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Avg: 4.5 (6 ratings)
- Date Released: January 1, 1993
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Soul/R&B, Oldies
- Label: Fantasy / Specialty
A breathtaking overview of Southern California ooh-wah-ooh and buh-dang-uh-dang-dang.
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We Say...
The classic doo-wop image of street-corner harmonizing is urban East Coast-based, which makes the subtitle of this album, which draws from the West Coast catalogues of labels like Specialty and Ebb, somewhat of a misnomer. But don't let the geographical switcheroo dissuade you. This is an incredible collection of hard-to-find records that hit striking notes not only on their own but with each other. Few have made it out of the collector's underground, and the overview of Southern California ooh-wah-ooh and buh-dang-uh-dang-dang in the '50s is breathtaking.
The semi-hits here are "Nite Owl" by Tony Allen and the Champs from 1955 and the Hollywood Flames' hand-clappin' 1957 "Buzz Buzz Buzz." The Flames' lead singer, Bobby Byrd, would go on to score with "Rockin' Robin" as Bobby Day, backed up by the Flames, also represented here as the Four Flames with the 1951 reverse cover of "Wheel of Fortune"; Allen's Champs also recorded as the Chimes. If this mix-and-match is confusing to discographers, it makes for stylish musical cross-referencing; the SoCal feel is more indebted to jump rhythm & blues than the sounds back east, with a rougher, gutbucket edge.
Other performers making early appearances are Jesse Belvin, a writer on the Penguins' seminal "Earth Angel" (perhaps the starting point for West Coast doo-wop), whose "Dream Girl" (with Marvin Phillips as Jesse & Marvin) and "Where's My Girl" (with the Laurels) reveal a delicate baritone that would best be put to use on his solo hit for RCA, "Guess Who." Tragically, he was killed in an auto accident in 1960. Arthur Lee Maye and the Crowns, here represented by a 1956 "Gloria" that is neither the beloved doo-wop classic nor the garage-rock anthem, the boppish "Cool Lovin'" and ""Oooh-Ruby-Lee," had a happier ending: after recording prolifically for such left coast labels as Modern, RPM, Dig, Cash, as well as Specialty, Arthur dropped out of music to become an outfielder for the Milwaukee Braves.
Other highlights of this album include the Selections' looking-for-an-echo classic "Guardian Angel," the rubber-legged Byron doing "Foot Loose and Fancy Free," a subteen Bobby Mandolph ("Malinda"), the Jaguars' "Hold Me Tight" (they would go on to have a lush version of "The Way You Look Tonight") and the 1956 "Sweet Breeze" of Vernon Green and the Phantoms, which to me describes perfectly the breathy pleasures of harmonic blend and finger-snaps that are the hallmark of Hardcore Doo-wop. -
They Say...
This compact disc collects 25 doo wop collector's classics from a variety of small West Coast R&B labels who dabbled in the genre. The California version of the streetcorner vocal group phenomena had stronger leanings toward bluesier harmonies and vocal performances bordering on madness. As best exemplified here by groups like Arthur Lee Maye & The Crowns and Byron "Slick" Gipson & the Sliders, the West Coast doo wop movement definitely had a sound all its own.
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| 01. |  |
Wheel of Fortune - The Four Flames |
2:43 |
|
| 02. | |
Dream Girl - Jesse & Marvin |
3:13 |
|
| 03. | |
Night Owl - Tony Allen & The Champs |
2:45 |
|
| 04. | |
Oooh-Ruba-Lee - Arthur Lee Maye & The Crowns |
2:06 |
|
| 05. | |
Where's My Girl - Jesse Belvin (With The Laurels) |
2:19 |
|
| 06. | |
I - Tony Allen & The Champs |
2:45 |
|
| 07. | |
Sweet Breeze - Vernon Green & The Phantoms |
2:04 |
|
| 08. | |
Check Yourself, Baby - Tony Allen & The Chimes |
2:07 |
|
| 09. | |
Foot Loose & Fancy Free - Byron |
2:28 |
|
| 10. | |
Gloria - Arthur Lee Maye & The Crowns |
2:39 |
|
| 11. | |
Especially - Tony Allen & The Chimes |
2:54 |
|
| 12. | |
Baby I Need (Ting-a-Ling) - Benn Zeppa & the Zephers |
2:06 |
|
| 13. | |
The Old Willow Tree - Vernon Green & The Phantoms |
2:09 |
|
| 14. | |
Cool Loving - Arthur Lee Maye & The Crowns |
2:29 |
|
| 15. | |
Pretty Little Girl - The Chimes |
2:15 |
|
| 16. | |
How Long - Eugene Church |
2:47 |
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| 17. | |
Buzz Buzz Buzz
|
2:21 |
|
| 18. | |
Malinda - Bobby Mandolph |
2:15 |
|
| 19. | |
Hold Me Tight - The Jaguars |
2:16 |
|
| 20. | |
Don't You Know - Arthur Lee Maye & The Crowns |
2:08 |
|
| 21. | |
Never Let You Go - The Ambers |
2:19 |
|
| 22. | |
Open Up Your Heart - Eugene Church |
2:40 |
|
| 23. | |
Mine All Mine - The Jaguars |
2:05 |
|
| 24. | |
Guardian Angel - The Selections |
2:08 |
|
| 25. | |
Soft and Sweet - The Selections |
2:13 |
|
25 Total Tracks, 60:14 Total Length
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Credits
- Jesse Belvin - Performer // Jesse Belvin - Performer // Vernon Green - Performer // Hollywood Flames - Performer // Tony Allen - Performer // Tony Allen - Performer // The Chimes - Performer // The Champs - Performer // Marvin - Performer // The Crowns - Performer // Eugene Church - Performer // Laurels - Performer // Selections - Performer // Bobby Mandolph - Performer // Arthur Lee Maye - Performer // The Four Flames - Performer // The Ambers - Performer // Zephers - Performer // Benn Zeppa - Performer // Tony Allen - Performer
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