![]() In the Delta Rhythm Boys' 1945 recording, "Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin", it is heard in the backing vocal. "Doo-wop" is itself a nonsense expression. 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. The Orioles helped develop the doo-wop sound with their hits " It's Too Soon to Know" (1948) and " Crying in the Chapel" (1953).Īlthough 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 the style's vogue was nearing its end. For instance, " Count Every Star" by the Ravens (1950) includes vocalizations imitating the "doomph, doomph" plucking of a double bass. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. ![]() ĭoo-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. 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 a bass instrument. 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 the One You Love" and "Glow Worm") were generally slow songs in swing time with simple instrumentation. This characteristic harmonic layout was combined with the AABA chorus form typical for Tin Pan Alley songs. 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 the chord progression I–vi–IV–V, so influential that it is sometimes referred to as the ' 50s progression. Gaining popularity in the 1950s, doo-wop was "artistically and commercially viable" until the early 1960s, but continued to influence performers in other genres.ĭoo-wop has complex musical, social, and commercial origins.ĭoo-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.Ī typical doo-wop chord progression in C major Harmonic singing of nonsense syllables (such as "doo-wop") is a common characteristic of these songs. Lyrics are simple, usually about love, sung by a lead vocal over background vocals, and often featuring, in the bridge, a melodramatically heartfelt recitative addressed to the beloved. It features vocal group harmony that carries an engaging melodic line to a simple beat with little or no instrumentation. Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre 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.
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