Rating: 
Summary: the definitive book on doo wop
Review: The authors of this book both turned out to be Ph.D's, so that pretty much dispels the notion that rock n' roll was supposed to rot your brain. They share a love for old rythem and blues group harmony, and it shows. The book explains the origins and influences of doo wop (odd that the term 'doo wop' wasn't invented when this music was current). It goes into styles and typologies of doo wop, with critical appraisals. Excellent, hard-to-find photos too. The last third of the book lists exhaustive overall and group discographies. I've searched for years for books on doo wop and this one's the best.
Rating: 
Summary: AN IMPORTANT SOURCE DOCUMENT OF R N R HISTORY
Review: tHIS BOOK IS CLEARLY ONE OF THE SOURCE DOCUMENTS THAT ANYONE WHO SERIOUSLY CONSIDERS ROCK N ROLL TO BE A UNIQUE AMERICAN ART FORM OF THE LATTER PART OF THE 20TH CENTURY.tHOUGH NOT THE BEST OF ITS TYPE, IT RANKS CLEARLY IN THE TOP 10. THE PREMISE OF THE TITLE, THAT DOO WOP MUSIC (OR BETTER REFERRED TO AS R&B GROUP HARMONY MUSIC) IS FORGOTTEN BY TOO MANY ROCK AND ROLL "HISTORIANSD" IS FULLY CORRECT. tHIS MUSIC IS THE ESSENCE OF ROCK N ROLL IN ITS PUREST FORM....LONG BEFORE THE SO CALLED GIANTS OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY CANNED AND PACKAGED, AND IN SOME WAYS DESTROYED, THIS PURE PRODUCT. TO SING OR RECORD DOO WOP MUSIC, YOU DID NOT NEED THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF EQUIPMENT, AND TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF STUDIO TIME. ALL THAT WAS NEEDED WAS 4 OR 4 HONEST VOICES AND MAYBE 3 OR FOUR INSTRUMENTS IN THE BACKGROUND. DO NOT EXPECT TO FIND INFORMATION ABOUT PAT BOONE OR OTHER RIP OFF ARTISTS IN THIS BOOK....WHILE WHITE GROUPS WHO SAND SANITIZED VERSIONS OF BALCK DOO WOP SONGS MAY BE INCLUDED, THE REAL STARS OF THIS BOOK ARE THE UNKNOWN BLACK ARTISTS WHOSE MUSIC WAS STOLEN FROM THEM. FOR FANS OF SUCH CLASSIC GROUPS LIKE THE MOONGLOWS, PLATTERS, DUBS AND SHELLS, THERE IS GOOD INFORMATION IN THIS BOOK. FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN THE MORE OBSCURE AND ESOTERIC GROUPS AND RECORDING (E. G., CAN'T HELP LOVIN THAT GIRL OF MINE - THE HIDE-A-WAYS, GET YOURSELF ANOTHER FOOL - THE TEMPOTONES, HEARTS DESIRE - THE AVALONS) YOU'LL FIND USEFUL INFORMATION HERE TOO. THE BOOK CONTAINS SOME ERRORS WHICH ONE HOPES WILL BE CORRECTED IN LATER EDITIONS, BUT THESE DO NOT DETRACT FROM THE BASIC VALUE OF THE BOOK. IT MAY BE USED BY THE NOVICE AS WELL AS THE HARDCORE COLLECTOR, THOUGH THE LATTER WILL UNDOUBTABLE FIND ITS FLAWS.
Rating:
Summary: Worth getting for songography
Review: This book mainly has three distinct parts: text, "Best 500", and songography. The text part is 129 pages about various topics involving doo-wop music. The authors do a decent job of defining doo-wop and associating the music with the meaningful events of its era. I especially liked the chapter on the influence of "The Personality Deejays." However, that chapter as well as much of the text of this book is New York City focused and ignores the rest of the country. The second part of the book is a list of the authors' choices for the best 500 doo-wop recordings of all-time. This list is, of course, very subjective. To my delight, I concurred with the majority of their selections. I would have preferred seeing a list of the 500 best selling doo-wop recordings of all-time or a list of the doo-wop songs that reached #1. The third part of the book is an extensive songography listing over 25,000 doo-wop recordings by artist including the title, lable and number, and year. If you know the group name, it's usually easy to locate the song you want. One caveat is that the authors classified the artists by exactly what was written on the record lable. Thus you may sometimes find multiple artist headings for the same group. For example instead of a single heading for "Lee Andrews and the Hearts", you will have to search through "Andrews, Lee (bb the Hearts)", "Hearts (aka Lee Andrews & the Hearts", "Hearts (Lee Andrews & the)", and "Hearts (Lee Andrews & the) (as Lee Andrews)". That said, the songography by itself is worth the price of the book if you are into doo-wop music.
Rating:
Summary: Great doo wop resource!!
Review: This guide is a godsend for anyone interetsed in doo wop,
info on the groups, a lot of history, and lists of the records we love. It's informative, and will bring back many memories
as you read. There are many key sections, and you can read
about the teenage groups like Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers
to the Flamingoes and others. The book answers questions like "how did it happen" and takes you across the country,
to DJs, and trends. You will keep going back for new discovies.
I recommend this book highly.
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