Bass Voice

In the early 30s, the Mills Brothers regularly used kazoos to imitate musical instruments to accompany their vocals.. According to legend one day the kazoos were forgotten, so the group improvised and replaced the kazoo with their voices and cupped hands.. This substution so please the audience that it was incorporated into their act and the human "orchestra" was born. Among these instruments were various horns and a stand-up bass by John Mills Jr.

The Mills Brothers used this technique so often and were so convincing that the Brunswick record labelmprinted on the discs stating "No musical instruments or mechanical devices were used on this recording other than one guitar." The gimmick was used from the early 1939s well into the 1940s by many groups like the Boswell Sisters ("All About Crazy People" from 1932"), the Four Vagabounds ("Roseann of Charing Cross" from 1943)and the Golden Gate Quartet ("The General Jumped At Dawn") from 1945. Of all the musical "instrument,", the stand-up bass was the easiest to imitate. This bass found its way most often into records and evolved over the next twenty years into the riffing bass of the doo-wop era.

Another early use of the bass voice was the "talking bridge" in the middle of the song between choruses. The first of these is commonly attributed to the Mills Brothers in "Rocking Chair," recorded in may 1932. Talking bridge solos retained popularity well into to 1950s, as in "Someday You'll Want Me To Want You" by the Drifters, "My Prayer Tonight" by the Checkers and "Little Darling" by the Diamonds.

The Ink Spots firmly established firmly erstablished the practice of using a second lead in vocal group ballads. In the late 1940s the Orioles with George Nelson and the Ravens with Jimmy Ricks, were continuations of this tradition.

Ricks almost singlehandly opulariized the bass lead, paving the way for Bobby Nunn (Robins, Coasters), Norris Mack (Swallows), Bill Brown ( Dominoes, Checkers), Bill Pickney (Drifters), and Gerald Gregory (Spaniels).

Bass leads were were regulasrly used used by in the 1950s by vocal groups past their tenage years. The basses who sang lead were almost always older men. Youthful bassmen couldn't convey the mature strength and sexual innuendo that were necessary to put over the lyrics that were often filled with double entendres.

Next in the evolution of bass singing is clear, though by who and when isn't. Sometime between the early 1940s and early 1950s, short staccoto riffs (strings of nonsense syllables) by the bass could be heard in rhythm & blues ballads, either underneath the melody or punctuaing choruses.. The style is called "puntuating" bass because the vocalizations are short and short lived (i.e. "doe doe doe")and may repeat at the end of each line or chorus 9as a comma or period might punctuate a sentence. Early examples of these sounds can be found in "Comin' In On A Wing And Prayer" by both the Golden Gate Quartet and the Four Vagabonds. Later examples are "Lullaby (1946) by the Ravens, "That's My Desire" (1948) and "Yesterday's Roses (1949) by the Bachelors, "Until Now" by the Rhythm Masters (1949). By 1950 these utterances by the bass can be heard as puncuations. They are also heard in more songs. Group by group, song by song. imitating the instrumental bass gave way to short strings of nonsense syllables.

In the late 40s. the puntuating bass riffs were more the exception than the rule. There are more Ravens, Orioles, Four Tunes and Four Knights songs without bass riffs than there are with them. As the 1950s began, it became more common to hear a distinctive bass voice punctuate the melody. In 1953 and after, the bass voice was supposed to stand out more. Not only did the bassman punctuate the lyrics, but often provided an introduction to the song and ran under the melody for most of the song as well. Example is "hooly bop a gow" bass intro to "I Promise To Remember" by Sherman Games of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers in 1956.

As opposed to leads by the bass, this riffing style is what most people associate with doo-wop

Basses in the mid to late-1950s were sometimes used in a comedic or novelty role. In "Peekaboo" by the Cadillacs bass Bobby Phillips haunts and taunts his audience; in "Rang Tang Ding Dong" (I Am Japanese)," Alvin Williams Cello bass, pays the part of a big shot who mesmerizes the ladies; and in the Coasters' "Charlie Brown"Will "Dub" Jones posing as poor Charlie cries, "Why is everybody picking on me?"

With the entry of white groups in the late 1950s, came the "power" bass, where the bass almost or actually took over the song. One of the first of this wa "I Wonder Why" by Dion and the Belmonts in 1958.

Dun dun dun,
Duh, dun dun dun dun,
Duh, dun dun dun dun,
Duh dun, duh duh duh duh duh duh duh

Powerbass Doo-Wop

With the entry of white groups in the late 1950s, came the "power" bass, where the bass almost or actually took over the song. One of the first of this wa "I Wonder Why" by Dion and the Belmonts in 1958.

Power bassman stood out from their groups more than their counterparts of the mid-50s. The later might provide the intro to the song, but then join the background singers and let the lead take over. Power bassmen would keep coming throughout the song.

In sum, the doo-wop era saw the bass voice used in a number of different ways. The bass lead was sung by older bassmen beginning in 1946 and continued on a regular basis through the mid-50s. The punctation style style of bas began in the late 40s and became commonplace by the early 50s. Originally used by adult bassmen, it was picked up by the teen bassmen as the first real doo-wop bass style. The more youthful riffing style emerged in the early to mid-50s and is most representative of the doo-wop era. Power bass emerged in the late 50s and is an exaggeration of the riffing style