This course, part 1 of a 2-course sequence, examines the history of rock, primarily as it unfolded in the United States, from the days before rock (pre-1955) to the end of the 1960s. This course covers the music of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Phil Spector, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and many more artists, with an emphasis both on cultural context and on the music itself. We will also explore how developments in the music business and in technology helped shape the ways in which styles developed. Rock emerged in the mid 1950s as a blending of mainstream pop, rhythm and blues, and country and western--styles that previously had remained relatively separate. This new style became the music of the emerging youth culture and was often associated with teen rebellion. We will follow the story of how this rowdy first wave of rock and roll (1955-59) was tamed in the early 60s but came roaring back with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and then went psychedelic by the end of the decade.
Doo Wop and Gospel
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From the course by University of Rochester
History of Rock, Part One
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From the lesson
The World Before Rock and Roll (1900-1955)
The Role of Tin Pan Alley in mainstream pop, the formation of a national audience through radio and the rise of television, the pre-rock pop of Frank Sinatra, Patti Page, and Les Paul and Mary Ford; rhythm and blues in the years before rock and roll; country and western and the rise of Nashville.
Meet the Instructors
John CovachProfessor of Music and Director
Institute for Popular Music
Let's talk for a minute about two styles that are important with rhythm and blues,
but sometimes are given a little bit of short shrift in our histories of popular
music. again we're talking about the period
leading up to 19 55 and the birth of rock.
most of the period between the Second World War, 1945.
and this birth of rock in '55. These two styles I mean are Doo Wop and
Gospel. Both of them primarily vocal styles, and
both of them play a big role in how it is that R&B music sounds the way that it
does. Doo wop develops after World War II.
It consists of acapella vocal singing that developed in urban neighborhoods.
Mostly among black males, and it's kind of an acapella group, a Doo Wop group,
it's kind of like a social club. And you would form it with kids who lived
right on the same block as you, and you would work up arrangements.
And then kids from these different blocks would go and challenge Other Doo Wop
vocal groups from other blocks sort of competing for territory and that kind of
thing. And I don't think there were ever any
fights or that kind of thing, it wasn't an aggressive thing, but it was kind of a
musical challenge. And it created a whole culture where you
had say, in blocks with New York or Baltimore, places like that.
All kinds of these groups who probably had a number of tunes worked up as
arrangements, but they had one worked up that was really kind of the knock out
blue. Man, when they did that tune that was
their best shot at, at, at knocking the other knocking the other group out.
And so what happened is, in a search for talent for, for these R&B Indie labels
producers would come around and then they would bring these groups into the studio.
Find their best song, bring in a backing band and do an arrangement of it and rush
it out onto the market and see if they couldn't sell some of them.
and so one thing that was great about that, is a lot of Doo Wop groups were
given an opportunity to record. Well, one thing that was not so great
about it, is that after they'd used their best number to do this recording, it was
very difficult for them to follow up. What the second or a third number,
because they'd already used their best stuff and it maybe had taken them months
to work that one up. How, how to have something to, how can I
follow that? And so one of the stories of Doo Wop is
it's filled with one hit wonders precisely for this reason.
groups that had one big hit, and then maybe a second one that wasn't as good,
and then a third one that, that barely charted.
There were other groups that had more success than that.
There were more professional singer kind of things, but there were an awful lot of
one hit wonders inside of Doo Wop. so, if you want to think about some
representative records for Doo Wop that is, that sort of choral vocal singing
that, that term Doo Wop really comes from the nonsense syllables that sometimes.
They would use in the background vocals. A good example of that is the song from
1954 from the chords called Sh'boom. I won't I won't insult you by singing it
for you now, but if you can find a recording of that, you'll see that
there's an awful lot of background singing that just kind of uses nonsense
syllables for the singers to vocalize without specific lyrics.
Of course, there are lyrics as well in some parts.
But a lot of this nonsense syllable. Another great example is The Five Satins,
In the Still of the Night from 1956. One thing about these Doo Wop numbers, is
they would often become novelty tunes, in other words there would be some sort of,
funny hook with them, that would, that would make them sort of infectious and
fun to listen to. but they were also Doo Wop tunes almost
always the slow dance of choice in the 1950s.
So, when there was a slow dance at one of these teenage sock hop kinds of things
where the boys and the girls wanted to dance slow, and right up next to each
other. It was often a Doo Wop tune which would
be that slow number. And so, even in the middle of the sort of
craziness of people like Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard people listening to
those kinds of records and dancing in all kinds of crazy ways, there would always
be a couple of Doo Wop numbers in there to give the boys and the girls a chance
Stead to get together. We should also talk about the roots of
almost all rhythm, and blues in the music of the church, and the gospel tradition.
these vocal music practices from the black church influenced both harmony
singing and solo singing in rhythm and blues.
You can hear this in some of the call and response elements, where a soloist will
sing one thing and then a group of background singers will sing something
back against them, the call an response kind of thing.
The melodic embellishments that occur, when the solo singer is singing the
melody oftentimes derived from gospel music.
In gospel music there is a traditional conflict between the music of the church,
the gospel music, which is considered God's music and the music of the club,
the Rhythm and Blues music that, that would be played at in bars in the
evenings, which was considered the Devil's music.
Now, this may seem simple minded and simplistic to, to think of this sort of
division between God's music and the devil's music.
But a lot of R&B singers went through a certain kind of conflict.
Even kind of an emotional problem with moving, if they were already gospel
singers, moving to pop music. Or if they were pop singers, thinking
they probably should give this music up and turn their musical talents toward
praise in, in, and toward the church. And so, this also happened with white
musicians as well, but it's especially prominent as we get into the 50s and
there starts to be more and more market for R&B music and a lot more things were
crossing over, a lot more singers are tempted.
Some R &B artists even recast gospel numbers as pop songs and the mo, the most
famous one of those is Ray Charles. Singing I Got A Woman from 1954, and this
is the song where when Ray Charles did I Got A Woman, and changed it from a gospel
number into a secular one, it was shocking to a lot of people in the black
community who knew where he got it from. But as far as Ray was concerned, all
music is God's music, and it didn't really bother him all that much.
So, it's important when we think about rhythm and blues in this period, be sure
that we we acknowledge the influence of Doo Wop and gospel.
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