Editing Doo-wop (section)

==Origins==

Doo-wop has complex musical, social, and commercial origins.

===Musical precedents===
Doo-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.{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1"> {
\relative c' { \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 2 = 120
   \clef treble
   \time 4/4
   \key c \major
   <c e g>1_\markup { \concat { \translate #'(-3.5 . 0) { "C:   I" \hspace #7 "vi" \hspace #6 "IV" \hspace #6 "V" \hspace #7 "I" } } }
   <a c e a> <f c' f a> <g b d g> <c e g> \bar "||"
} }
</score>|width=345|caption=A typical [[50s progression|doo-wop chord progression]] in C major<ref name="Goosman2013193">{{cite book|author=Stuart L. Goosman|title=Group Harmony: The Black Urban Roots of Rhythm and Blues|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYoXAAAAQBAJ&pg=193|date=17 July 2013|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-0204-5|page=193}}</ref>}}

Such composers as [[Rodgers and Hart]] (in their 1934 song "[[Blue Moon (1934 song)|Blue Moon]]"), and [[Hoagy Carmichael]] and [[Frank Loesser]] (in their 1938 "[[Heart and Soul (1938 song)|Heart and Soul]]") used a [[I–vi–ii–V]]-loop [[chord progression]] in those [[hit song]]s; 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]]. This characteristic harmonic layout was combined with the AABA chorus form typical for [[Tin Pan Alley]] songs.<ref name="Modleski1986">{{cite book|author=Bernard Gendron|editor=Tania Modleski|title=Studies in Entertainment: Critical Approaches to Mass Culture|url=https://archive.org/details/studiesinenterta00andw|url-access=registration|year=1986|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0-253-35566-4|pages=24–25|chapter=2: Theodor Adorno Meets the Cadillacs}}</ref><ref name="AppenFrei-Hauenschild2015">Ralf von Appen, Markus Frei-Hauenschild (2015). [http://www.gfpm-samples.de/Samples13/appenfrei.pdf "AABA, Refrain, Chorus, Bridge, Prechorus — Song Forms and their Historical Development"]. In: ''Samples. Online Publikationen der Gesellschaft für Popularmusikforschung/German Society for Popular Music Studies e.V.'', Ed. by Ralf von Appen, [[André Doehring]] and [[Thomas Phleps]]. Vol. 13, p. 6.</ref>

Hit songs by black groups such as [[the Ink Spots]]<ref>{{cite web|author=The Ink Spots |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-ink-spots-mn0000082831 |title=The Ink Spots {{pipe}} Biography, Albums, Streaming Links |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=10 October 2019}}</ref> ("[[If I Didn't Care]]", one of the [[List of best-selling singles|best selling singles]] worldwide of all time,<ref name="Pitilli201618">{{cite book|author=Lawrence Pitilli|title=Doo-Wop Acappella: A Story of Street Corners, Echoes, and Three-Part Harmonies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kTO5DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA18|date=2 August 2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-4430-6|page=18}}</ref> and "Address Unknown") and [[the Mills Brothers]] ("[[Paper Doll (The Mills Brothers song)|Paper Doll]]", "[[You Always Hurt the One You Love]]" and "Glow Worm")<ref>[[Joel Whitburn|Whitburn, Joel]], ''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Records: 1940-1955'', Record Research, Menomanee, Wisconsin, 1973 p.37</ref> were generally slow songs in [[swing time]] with simple instrumentation. Doo-wop street singers generally performed without instrumentation, but made their musical style distinctive, whether using fast or slow [[tempo]]s, by keeping time with a swing-like [[On-beat and off-beat|off-beat]],<ref name="Cosby2016">{{cite book|author=James A. Cosby|title=Devil's Music, Holy Rollers and Hillbillies: How America Gave Birth to Rock and Roll|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gyzVDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA190|date=19 May 2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-6229-9|pages=190–191|quote=When done in swing time, early doo-wop became a popular form of rock and roll, and it was often slowed down to provide dance hits throughout the 1950s, and the genre was personified by successful groups like the Coasters and the Drifters.}}</ref> while using the "doo-wop" syllables as a substitute for drums and a bass vocalist as a substitute for a bass instrument.<ref name="Goosman2013193" />

Doo-wop's characteristic vocal style was influenced by groups such as the Mills Brothers,<ref name="Shepherd2003">{{cite book|author=Gage Averill|editor=John Shepherd|title=Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Volume II: Performance and Production|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pJvzEzjahkQC&pg=PA124|volume=11, Close Harmony Singing|date=8 July 2003|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-8264-6322-7|page=124}}</ref> whose close [[four-part harmony]] derived from the vocal harmonies of the earlier [[Barbershop music|barbershop quartet]].<ref name="Averill2003">{{cite book|author=Gage Averill|title=Four Parts, No Waiting: A Social History of American Barbershop Quartet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2R2CAAAQBAJ&pg=PT167|date=20 February 2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-028347-6|page=167}}</ref>

[[The Four Knights]]' "Take Me Right Back to the Track" (1945), the [[Cats and the Fiddle]]'s song "I Miss You So" (1939),<ref name="Birnbaum2013">{{cite book|author=Larry Birnbaum|title=Before Elvis: The Prehistory of Rock 'n' Roll|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJes-jdk5kEC&pg=PA168|year=2013|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8108-8638-4|page=168}}</ref> 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.

===Elements of doo-wop vocal style===
In ''The Complete Book of Doo-Wop'', co-authors Gribin and Schiff (who also wrote ''Doo-Wop, the Forgotten Third of Rock 'n' Roll''), identify five features of doo-wop music:
# it is vocal music made by groups;
# it features a wide range of vocal parts, "usually from bass to falsetto";
# it includes [[Pseudoword#Nonsense syllables|nonsense syllables]];
# there is a simple beat and low key instrumentals; and
# it has simple words and music.<ref>Gribin, Anthony j., and Matthew M. Schiff, ''The Complete Book of Doo-Wop'', Collectables, Narberth, PA US, 2009 p. 17</ref>
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. [[Bill Kenny (singer)|Bill Kenny]], lead singer of the Ink Spots, is often credited with introducing the "top and bottom" vocal arrangement featuring a [[tenor|high tenor]] singing the intro and a [[bass (vocal range)|bass]] spoken chorus.<ref name="Abjorensen2017">{{cite book|author=Norman Abjorensen|title=Historical Dictionary of Popular Music|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZyrDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA249|date=25 May 2017|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-5381-0215-2|page=249}}</ref> The Mills Brothers, who were famous in part because in their vocals they sometimes mimicked instruments,<ref name="Warner2006">{{cite book|author=Jay Warner|title=American Singing Groups: A History from 1940s to Today|url=https://archive.org/details/americansingingg00warn|url-access=registration|year=2006|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=978-0-634-09978-6|page=45}}</ref> were an additional influence on street vocal harmony groups, who, singing ''[[a cappella]]'' arrangements, used wordless [[onomatopoeia]] to mimic musical instruments.<ref name="Pitilli201629">{{cite book|author=Lawrence Pitilli|title=Doo-Wop Acappella: A Story of Street Corners, Echoes, and Three-Part Harmonies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kTO5DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA29|date=2 August 2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-4430-6|page=29}}</ref><ref name="Merrill2017">{{cite book|author= Virginia Dellenbaugh|editor=Julia Merrill|title=Popular Music Studies Today: Proceedings of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music 2017|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5v2ODgAAQBAJ&pg=PA76|date=30 March 2017|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-658-17740-9|pages=76|chapter=From Earth Angel to Electric Lucifer: Castrati, Doo Wop and the Vocoder }}</ref> For instance, "[[Count Every Star]]" by [[the Ravens]] (1950) includes vocalizations imitating the "doomph, doomph" plucking of a [[double bass]]. [[The Orioles]] helped develop the doo-wop sound with their hits "[[It's Too Soon to Know]]" (1948) and "[[Crying in the Chapel]]" (1953).

===Origin of the name===
Although 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]]'',<ref name="Pruter1996">{{cite book|author=Robert Pruter|title=Doowop: The Chicago Scene|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j06dhDdsgioC&pg=PR12|year=1996|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-06506-4|page=xii}}</ref><ref name="Weinstein2015">{{cite book|author=Deena Weinstein|title=Rock'n America: A Social and Cultural History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-8WnBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA58|date=27 January 2015|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4426-0018-8|page=58}}</ref> just as the style's vogue was nearing its end. 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.<ref name=Electric2007>{{cite web | title= Where'd We Get the Name Doo-wop?| work=electricearl.com|url=http://www.electricearl.com/dws/origin.html|access-date=18 August 2007}}</ref><ref name="Pitilli201628">{{cite book|author=Lawrence Pitilli|title=Doo-Wop Acappella: A Story of Street Corners, Echoes, and Three-Part Harmonies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kTO5DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA28|date=2 August 2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-4430-6|page=28}}</ref>

"Doo-wop" is itself a nonsense expression. In [[the Delta Rhythm Boys]]' 1945 recording, "Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin", it is heard in the [[backing vocal]]. It is heard later in [[the Clovers]]' 1953 release "Good Lovin'" (Atlantic Records 1000), and in the chorus of Carlyle Dundee & the Dundees' 1954 song "Never" (Space Records 201). The first hit record with "doo-wop" being harmonized in the refrain was [[the Turbans]]' 1955 hit, "When You Dance" (Herald Records H-458).<ref name=Electric2007 /><ref name="Pitilli201627">{{cite book|author=Lawrence Pitilli|title=Doo-Wop Acappella: A Story of Street Corners, Echoes, and Three-Part Harmonies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kTO5DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA27|date=2 August 2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-4430-6|page=27}}</ref> The Rainbows embellished the phrase as "do wop de wadda" in their 1955 "Mary Lee" (on [[Red Robin Records]]; also a Washington, D.C. regional hit on Pilgrim 703); and in their 1956 national hit, "[[In the Still of the Night (1956 song)|In the Still of the Night]]", [[the Five Satins]]<ref>{{cite web|author=The Five Satins |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-five-satins-mn0000061479 |title=The Five Satins {{pipe}} Biography, Albums, Streaming Links |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=10 October 2019}}</ref> sang across the bridge with a plaintive "doo-wop, doo-wah".<ref name="Gregory2019">{{cite book|author=Georgina Gregory|title=Boy Bands and the Performance of Pop Masculinity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wQWQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT31|date=3 April 2019|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-429-64845-8|page=31}}</ref>