Big Blog #1

American History of Doo- Wop 

So as I began this blog, I decided to choose a genre of music that I wasn't familiar with. Of course, I have heard of doo- wop, but I have never actually paid much attention to the genre. Sam Houston State University describes doo- wop as: "group harmony, a wide range of vocal parts, nonsense syllables, a simple beat, light instrumentation, and simple music and lyrics".

Armed with this description, I decided to head over to youtube to find an example of doo- wop to help me put a sound to the description. The first song that pops up when you type doo- wop into youtube:

The music above is called Doo- Wop (That Thing). It is a "current" example of doo- wop as it was posted 12 years ago. I was actually surprised that I like the sound, the description had me concerned that I would not enjoy it. 

Now that we have an idea of the sound of doo- wop, we can dig deeper into the history of doo- wop. 

Emerging in the 1950s, doo- wop was, as is most music, created by combining different types of music. In this case, it was a combination of R&B, gospel, and black vocal group. Originally, doo- wop was comprised by people clapping out a beat or snapping their fingers. Because of this, doo- wop usually has simple beats that are easy to follow. Doo- wop gets its name from the sound the background singers make (nonsense syllables). 

Instruments were not a huge part of doo- wop in the beginning. It was more about vocables and harmony. They relied on echo to help enrich their sound, so they would practice in bathrooms, under bridges and hallways.

Unfortunately, due to the cultural state of the country during this time, and the simplicity of doo- wop, sometimes the black performers of doo- wop would be ripped off by major record labels and white pop performers in order to sell more copies.

One popular African- American group, The Drifters, is still around today! They have replaced many of the members, but I can imagine it would still be very cool to catch their live show. Enjoy their song, "There Goes My Baby" below:

I had a little trouble finding too much information on this group, but here is what I found: The Drifters hit the tops of the charts in their time. Clyde McPhatter founded the group in 1953. He was actually from NC. After a successful run, McPhatter eventually left the group to go solo, but the group seems to have continued to thrive. In 1988 the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Here is a solo by McPhatter:

I am not sure that you can really consider his solo music as "doo-wop" because in that time the music standard for doo- wop was the harmonizing of a group voices, but it is interesting to see his solo work none the less. It seems to me that over time doo- wop did adapt to being the work of solo artists as well.

By the 70s, doo- wop was starting to dial back a little bit, but doo-wop still had more to give. Below you can enjoy “If I Didn’t Care” by the Moments, which was produced in 1970. 

As you can undoubtably see, the sound of doo- wop has already begun to change. It features more instruments and less simplicity. That is a bummer to me, as I personally enjoyed the earlier doo- wop more.

However, despite not being a 70s doo-wop fan, I was able to find some current musicians who feature doo- wop, including Meghan Trainor and Bruno Mars. I think it is amazing to see how much it has changed since the 50s, but you can definitely catch drifts of it in modern day pop. Below is Meghan Trainor:

Several of Meghan Trainor's songs have a doo- wop vibe, and I really enjoy Meghan Trainor's music. Almost all of her music is upbeat and includes the bonus of being super female and body positive. Her music is the type of music I listen to in the shower in the morning to pump me up, or on a fall day with the car windows down. It makes you wonder if that is how listeners felt in the 50s when they first heard doo- wop, and if so, then that is a beautiful thing.

Interestingly, Meghan Trainor has been encouraged to start getting away from the doo- wop. It makes me wonder if other people do not enjoy the doo- wop sound as much as I do. Let me know in the comments what you think!

Finally, enjoy this live of Bruno Mars playing around with some doo- wop. I really like it because his background guy is even featuring the finger snapping from original doo- wop. 

I really enjoyed researching doo- wop, and I learned a lot. Below are the sources I used if you are interested in learning more. 

Hoffmann, F. (n.d.). Introduction to popular music and its fundamentals. Sam Houston State University. Retrieved October 28, 2022, from https://www.shsu.edu/~lis_fwh/book/index.htm#roots

Greene, Frederick Dennis. "doo-wop". Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Jan. 2014, https://www.britannica.com/art/doo-wop-music. Accessed 29 October 2022.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "the Drifters". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Nov. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-Drifters. Accessed 29 October 2022.