Doo-wop is a genre 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 is a common characteristic of these songs. Gaining popularity in the 1950s, doo-wop was "artistically and commercially viable" until the early 1960s, but continued to influence performers in other genres.
Carl Dean Wilson was an American musician who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's de facto leader in the early to mid-1970s. He was also the band's musical director on stage from 1965 until his death.
The Beach Boys Today! is the eighth studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released March 8, 1965 by Capitol Records. It signaled a departure from their previous records with its orchestral sound, intimate subject matter, and abandonment of car or surf songs. Side one features an uptempo sound, while side two consists mostly of introspective ballads. Supported by this thematic approach, the record became an early example of a rock concept album and established the group as album artists rather than just a singles band. It has since become regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Beach Boys' Party! is the tenth studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, and their third in 1965, consisting mostly of cover songs played with acoustic instruments. It reached No. 6 in the US and No. 3 in the UK. The album spawned one single, a cover of the Regents' "Barbara Ann", which reached No. 2 in the US and No. 3 in the UK, and was their highest-charting British single to that point.
All Summer Long is the sixth album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released July 13, 1964 on Capitol Records. Regarded as their first artistically unified collection of songs, as well as one of the first true concept albums, it marked the Beach Boys' first LP that was not focused on themes of cars or surfing. Instead, the songs are semi-autobiographical and relate to the experiences of a typical Southern Californian teenager, a theme encapsulated by the title track, "All Summer Long", and the often-imitated front cover, a modernist style photo collage depicting the band members fraternizing with young women on a beach.
Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs were an American doo-wop/R&B vocal group in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Originally the (Royal) Charms, the band changed its name to the Gladiolas in 1957 and the Excellos in 1958, before finally settling on the Zodiacs in 1959.
"Help Me, Rhonda" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys, appearing first on their 1965 album The Beach Boys Today! and subsequently in re-recorded form on the following 1965 album Summer Days . It was written by Brian Wilson, with additional lyrics by Mike Love. Unlike many other songs by the band from this period, "Help Me, Rhonda" features a lead vocal sung by Al Jardine.
"Kiss Me, Baby" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1965 album The Beach Boys Today!. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, it was issued as the B-side of the group's "Help Me, Rhonda" single on April 5.
"Do It Again" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was released as a standalone single on July 8, 1968. It was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love as a self-conscious callback to the group's earlier surf image, which they had not embraced since 1964. Love and Wilson also share the lead vocal on the song.
"When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1965 album The Beach Boys Today!. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, it was first issued as a single on August 24, 1964, paired with the B-side "She Knows Me Too Well". It peaked at number 9 in the U.S., number 27 in the UK, and number 1 in Canada.
"This Whole World" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1970 album Sunflower. Written by Brian Wilson, the song features his brother Carl on lead vocals and is credited as a Beach Boys production. Earlier in the year, it had been included on the Warner Brothers promotional sampler album The Big Ball, and as a single, fronted with "Slip On Through", but did not make the U.S. or UK pop charts.
"Wonderful" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Smiley Smile and their unfinished Smile project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, it was their only collaboration that resulted in a love song, telling the story of a young girl's sexual awakening and its disruption of her devotion to God and her parents.
"I'm So Young" is a song written by William H. "Prez" Tyus, Jr., of Cincinnati, Ohio. First recorded by the Students, the song has received cover versions by Rosie and the Originals, the Del-Vikings, Benjy Ferree, the Beach Boys, Naomi Wilson, and, as "So Young," by the Ronettes, Antony and the Johnsons, and the Devil Dogs.
"The Girl from New York City" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was released on their 1965 album Summer Days . It was written as an answer song to The Ad Libs' hit from earlier that year, "The Boy from New York City".
"Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" is a novelty nonsensical doo-wop song by the Rivingtons in 1962. It peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 35 on the Cashbox charts. The band released two similar follow-up songs over the next several months, "Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow " and "The Bird's the Word".
"Come Go With Me" is a song written by C. E. Quick, an original member of the American doo-wop vocal group the Del-Vikings. The song was originally recorded by The Del-Vikings in 1956 but not released until July 1957 on the Luniverse LP "Come Go With The Del Vikings". The final version of the song was released in the second week of January 1957 and was led by Gus Backus. When Joe Averbach, the owner of Fee Bee Records couldn't handle the demand, he signed with Dot Records in late January 1957; the song became a hit, peaking at No. 5 on the US Billboard Top 100 Pop Charts. It also reached #2 on the R&B chart.
Michael Edward Love is an American singer and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys with his cousins Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson and their friend Al Jardine. Characterized by his nasal tenor and occasional bass-baritone singing, Love has been one of the band's vocalists and lyricists for their entire career, contributing to each of their studio albums and serving as their frontman for live performances. During the mid-1960s, he was one of Brian's main collaborators, contributing lyrics to hit records such as "Fun, Fun, Fun" (1964), "I Get Around" (1964), "Help Me, Rhonda" (1965), "California Girls" (1965), and "Good Vibrations" (1966).
"Gee" is a song by American R&B and Doo-wop group the Crows, released in June 1953. The song has been credited as the first rock and roll hit by a rock and roll group. It is a doo-wop song, written by William Davis and Viola Watkins, and recorded by the Crows on the independent label, Rama Records, at Beltone Studios in New York City in February 1953. It charted in April 1954, one year later. It took a year to get recognized on Your Hit Parade. It landed No.2 on the rhythm and blues chart and No. 14 on the pop chart. It was the first 1950s doo-wop record to sell over one million records. Recorded on an independent label, it was one of the first such R&B records to crossover to the wider pop market. In fact, some, including Jay Warner, consider it as the first of the "rock n' roll records".
"The Boy from New York City" is a song originally recorded by the American soul group The Ad Libs, released in 1964 as their first single. Produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the song peaked at No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on the chart week of February 27, 1965. Though the group continued to record other singles, they never repeated the chart success of "The Boy from New York City". According to Artie Butler, the track was recorded at A&R Studios in New York, in three separate sessions. The first session was to lay down the rhythm section, then the next session was for the lead and backup vocals, with the last session was just for the horns.
The Students were an American doo-wop vocal group, which formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, in 1957. Although they only released four sides, two of them – "I'm So Young" and "Every Day of the Week" – became doo-wop standards. "I'm So Young" in particular became popular and durable, and has been covered by the Beach Boys, Rosie and the Originals, The Ronettes and Kid Kyle and "The Students".
