely 's backing vocal quartet, and featured prominently on their record releases. In 1952, he joined Specialty Records . Although his early solo records were unsuccessful, his fourth record, "Dream Girl", credited to Jesse & Marvin and featuring sax player Marvin Phillips singing, reached No. 2 on
3264-757: 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 ". Maestro said that he became interested in R&B vocal group harmony listening to the Flamingos, the Harptones , and the Moonglows on Alan Freed 's radio show on WINS in New York. Freed's various radio and stage shows had
3360-588: The Bronx . 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 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 ". Written by Mack, it
3456-475: The Bronx, who attended the Catholic St. Anthony of Padua School in the Bronx , where they were trained to sing Gregorian Chants . Their first recording was "He's Gone" (1958), which made them the first pop rock girl group to chart. Their second single, "Maybe" hit the charts, No. 15 on Billboard ' s Hot 100. In 1960, the Chiffons began as a trio of schoolmates at James Monroe High School in
3552-677: 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 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
3648-496: 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
3744-514: The Delcos (Indiana). This was the current line up of the group until 2012. The group performed on the PBS television special, Doo Wop 50 . Duncan, Madison, and Saulsberry also performed with Randy Jones as guest, in 2001. It was planned for Jones to appear with the Penguins the following year but he suffered a stroke while rehearsing with the group and died shortly thereafter. Jones also performed with
3840-676: The Elegants , the Mystics , the Duprees , Johnny Maestro & the Crests , and the Regents . Some doo-wop groups were racially mixed. Puerto Rican Herman Santiago , originally slated to be the lead singer of the Teenagers , 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 thought that newcomer Frankie Lymon 's voice would be better in
3936-549: The Forgotten Third of Rock 'n' Roll ), identify five features of doo-wop 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
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4032-552: The Impalas , whose " Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home) " was a hit in 1959. Chico Torres was a member of the Crests, whose lead singer, Johhny Mastrangelo, would later gain fame under the name Johnny Maestro. 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
4128-885: The Jaguars, the Jewels, the Meadowlarks , the Silks, the Squires, the Titans, and the Up-Fronts. A few groups, such as the Platters and Rex Middleton's Hi-Fis, had crossover 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
4224-968: The Lower East Side in Manhattan; Dion and the Belmonts, the Regents, and Nino and the Ebb Tides were from the Bronx; the Elegants from Staten Island; the Capris from Queens; the Mystics, the Neons, the Classics, and Vito & the Salutations 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
4320-403: The One You Love " and "Glow Worm") were generally slow songs in swing time with simple instrumentation. Doo-wop street singers generally performed without instrumentation, but made their musical style distinctive, whether using fast or slow tempos , 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
4416-534: The Penguins , the Cadillacs' "Gloria", the Heartbeats' "A Thousand Miles Away", Shep & the Limelites' " Daddy's Home ", the Flamingos ' "I Only Have Eyes for You", and the Jive Five " 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
4512-414: The Still of the Night ", the Five Satins sang across the bridge with a plaintive "doo-wop, doo-wah". The vocal harmony group tradition that developed in the United States after 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 East Coast , in Chicago, and in Detroit. Among the first groups to perform songs in
4608-469: 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
4704-405: The U.S. Billboard R&B chart in 1953. Along with Charles Wright , Belvin was involved with Kent - Modern A&R man Tony Hilder in the late 1950s. Having been drafted into the army around 1953, Belvin continued to write songs. His composition " Earth Angel ", eventually co-credited to Belvin and Hollywood Flames singers Curtis Williams and Gaynel Hodge after a legal dispute,
4800-402: The U.S. pop chart and No. 11 on the R&B chart. In 1956, the single "The Girl in My Dreams" b/w "I Wanna Know Why", recorded with Eugene Church as The Cliques , peaked at No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 . "The Girl in My Dreams" was covered by the Four Lovers (two of whose members, including Frankie Valli , would later become The Four Seasons ). By early 1959, Tender Records had
4896-415: The aim of getting signed to a record deal. 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 . 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
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#17327801309294992-453: The album was issued, Belvin appeared on a concert bill with Jackie Wilson and Marv Johnson in Little Rock, Arkansas on February 6, 1960. It was the first concert ever played before an integrated audience in Little Rock's history. The show was stopped twice by interruptions from whites in the audience shouting racial epithets and urging the white teenagers in attendance to leave. After the performance, Belvin and his wife Jo Ann were killed in
5088-466: The band were experienced gospel 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 , was the first black teen idol who appealed to both black and white audiences. He
5184-438: 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 songs. Hit songs by black groups such as the Ink Spots (" If I Didn't Care ", one of the best selling singles worldwide of all time, and "Address Unknown") and the Mills Brothers (" Paper Doll ", " You Always Hurt
5280-424: 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 ' 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 ; also a Washington, D.C. regional hit on Pilgrim 703); and in their 1956 national hit, " In
5376-585: The constraints of the built environment , 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 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 ,
5472-447: The dances Laboe organized at Legion Stadium in El Monte, California , beginning in 1955. It included songs by local bands such as the Heartbeats and the Medallions . Laboe had become a celebrity in the Los Angeles area as a disc jockey for radio station KPOP , playing doo-wop and rhythm and blues broadcast from the parking lot of Scriverner's Drive-In on Sunset Boulevard . In 1962, Frank Zappa , with his friend Ray Collins, wrote
5568-417: The doo-wop song " Memories of El Monte ". This was one of the first songs written by Zappa, who had been listening to Laboe's compilation of doo-wop 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. Early doo-wop music, dating from the late 1940s and early 1950s,
5664-474: The doo-wop style during the late 1950s. 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 and John Dolphin 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
5760-419: 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 in 1956, becoming the number one pop hit in the United Kingdom as well. The Willows , 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
5856-517: 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
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#17327801309295952-405: The late 1950s and early 1960s, many Italian-American groups had national hits: Dion and the Belmonts scored with " I Wonder Why ", " Teenager in Love ", and " Where or When "; the Capris made their name in 1960 with " There's a Moon Out Tonight "; Randy & the Rainbows , who charted with their Top 10 1963 single "Denise" . Other Italian-American doo-wop groups were the Earls , the Chimes ,
6048-510: 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 auditioned the Cardinals at Azrael's. Some groups cut demos at local studios and played them for recording producers , with
6144-439: 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? ". Racially integrated groups with both black and white performers included the Del-Vikings , who had major hits in 1957 with " Come Go With Me " and " Whispering Bells ", the Crests, whose " 16 Candles " appeared in 1958, and
6240-442: The lyrics. Particularly productive doo-wop groups were formed by young Italian-American 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
6336-427: The members smoked Kool cigarettes , which, at the time, had "Willie the Penguin" as its cartoon advertising character. They considered themselves "cool" and accordingly decided to call themselves "The Penguins". Dootone Records released The Penguins' single "Hey Senorita" in late 1954 as the intended A-side , but a radio DJ flipped the record over to the B-side: "Earth Angel" worked its way up to No. 1 on
6432-404: 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 , particularly in 1955, which saw such cross-over doo-wop hits as " Sincerely " by the Moonglows , " Earth Angel " by
6528-430: 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
6624-410: 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
6720-400: 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
6816-554: The reunited Jacks/Cadets in the 1990s. Duncan died on November 7, 2012, in Los Angeles at the age of 77. The group is mentioned in the Paul Simon song " Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War ". In interviews, Simon has told about hearing "Earth Angel," the first R&B song he said he had heard; he describes trying to explain to his father, a big band musician, how great the song was. The Penguins were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004. Doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop )
6912-426: 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
7008-531: The so-called " Chitlin Circuit ", which served as a school of the performing arts for blacks who had migrated from the deep South , 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
7104-567: 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
7200-646: 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 to categorize the music. "Doo-wop" is itself a nonsense expression. In the Delta Rhythm Boys ' 1945 recording, "Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin", it is heard in the backing vocal . It is heard later in the Clovers ' 1953 release "Good Lovin'" (Atlantic Records 1000), and in
7296-579: The success of two teen groups from the Bronx, the Chantels and the Bobbettes . 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 to enjoy nationwide success in the US. The group was established in the early 1950s by five students, all of them born in
7392-571: The summer of 1956, Jones and Tisby were briefly out of the group, and were replaced by Ray Brewster and Teddy Harper, respectively. Jones and Tisby returned shortly afterwards. Curtis Williams left in December 1957, with Harper rejoining as his permanent replacement. The Penguins never had another national hit, but their 1957 cover of "Pledge of Love" reached No. 15 on the R&B chart. The group broke up in 1962. Cleveland Duncan continued recording as "The Penguins", with new member Walter Saulsberry and
7488-622: The vocal harmony group tradition were the Orioles , the Five Keys , and the Spaniels ; 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 in December 1945. By
7584-511: 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
7680-643: Was " Church Bells May Ring ", featuring Neil Sedaka , then a member of the Linc-Tones , on chimes . It reached number 11 on the US R&;B chart in 1956. Although they never had a national chart hit, the Solitaires , best known for their 1957 hit single " Walking Along ", 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
7776-425: 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
7872-467: 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 , 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
7968-407: Was a matter of some dispute, eventually ending up in a split credit between Penguins bass-baritone Curtis Williams, Gaynel Hodge, and Jesse Belvin . Coming off the success of "Earth Angel", the Penguins approached Buck Ram to manage them. Ram's primary interest was in managing The Platters , who at that point had no hit singles, but were a profitable touring group. With the Penguins in hand, Ram
8064-742: 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 and the Blentones , while the West was home to the Orioles and the Four Buddies . Baltimore vocal groups gathered at neighborhood record stores, where they practiced
8160-467: 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 labels , record distributors, and nightclub owners of Chicago all had
8256-461: Was able to swing a 2-for-1 deal with Mercury Records , in which the company agreed to take on the Platters as a condition for getting the Penguins (the group that Mercury really wanted). The Platters became the label's more successful act, the Penguins never scoring another hit single. In 1955, Bruce Tate left the group. He was replaced by Randy Jones (who would later sing with the Cadets ). During
8352-651: 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 . Blacks were forced by legal and social segregation, as well as by
8448-553: 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 and Jimmy Merchant rewrite a song they had composed to create " Why Do Fools Fall In Love ", which won the group an audition with Gee Records . 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
8544-535: Was cut short by his death in a car crash at the age of 27 . The accident, which also claimed the lives of his wife Jo Ann and their driver, occurred after a concert in Little Rock, Arkansas that had been disrupted at least twice by white supremacists . According to an Arkansas state trooper at the scene of the accident, the tires of Belvin's 1959 Cadillac had "obviously been tampered with". After his death, legendary blues singer Etta James referred to Belvin as
8640-751: 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 , melded rhythm and blues with the gospel music they had grown up singing in church. Street singing
8736-482: 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 number 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
8832-572: Was more influenced by gospel and blues. Vee-Jay Records and Chess Records were the main labels recording doo-wop groups in Chicago. Vee-Jay signed the Dells , the El Dorados , 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
8928-486: Was played by 11-year-old Barry White . However, in an interview in 1995 White denied this The song became the closing theme to Alan Freed 's rock and roll radio shows. Belvin's other recordings for Modern were less successful, and in 1958, he recorded on Dot Records with a group, the Shields, who included lead singer Frankie Ervin and guitarist Johnny "Guitar" Watson . Their record "You Cheated" reached No. 15 on
9024-414: Was recorded by The Penguins , and became one of the first R&B singles to cross over onto the pop charts, selling 1 million copies in 1954/1955. In 1956, he signed a contract with Modern Records , but continued to sing for other labels under different names. His biggest hit was " Goodnight My Love ", which reached No. 7 on the R&B chart. Some sources report that the piano on the session reportedly
9120-522: Was released on the Laurie Records 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
9216-583: Was the lead singer for the Tune Weavers . 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 Orioles , and the Swallows . The Royal Theatre in Baltimore and the Howard in Washington, D.C. were among the most prestigious venues for black performers on
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