doo-wop
Sign in to saveDoo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. It features vocal group harmony that carries an engaging melodic line to a simple beat with little or no instrumentation. Lyrics are simple, usually about love, sung by a lead vocal over background vocals, and often featuring, in the bridge, a melodramatically heartfelt recitative add
Key facts
- Music genre.name
- Doo-wop
- Music genre.cultural_origins
- 1940s–1950s, African American communities across some major cities on the East Coast
- Music genre.other_topics
- '50s chord progression
- Music genre.image
- Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers.jpg
- Music genre.caption
- The Teenagers
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
21 sectionsContents
- Origins
- Musical precedents
- Elements of doo-wop vocal style
- Origin of the name
- Development
- Baltimore
- Chicago
- Detroit
- Los Angeles
- New York City
- Philadelphia
- Jamaica
- Doo-wop and racial relations
- Jewish influence in doo-wop
- Doo-wop influence on punk and proto-punk rockers
- Popularity
- Doo-wop's influence
- Revivals
- See also
- References
- Further reading
Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. It features vocal group harmony that carries an engaging melodic line to a simple beat with little or no instrumentation. Lyrics are simple, usually about love, sung by a lead vocal over background vocals, and often featuring, in the bridge, a melodramatically heartfelt recitative addressed to the beloved. Harmonic singing of nonsense syllables (such as "doo-wop") is a common characteristic of these songs. Gaining popularity in the 1950s, doo-wop was commercially viable until the early 1960s and continued to influence performers in other genres.
==Origins==