| DOO WOP |
The sweet sound of Doo Wop music. This has been the number one passion of mine since I was a youngster listening to the local street gang
(The 7 Lords) singing on the corner of 123rd street and Amsterdam Ave. of my native New York City in the late '50's and early '60's. I would
sit at my second floor window and just marvel at the late night echo of their sound as it vibrated through the neighborhood.
Soon I would be doing the same thing with my own bunch of guys at other places. I sung with so many different guys as the years went on . . .
Sergio Marquez, Tony Cameron, Freddy Gomez and so many others. Eventually I got to briefly sing with some of the original Chessmen who
were a prominent Doo Wop group back then. But it was with Elio Perez, Louie Santana, Robert Santana, Rolando Hernandez and Melvin
Berrios that I recall the most. Elio and Rolando (my best friends) have passed on. Maybe the others have as well. I just don't know.
(The 7 Lords) singing on the corner of 123rd street and Amsterdam Ave. of my native New York City in the late '50's and early '60's. I would
sit at my second floor window and just marvel at the late night echo of their sound as it vibrated through the neighborhood.
Soon I would be doing the same thing with my own bunch of guys at other places. I sung with so many different guys as the years went on . . .
Sergio Marquez, Tony Cameron, Freddy Gomez and so many others. Eventually I got to briefly sing with some of the original Chessmen who
were a prominent Doo Wop group back then. But it was with Elio Perez, Louie Santana, Robert Santana, Rolando Hernandez and Melvin
Berrios that I recall the most. Elio and Rolando (my best friends) have passed on. Maybe the others have as well. I just don't know.
Some real funny things happen when you first start singing on a inner-city street corner with tenement
buildings or projects above you. When you're new and just starting out . . . and frankly really suck . . . the
people who live there will let you know it in very direct ways!
You'll get drowned with buckets of water (or worse). You'll get eggs and even bottles thrown at you.
Your mothers love making exploits will be explained to you from up above LOL! Finally, even the police
will show up and not so gently tell you to get the fuck outta here!
However, when the sound is sweet they let you know in some interesting ways as well. Suddenly the
windows will open but nothing will come flying out of them! Hey that's a switch! Eventually, people will
actually come outside and stand around you because the closer you can physically get to Doo Wop
harmony the more you appreciate not only the sound but the unique vibrations in your body that you feel.
The biggest problem is lots of people will start singing with you.
buildings or projects above you. When you're new and just starting out . . . and frankly really suck . . . the
people who live there will let you know it in very direct ways!
You'll get drowned with buckets of water (or worse). You'll get eggs and even bottles thrown at you.
Your mothers love making exploits will be explained to you from up above LOL! Finally, even the police
will show up and not so gently tell you to get the fuck outta here!
However, when the sound is sweet they let you know in some interesting ways as well. Suddenly the
windows will open but nothing will come flying out of them! Hey that's a switch! Eventually, people will
actually come outside and stand around you because the closer you can physically get to Doo Wop
harmony the more you appreciate not only the sound but the unique vibrations in your body that you feel.
The biggest problem is lots of people will start singing with you.
Sadly, most will be horrendous, but you can't hurt their feelings because they are grooving along with you. You just politely try and go with it as
best you can. Usually, you just change locations after a break. Finding a good spot is essential. Building hallways and public bathrooms
with close walls are always good due to the shortened echoes. However, the absolute best are the cavernous places like train station hall ways
or under small stone bridges. The reverberations are longer and really strengthens the sound.
The most important thing is to practice often and be tolerant of one another. A little wine passed around is good for the throat and for loosening
up a bit, but you can't overdue it. Drunks rarely sound good, though they sure think they do! Singing old Doo Wop standards is fine, but
groups should always strive to do some unique creative tunes themselves.
best you can. Usually, you just change locations after a break. Finding a good spot is essential. Building hallways and public bathrooms
with close walls are always good due to the shortened echoes. However, the absolute best are the cavernous places like train station hall ways
or under small stone bridges. The reverberations are longer and really strengthens the sound.
The most important thing is to practice often and be tolerant of one another. A little wine passed around is good for the throat and for loosening
up a bit, but you can't overdue it. Drunks rarely sound good, though they sure think they do! Singing old Doo Wop standards is fine, but
groups should always strive to do some unique creative tunes themselves.
Click HERE for a comprehensive listing of
7,100 songs collected in mp3 format so far with
many genres. I've got tons more from my
record, cassette and mini-disc collections from
decades past that will someday be converted
and added to this mp3 collection.
7,100 songs collected in mp3 format so far with
many genres. I've got tons more from my
record, cassette and mini-disc collections from
decades past that will someday be converted
and added to this mp3 collection.
Below are the various places where all of us sang. The rooftops gave your privacy but no audience or much soft after echo. The Street corners
definitely got you a crowd and depending on location a decent echo if late at night. The street corner scene at the right was just blocks from my
actual Manhattan home in West Harlem.
Finally, the subway pedestrian walk tunnels as we see below on the left were the absolute best and my all time favorite. The ones with the least
foot traffic and far away from the constantly passing noisy subway trains were the best. Even the occasional passing transit cops would stop
and listen.
definitely got you a crowd and depending on location a decent echo if late at night. The street corner scene at the right was just blocks from my
actual Manhattan home in West Harlem.
Finally, the subway pedestrian walk tunnels as we see below on the left were the absolute best and my all time favorite. The ones with the least
foot traffic and far away from the constantly passing noisy subway trains were the best. Even the occasional passing transit cops would stop
and listen.
Some of the best street corner singers never saw the inside of a recording studio. You see, to us the sound of the street belonged to the street,
the tenement hallways and train stations. Records and amplified concerts are fine, but nothing replaces the sound of actually standing next to
an acapella Doo Wop group and feeling the vibrations and rich reverberant echoes in your chest and stomach live and in person . . . no nothing
comes close.
My life and my heart have not been the same since those times. I hope my lost pals are looking down from above and smiling at the sounds
that live on. Wherever, all the others may be . . . I can only hope they too still hold the sounds we once had as close to their hearts as it still is to
mine. Those were the best of times and Oh, what a time we had !
the tenement hallways and train stations. Records and amplified concerts are fine, but nothing replaces the sound of actually standing next to
an acapella Doo Wop group and feeling the vibrations and rich reverberant echoes in your chest and stomach live and in person . . . no nothing
comes close.
My life and my heart have not been the same since those times. I hope my lost pals are looking down from above and smiling at the sounds
that live on. Wherever, all the others may be . . . I can only hope they too still hold the sounds we once had as close to their hearts as it still is to
mine. Those were the best of times and Oh, what a time we had !
In those days, there was little else to do. Television was still in it's infancy and there wasn't much on anyway (not that it's worth a nickel now
either). Some of us didn't even have television sets yet. There were no computers, cell phones, game machines or anything of that sort. All
we had was each other.
The sweltering summer nights of those old tenement buildings drove everyone out into the street for comfort. The rooftops were also filled with
people (thus the term . . . Up on the Roof! LOL!). People also sat out on their fire escape balconies. There was a sense of neighborhood
and they were safe for kids to play and old folks to sit on stoops because everybody was out and watching out for everyone else.
either). Some of us didn't even have television sets yet. There were no computers, cell phones, game machines or anything of that sort. All
we had was each other.
The sweltering summer nights of those old tenement buildings drove everyone out into the street for comfort. The rooftops were also filled with
people (thus the term . . . Up on the Roof! LOL!). People also sat out on their fire escape balconies. There was a sense of neighborhood
and they were safe for kids to play and old folks to sit on stoops because everybody was out and watching out for everyone else.
It was a time when cigarettes didn't kill ya, spicy rich food was savored and enjoyed, sitting on the stoop drinking an ice cold beer in public was
legal and the ridiculous concept of "politically correct" was practiced by no one (thank God). Yet, we respected old people and weren't afraid to
slap a misbehaving kid for fear of somebody calling the cops! In those days you mouthed off to an adult one time and that was the last time!
Everybody was poor but nobody felt poor. We went to the confessional on Saturday and Mass on Sunday . . . then on Monday we started
cussin' and sinning all over again! Oh, what a time it was.
legal and the ridiculous concept of "politically correct" was practiced by no one (thank God). Yet, we respected old people and weren't afraid to
slap a misbehaving kid for fear of somebody calling the cops! In those days you mouthed off to an adult one time and that was the last time!
Everybody was poor but nobody felt poor. We went to the confessional on Saturday and Mass on Sunday . . . then on Monday we started
cussin' and sinning all over again! Oh, what a time it was.
I'm wealthier now. I've got a house filled with every kind of electronic gadget one could imagine. In general we all have so much more now than
we ever had back then. Yet, there is still something compelling about those old times. Government wasn't intruding into every aspect of our
lives as it does today. People seemed happier then. Christmas was still Christmas and hadn't become the commercial joke it's become
now. Divorce was taboo and people stayed with each other and made relationships work through the best and worst of times rather than run to
another, only to discover you can't run from the low points because you'll have them with anyone!
Somehow we lost something along the way with all this "progress" we've made. We've become more intolerant of each other. We may be
healthier and wealthier . . . but I'd trade it all to return to the simple values and ways of those times. I know you can't live in the past . . . but you
CAN close your eyes, listen to the sweet sound of a Doo Wop song . . . and remember!
we ever had back then. Yet, there is still something compelling about those old times. Government wasn't intruding into every aspect of our
lives as it does today. People seemed happier then. Christmas was still Christmas and hadn't become the commercial joke it's become
now. Divorce was taboo and people stayed with each other and made relationships work through the best and worst of times rather than run to
another, only to discover you can't run from the low points because you'll have them with anyone!
Somehow we lost something along the way with all this "progress" we've made. We've become more intolerant of each other. We may be
healthier and wealthier . . . but I'd trade it all to return to the simple values and ways of those times. I know you can't live in the past . . . but you
CAN close your eyes, listen to the sweet sound of a Doo Wop song . . . and remember!
Finally, if you record eventually that's great, but my own personal opinion is in another direction. This music started as the sound of the street.
It was the sound of poor working class guys expressing emotions and passions. It is very similar to the old Delta Blues men of the south who
correctly said it really helps to have actually experienced the Blues in order to sing the Blues.
Keeping it real for me means keeping it where it began and was most appreciated. At the end of the day (as we say today), what matters most
is not becoming rich or famous . . . it's the fun and the memories. Most groups broke up when fame and all it's trappings arrived. Those things
change you and they change the dynamic of what you once had and why you started. Sing first for the enjoyment and never lose that feeling for
THAT is the true pot of gold that can never be taken from you.
It was the sound of poor working class guys expressing emotions and passions. It is very similar to the old Delta Blues men of the south who
correctly said it really helps to have actually experienced the Blues in order to sing the Blues.
Keeping it real for me means keeping it where it began and was most appreciated. At the end of the day (as we say today), what matters most
is not becoming rich or famous . . . it's the fun and the memories. Most groups broke up when fame and all it's trappings arrived. Those things
change you and they change the dynamic of what you once had and why you started. Sing first for the enjoyment and never lose that feeling for
THAT is the true pot of gold that can never be taken from you.