6
Doo-Wop
Girl Lecture Groups
Doo Wop
Gospel based, urban, black, male, 1950s-early 60s
Sound: tenor lead, deep bass, soaring falsetto
Nonsense syllables (thus doo-wop)
Intricate harmonic arrangements
EX. The Chords, Sh-Boom (1954)
Jazz flavor: scat singing, sax solo, backup vocal rhythms
Doo-wop characterized by one-hit wonders
EX. The Penguins, Earth Angel (1954)
An early crossover hit
Garage recording
One of the most popular oldies today
EX. Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Why Do Fools Fall In
Love? (1956)
Other big doo-wop hits include:
The Platters, Only You (1955)
Doo-wop groups were often named after cars and, especially, birds
The Five Satins, In the Still of the Night (1956)
A Cappella
Doo wop was initially a form of a cappella singing, popular on campuses today
Bobby McFerrins influence: new sounds, techniques
Don Kirshner
Professional songwriters now become a force (1960-1963)
Kirshner was the mastermind publisher and producer behind this new phase
A Tin Pan Alley approach
Basic shift in the music industry at mid-century:
From upper class urban music to working class rural music
From sheet music to records
From the majors to independent record companies
From written to oral traditions
The Brill Building
Songwriting teams:
Sedaka/Greenfield
Goffin/King
Mann/Weil
Barry/Greenwich
Girl Groups
Kirshner and the Brill Building writers built upon the doo-wop sound
In the early 60s they sold hundreds of songs that took a large share of the market
Innocent songs of adolescent romance for teen girls
Sung by African-American girl groups
EX. The Chiffons, Hes So Fine
Du-lang, du-lang (Doo-Wop)
What is the message here?
EX. The Shirelles, Will You Love Me Tomorrow (1961)
Written by Gerry Goffin and Carol King, the first no. 1 hit by a girl group
Uncharacteristically mature theme (premarital sex):
Tonight youre mine completely
You give your love so sweetly
Tonight the light of love is in your eyes
But you will love me tomorrow?
Girl groups and solo female singers (Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes, Crystals, Mary
Wells, Patsy Cline, and so forth) had much success in early 60s
The music of the girl groups is some of the most carefully crafted in all of rock
The Monkees
The Pre-Fab Four: Americas TV answer to the early Beatles
EX. Daydream Believer
TV series debuted Fall 1966, ran two years
Records became even bigger than the show
Tin Pan Alley approach: songs by Neil Diamond, Goffin/King etc.; performed by studio
musicians
Producers rock
Girl groups, like The Monkees, rarely wrote or played the songs
Girl group rock was producers rock, and the greatest producer was Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Wrote or co-wrote the music; picked the singers, instrumentalists, and engineers;
produced the records; controlled every aspect
Produced two of the best girl groups, The Ronettes and The Crystals
EX. The Ronettes, Be My Baby (1963)
Tough, sexy: the first bad girls of rock
Remarkable sound on this recording
The Wall of Sound
The power of Richard Wagner
EX. Prelude from Act III, Lohengrin
Achieved in studio by doubling instruments (5-7 guitars, 3 pianos etc.) and using a lot of
echo
Little symphonies for the kids
Spector produced a small number of meticulously crafted songs each year
An influential approach and sound
EX. The Crystals, Da Doo Ron Ron
Spector often recorded at Gold Star Studio in LA; with studio musicians known as The
Wrecking Crew (including Hal Blaine, Carol Kaye)
EX. The Righteous Brothers, Youve Lost That Loving Feeling
Girl groups summary
Girl groups closely tied to Brill Building songwriters had much success in early 60s
Carefully crafted music dealing with teen girl themes
Formation (and presentation?) carries on in Motown (Supremes) and today (TLC,
Destinys Child)
The Big Picture
Rock history: a struggle between raw energy and musical sophistication?
With the girl groups, women enter rock