Customer Reviews

Doo-Wop: The Forgotten Third of Rock 'N Roll

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3 star:		(1)
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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.

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.

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.

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.

I have been collecting 45's since 1965. Having been born in 1951, I was too young to remember doo-wop music. To this day, I still buy my 45's at a record store every Friday night in Warwick, R.I. Lofgrens Records has been in business since 1948. While I enjoyed the doo-wop that you hear on standard oldies stations, I could never find a reliable reference book for the local and regional doo-wop hits of that period. I purchased Doo-Wop: The Forgotten Third of Rock and Roll about 4 years ago. I find the book to be right on target. It chronicles this period better than any reference book I have found. The authors list what they feel are the Top 500 doo-wops of all-time. I would say I agree with 90% of their choices. Now I have some way to decipher what might be good or great and what might be mediocre. There is so much stuff out there. Highly recommended!!

this book is a must if your a doo wop lover.you can learn about group harmony , the evolution of doo wop from rockabilly,r& b , and a great many idiosyncrasies of the music itself.plus there is a songography that lists almost every group you can think of & the records(flips too)they recorded,dates,label & often the lead singers name.i've yet to find the ONE book that gives me all the information i want. but i've gotta say the combination of this and "the encyclopedia of rhythm & blues and doo wop vocal groups" by m.rosalsky come VERY close.worth every penny folks,both books are "must haves".

I've been collecting records for many years. My teenage years were in the 50s. As I got older, and collected more records, I decided I wanted to record them onto cassettes in chronological order. For this I needed reference books. Throughout the years I've collected many helpful reference books, and this book is at the top of my list. I still use it a lot because I am currently adding my records and tapes to my computer, and this reference book has helped in the way I list the groups. One of the best things is that they separate groups with the same names, or the same group with different lead singers, etc. There are two complaints I have with this book, one is that it doesn't have the songs listed alphabetically. That would help so much if I have a song, and don't know what group it comes from. The second complaint is that there are many groups and songs that are listed that are NOT Doo Wop groups or songs. I've written to the authors about this but have never received an answer. I realize that they haven't listened to all of these songs, so they can't vouch personally for each and ever song or group, but they should listen to people that have listed to these songs and know the difference.

However, I recommend this book, and will buy the undated copy when it's available.

an upgrade of "doo wop the forgotten 3rd". many entries of long forgotten groups & songs.one of the few to correctly list "glory of love" by the imperials as a SEPERATE group from the little anthony group.tons of good information,song titles, release year,artist & lable(s).plus info on various subjects such as ,doo-wogeography,idiosyncrasies of doo-wopgroup her-mony(the 20 best doo wop songs with female leads, and much more.if you don't have this book YOUR missing out.

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.

Get it. Very well done book. It just about have anythimg you want to know except for the kitchen sink, but who cares for the kitchen sink this is Doo Wop.