By: Billy Gee
Those of you who happen to be real, dyed-in-the wool Rock ‘n’ Roll fans will be utterly delighted as we celebrate the fifty-first anniversary of the recording of “Sh-Boom” by The Chords. March 15, 1954 was the date of this blessed event. The Chords were amongst the early R&B performers who sang in the style of what eventually became known as “Doo Wop.” One school of thought considers “Sh-Boom” to be the first Rock ‘n’ Roll song. The other school of thought alleges that “Gee” by The Crows holds this distinction. (Chronologically speaking, The Crows’ recording was the first to be released, and both songs reached their peak on the record charts during the summer of 1954; but the one done by The Chords reached more music fans, and became the first black vocal group to achieve the distinction of landing a spot on the Top 10 of the pop charts.
For the uninitiated, Doo Wop is said to have begun as street-corner singing done by young urban males; but the truth of the matter is that the youngsters who sang in this style initially got their start in black churches, where they picked up on the basics of the Western harmony that is so intrinsically a part of most black music forms. The earliest beginnings of Doo Wop are be found in major cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Eventually however, this fresh, new sound spread far and wide.
Again, for the sake of those who are new to this music, it would be well to parenthetically mention here that an usually large number of Doo Wop Groups were named for either birds (The Orioles, The Crows, etc.) or cars (The Cadillacs, The Skylarks, etc.)
Interestingly, although this genre flourished, roughly speaking, from 1954 until 1963, the term, “Doo Wop” did not appear in American vernacular until 1970, or thereabouts. The moniker is in obvious reference to the liberal use of nonsense syllables such as “doo wop,” “dip dip de dip,” and the ever-popular “bop sh-bop, sh-bop.” This usage eventually overlapped into the music of “non-doo woppers” like Elvis Presley (Check out the background vocals on “Don’t Be Cruel.”), “Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (“Bad Girl”), and countless others.
It can be stated that Doo Wop evolved from pop, gospel, jazz, blues, and swing music of the late 40’s and early 50’s. The embryo of Doo Wop can be traced back to the early recordings of groups like The Orioles (“It’s Too Soon to Know” – 1948) and The Ravens (“Count Every Star” - 1950). Or, if you’d like to climb back into the Time Machine and travel to the 1930’s and early 1940’s, we could give a listen to songs recorded by The Ink Spots (“If I Didn’t Care” – 1939) and The Mills Brothers (“Paper Doll” – 1943) to gain some understanding of how this music came about.
Prior to the 1954 appearance of The Chords, there were other noteworthy Doo Wop recordings: most notably, The Orioles’ 1953 rendition of “Crying In the Chapel” (covered by Elvis Presley in 1965) and The Drifters’ “Money Honey” (1953, as well–also covered by “The King” in 1956).
Also making a debut in 1954 were “Goodnite Sweetheart, Goodnite” by The Spaniels, “Earth Angel” by The Penguins, and “Sincerely” by The Moonglows.
In 1955 The Platters reached the number five spot on the Pop Charts and the number one spot on the R&B charts with their seminal hit, “Only You (And You Alone).” Later that same year they scored a second hit with “The Great Pretender,” climbing to number one on BOTH the R&B and Pop charts—a feat which etched their names in history for being the first R&B vocal group ever to achieve the distinction of knocking a home run on the other side of the racial fence.
In part two of this series we’ll take a look at some of the mid-to-late 50’s Doo Wop groups that helped to shape the landscape of Rock ‘n’ Roll, as well as the totality of American popular music.