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Doo-wop
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===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).
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