"Doo-wop music evolved slowly, unlike rockabilly which
seemed to explode onto the scene in the 1955-1956 period. Between
1948 and 1951 the doo-wop characteristics of nonsense syllables
and falsetto began to emerge in songs such as "It's Too Soon
To Know" by the Orioles, "Count Every Star" by the
Ravens, "Harbor Lights" by the Dominoes, and even in
the immensely popular "Sixty-Minute Man," also by the
Dominoes. That is not to say that these songs were even mostly
doo-wop style; their backgrounds show that they are still
oriented to jazz (Ravens) or rhythm and blues (Dominoes). By the
period 1952-1954, however, a significant number of doo-wop
characteristics can be discerned in slow songs by the Five Keys,
Feathers, Orioles, And Vocaleers, and in fast song by the Chords,
Crows, Drifters, and Shirley Gunter & the Queens. We labeled
the style of this era "paleo-doo-wop," since the prefix
"paleo-" means ancient, early or primitive.
Instrumentation, vocal arrangement and overall "feel"
of paleo-doo-wop was still based in r&b and other
progenitors. For example, the influence of r&b can be heard
in "Hey, Baby Doll" by the Clovers and "Money
Honey" by the Drifters. Gospel techniques are heard in such
songs as "Heavenly Father" by the Castelles and
"The Bells Of St. Mary's" by Lee Andrews and the
Hearts, and the influence of black popular vocal group harmony is
found in "Foolishly" by the Three Chuckles and
"Only You" by the Platters.
The changes that signaled the dawn of the doo-wop era were the
appearances of blow harmonies and nonsense syllables, the use of
falsetto to "run over" the lead (especially in
ballads), and the punctuation of choruses by bass (especially in
jump tunes). Lead singers in paleo-doo-wop were cut from the
silky tenor mold of Clyde McPhatter of the Drifters and Rudy West
of the Five Keys. Melisma was employed frequently, especially in
ballads. Subject matter was at times suggestive in up tempo
numbers, as it had been in rhythm and blues. The primary theme of
classical doo-wop, namely innocent love, began to emerge here (as
in such songs as "Gee" by the Crows and "Be
True" by the Vocaleers). Many of the girls addressed by
paleo-doo-woppers had already "done it," while those
glorified in later stages were waiting for the church bells to
ring."
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Prominent Examples of the Paleo-Doo-Wop Era:
