Editing Doo-wop (section)

===Los Angeles===

Doo-wop groups also formed on the west coast of the United States, especially in California, where the scene was centered in Los Angeles. Independent record labels owned by black entrepreneurs such as [[Dootsie Williams]] and [[John Dolphin (music producer)|John Dolphin]] recorded these groups, most of which had formed in high schools. One such group, the Penguins, included Cleveland "Cleve" Duncan and Dexter Tisby, former classmates at [[John C. Fremont High School|Fremont High School]] in the [[Watts, Los Angeles|Watts neighborhood]] of Los Angeles. They, along with Bruce Tate and Curtis Williams, recorded the song "Earth Angel" (produced by Dootsie Williams), which rose to number one on the R&B charts in 1954.<ref name="Macías2008">{{cite book|author=Anthony Macías|title=Mexican American Mojo: Popular Music, Dance, and Urban Culture in Los Angeles, 1935–1968|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Sf8V7FUjZAC&pg=PA182|date=11 November 2008|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-8938-5|pages=182–183}}</ref>

Most of the Los Angeles doo-wop groups came out of the Fremont, [[Belmont High School (Los Angeles)|Belmont]], and [[Jefferson High School (Los Angeles)|Jefferson]] high schools. All of them were influenced by [[the Robins]], a successful R&B group of the late 1940s and the 1950s who formed in San Francisco, or by other groups including [[the Flairs]], the Flamingos (not the Chicago group) and [[the Hollywood Flames]]. Many other Los Angeles doo-wop groups of the time were recorded by Dootsie Williams' Dootone Records and by John Dolphin's Central Avenue record store, Dolphin's of Hollywood. These included the Calvanes,<ref name="Rosalsky2002">{{cite book|author=Mitch Rosalsky|title=Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Doo-Wop Vocal Groups|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L4ghJfL5iBIC&pg=PA45|year=2002|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-4592-3|page=45}}</ref> the Crescendos, the Cuff Linx, the Cubans, the Dootones, the Jaguars, the Jewels, [[the Meadowlarks]], the Silks, the Squires, the Titans, and the Up-Fronts. A few groups, such as [[the Platters]] and Rex Middleton's Hi-Fis, had [[Crossover music|crossover]] success.<ref name="Hoskyns2009">{{cite book|author=Barney Hoskyns|title=Waiting for the Sun: A Rock 'n' Roll History of Los Angeles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w7oB2UKVxgQC&pg=PA33|year=2009|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=978-0-87930-943-5|page=33}}</ref>

The Jaguars, from Fremont High School, was one of the first interracial vocal groups; it consisted of two African Americans, a Mexican American, and a Polish-Italian American. Doo-wop was popular with California Mexican Americans, who were attracted in the 1950s to its ''a capella'' vocals; the romantic style of the doo-wop groups appealed to them, as it was reminiscent of the traditional ballads and harmonies of Mexican folk music.<ref name="Macías2008" /><ref name="Guevara201883">{{cite book|author=Rubén Funkahuatl Guevara|title=Confessions of a Radical Chicano Doo-Wop Singer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eqhSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA83|date=13 April 2018|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-96966-7|page=83}}</ref>

In 1960, [[Art Laboe]] released one of the first [[oldies]] compilations, ''Memories of El Monte'', on his record label, [[Original Sound]]. The record was a collection of classic doo-wop songs by bands that used to play at the dances Laboe organized at [[El Monte Legion Stadium|Legion Stadium]] in [[El Monte, California]],<ref name="Miles1970">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BW1Jom4nswwC&pg=PA71 |title=Zappa |author=Barry Miles |page=71 |year=1970 |publisher=Grove Press |isbn=9780802142153}}</ref> beginning in 1955. It included songs by local bands such as the Heartbeats and [[the Medallions]]. Laboe had become a celebrity in the Los Angeles area as a [[disc jockey]] for radio station [[KTNQ|KPOP]], playing doo-wop and rhythm and blues broadcast from the parking lot of Scriverner's Drive-In on [[Sunset Boulevard]].<ref name="GuzmánFragoza2020">{{cite book |author1=Webre |first=Jude P. |title=East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte |date=14 February 2020 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-1-978805-48-4 |editor1=Guzmán |editor-first=Romeo |pages=227–231 |chapter=Memories of El Monte: Art Laboe's Charmed Life on the Air |editor2=Fragoza |editor-first2={{proper name|Carri|bean}} |editor-link2={{proper name|Carri|bean}} Fragoza |editor3=Cummings |editor-first3=Alex Sayf |editor4=Reft |editor-first4=Ryan |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nnNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA227}}</ref>

In 1962, [[Frank Zappa]], with his friend Ray Collins, wrote the doo-wop song "[[Memories of El Monte]]". This was one of the first songs written by Zappa, who had been listening to Laboe's compilation of doo-wop [[Single (music)|singles]]. Zappa took the song to Laboe, who recruited the lead vocalist of the Penguins, Cleve Duncan, for a new iteration of the group, recorded it, and released it as a single on his record label.<ref name="GuzmánFragoza2020" />