By: Billy Gee
Howdy do! Those of you who showed up for class last month will recall that I began my “lecture” of the sub-genre of early Rock ‘n’ Roll known as Doo Wop: a pop vocal art of the 50’s and 60’s that started out largely as informal street-corner singing in the urban North. Well, this month finds us smack dab in the middle of that discussion.
For the history-minded amongst you, it may interest you to know that Mr. Tony Williams, the venerable lead singer for The Platters ( “The Great Pretender,” “My Prayer”) was born on April 5, 1928. Interestingly enough, their seminal hit, “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” was released on April 7, 1958–just two days after Williams’ 30th birthday. If you don’t happen to own a copy of “Smoke,” beg, borrow, or steal to get one. This author notes that song as simply one of the most beautiful EVER recorded!
More history: Maurice Williams was born during this month also. (April 26, 1938) Most Oldies fans are more than just casually acquainted with a much-celebrated Doo Wop standard recorded by Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs entitled “Stay.” Surely you must remember, “(Stay!) Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h-h just a little bit longer. Please, please, please tell-a me you’re gon’ to-ooh-ah.” “Bop bop bah, bop bop du wah wah”)
This just in: Not only is Maurice Williams the proud composer of “Stay,” but perhaps not surprisingly, another popular doo wop hit, “Little Darlin’” flowed from the pen of this somewhat under-appreciated composer-singer. Most readers will recall the cover version of this song, done by a Canadian quartet called The Diamonds. (“Bom, bom, bom, bom chee waddy waddy”) But it was a sixteen-year-old Williams heading up a group called The Royal Charms (later changed to The Gladiolas) that won the approval of Ernie Young at Excello Records who recorded the original version of the song in 1956.
Now comes the part of the program where yours truly gets a chance to brag a little bit. For three-and-a-half glorious years, I had the distinct privilege of playing with the incomparable Mr. Marvin Gaye (April 2, 1939 - April 1, 1984), a former doo wop-er with Harvey Fuqua and The Moonglows. Needless to say, I was on a natural high the entire time. (I did say “natural!”) As a member of this group Gaye’s vocal stylings can be heard on such classics as “Sincerely” and “Most of All.” The latter recording is a must-have for any serious Doo Wop aficionado. Somehow The Moonglows managed, admirably, to incorporate almost everydoo wop cliché in the book: (1) the actual words “doo wop” sung by the background singers, (2) the melodic bass who sings “Yeah!” somewhere toward the middle of the song, (3) the first tenor singing in a high falsetto voice that seems to “float” above the other voices…Gee whillikers, folks! I don’t reckon it gets any better than that!
Well, I’ve got to wrap it up right about now. ‘Time to meet and greet those eater young learners. As I think about it there are doo wop greats like Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers (“Why Do Fools Fall In Love”), The Del-Vikings (“Come Go With Me”), The Chantels (“Maybe”), and The Rays (“Silhouettes”) who deserve far more than just honorable mention. Unfortunately, we’ll have to talk about those at another time.
For more information visit:
History of Doo Wop - Part One