The Complete Book of Doo-Wop Rhythm and Blues [Paperback]

Anthony Gribin (Author), Matthew M. Schiff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2000

An extensive history of doo-wop from 1950 through the early 1970s, along with the groups that performed it including Dion & the Belmonts, the Chiffons, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, the Shirelles, and many more. Includes 150 photos, 64 sheet-music covers, and prices for the 1,000 top doo-wop records ever.

Product Details

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: Krause Publications; 2 edition (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873418298
• ISBN-13: 978-0873418294
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,117,818 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Antiques & Collectibles > Records

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth getting for songography, February 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Doo-Wop: The Forgotten Third of Rock 'N Roll (Paperback)

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.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensible reference book for the avid collector, May 17, 2004

By 

Paul Tognetti "The real world is so much more... (Cranston, RI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Complete Book of Doo-Wop Rhythm and Blues (Paperback)

Due to the popularity of T.J. Lubinsky's "American Soundtrack" series on PBS there has been renewed interest in the music we call "doo wop". As an avid collector of 45's, I became interested in the genre in the late 1980's. Collectable Records had reissued hundreds and hundreds of doo wop records.
There was just one problem. There were simply no reference books available to help me distinguish the great stuff from the mediocre or bad. In 1992, the original incarnation of this book entitled "Doo Wop: The Forgotten Third of Rock and Roll" was issued. It was a quite literally a godsend. It was very apparent that the authors loved their subject matter and I referred to this book constantly.
In 2000, Dr. Anthony Gribin and Dr. Matthew Schiff released the updated version of their book. Now entitled "The Complete Book of Doo-Wop", this expanded version includes a complete "songography" of just about every doo-wop 45 rpm record ever made. The list is arranged alphabetically by artist and includes song title (both A & B sides), year of issue and record label and number. All these years later I still find myself referring to this on a regular basis. But the most useful portion of the book for me is the list of the "Best 1000 Doo-Wop Songs." This list is what really helps one seperate the wheat from the chaff. And while one may quibble about individual entries on that list, I have found it to be remarkably accurate over the years. It is what really helped turn me on to the music of artists like the Harptones, the Cardinals and the Ravens to name just to name a few. One of my favorite features in the updated version of the book is a list of "100 Recommended Pre-Doo-Wop Recordings". On this list you will find music by such artists as the Four Vagabonds, the Deep River Boys and the Boswell Sisters. This is all great stuff and definitely worth a listen. Finally, there are dozens of wonderful photographs, a doo-wop aptitude test, doo-wop crossword puzzles and so much more. For any collector of American popular music this book should be an essential part of your library. Highly recommended.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive book everyone who likes doo wop should have, March 7, 2001

By A Customer

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This review is from: The Complete Book of Doo-Wop Rhythm and Blues (Paperback)

In recent years, due primarily to the PBS series on Doo Wop, this musical genre is being rediscovered. Finally, there is a comprehensive book on the who's, why's and what's of the definitive music of the 50's and early 60's.

Although this book sometimes over-emphasizes the specific sounds of the music (shoop de doop etc.) and spends too much time on certain groups, it is a great (and relatively inexpensive) resource for song titles. I especially liked the chapter on song styles from different parts of the country.

If it has a weakness, it isn't as comprehensive a guide on specific groups as is Jay Warner's book on singing groups. Still, all in all it is an excellent resource guide and a book any Doo Wop afficianado should have in a collection.