Doo-Wop music flourished during the Elvis Era. The style was derived from the earlier vocal harmonies of groups such as the Ink Spots and the Mills Brothers. Those harmonies were adopted by rhythm and blues artists such as the Orioles, the Penguins, and the Moonglows. Many teens in the mid 1950's were attracted to the new sound of rock and roll, but many did not have access to the necessary instruments. The doo-wop sound came to rely more heavily on the background vocals. The name "doo-wop" reflected the often meaningless words chanted as background to the lead vocals. In some cases, the nonsense syllables were a prominent aspect of the record, such as "Come Go With Me" by The Dell-Vikings. In others, such as "Since I Don't Have You" by The Skyliners, the emphasis is more on the "ooo's and ahhhh's." Another common characteristic of the sound was its heavy dose of echo. Many of the genre's artists got their start singing in school hallways, and bathrooms where a heavy echo could be produced. Most of the groups had four or five members and were identified as a group (The Clovers, "Devil or Angel") but sometimes a group leader was recognized (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love"). Eventually, the genre included solo performers where the backup group vocals went uncredited (Gene Chandler, "Duke of Earl"). In the case of Dion & The Belmonts, Dion eventually split with his group, but his solo efforts ("Runaround Sue") had backing vocals sounding just like The Belmonts – in this case, an uncredited group, The Del Satins.
With its close relationship to rhythm and blues, most of the doo-wop groups were black (The Platters), but some were white (The Diamonds), and some were racially mixed (The Dell-Vikings). Many of the early white doo-wop groups were the product of "cover" versions frequently produced during the era to capitalize on a promising r & b record by cleaning up the vocals and making the production (and the group itself) more attractive to a white audience (and thus making more money). The Crew Cuts ("Sh-Boom"), The McGuire Sisters ("Sincerely"), and The Diamonds ("Church Bells May Ring") are prime examples of white covers.
While early doo-wop records such as Otis Williams & The Charms' "Ivory Tower" were almost devoid of instrumentation, the genre evolved to eventually include full orchestras, such as The Drifters' "Up on the Roof." As stated before, early on the genre was almost exclusively made up of black groups, but later such all white groups as Dion & The Belmonts and The Four Seasons had great success.
Many rock and roll records of the Elvis Era owed their success to the influence of doo-wop. Neil Sedaka had great success in the early 1960's with records which included doo-wop lyrics, such as his #1 hit, "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" ("Down dooby doo down down"). Roy Orbison's early successes, such as "Only The Lonely" employed doo-wop ("dum dum dum, dumdy doo dwah"). In 1961, Barry Mann had a #7 hit with a song that payed homage to the genre, "Who Put The Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)". Jan & Dean also showed a heavy doo-wop influence in their initial hit recording "Baby Talk."
Categorizing records as "doo-wop" has a grey area. For this list, sometimes a record that has doo-wop sound isn't included because it comes up a little short on some of the criteria. For example, "Eddie My Love" by The Teen Queens has a doo-wop kind of sound, but it’s a duet, not a vocal group, and it lacks the backing vocals and bass commonly associated with the genre. At the same time, "Lollipop" by The Chordettes is included as it certainly has the harmony, a four member group (all female), and the requisite nonsense syllables ("pop, ba boom boom"). The Four Seasons are included as their music is east-coast r & b influenced, with emphasis on the nonsense syllables, Frankie Valli's falsetto, and Bob Gaudio's bass ("Sherry" – "Why don't you come out?") Their contemporaries, The Beach Boys are not listed as their sound was more closely identified with the west coast surf guitar driven sound, although they certainly employed the close harmony and backing vocals (but these vocals were more commonly repeated phrases rather than nonsense syllables ("Fun, Fun, Fun" – "fun, fun, fun, now that daddy took her T-Bird away"). The girl groups of the early 1960's present a categorization dilemma. While many are obviously doo-wop influenced, the increased instrumental role, less use of harmony, and the use of more responsive lyrics from the backup vocals and less nonsense syllables make many of them borderline. Most of The Shirelles records seem to qualify ("Will You Love Me Tomorrow") but The Marvelettes ("Playboy") doesn't.
All of this, of course, is debatable. However flawed it might be, below is my list of the doo-wop sounds of 1960 - 1963: |