Customer Reviews

Doo Wop: The Music, the Times, the Era

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

With the words "DOO WOP" in huge letters on the front and throughout the book, the publisher leads you to believe that this is a book celebrating what is better known as "Vocal Group Harmony". But it's not! The Beach Boys may harmonize but their records were not "Do Wop". Brenda Lee - Doo wop? `Fraid not.

But what the book IS a celebration of the music and styles and pop culture of the ;ate 1950s to about 1963 when the British Invasion arrived and - as that it succeeds! Bruce Morrow was legendary on New York's WABC but he didn't just play Doo Wop. In fact the only 100% doo wop you would hear when he was on WCBS in the 1990s was on another show on the station: "Don K. Reed's Doo Wop Shop".

But teaming with "promoter" T. J. Lubinski - the guy who started the first PBS beg-a-thon oldies show, "Doo Wop 50" and has produced umpteen more in other pop music genres since then - as "co-author" Morrow has put together great piece of "eye candy", thanks to the color resolution of this book from Sterling. "Cousin Brucie" reminisces throughout, but your be drawn to the great photos and images and bring back your own memories. This is not a $100. coffee table book (but it's heavy enough to use for one!). It's moderately priced and a fun thing to look through. It's approaching Christmas time and I can't think of a neater gift to give to someone who graduated high school between 1958 and 1965. Think of it as one of those PBS oldies shows for your eyes - where the vocal groups - and boy and girl singers still had their hair!

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

In his new book, Cousin Brucie, who has escorted America through so much music history, gives an exciting overview of the American music industry during the Doo Wop period. He is such an important part of that history. Nobody has seen more of Doo Wop nor knows the topic better than he. In this book he helps me to relive the joy and fun of that period of time. It's like one of his "walks down memory lane" that he surely has broadcasted numerous times during all these years as the top Radio personality in the country. These wonderful memories are a gift from the Cousin that I will always cherish.

"Cousin Brucie" Morrow's book "Doo Wop: The Music, The Times, The Era" is a treasure trove filled with photos and history that truly evoke an extraordinary time in our lives. He had his hand on the musical pulse of that period like no other and he shares it with the reader with extraordinary ease and depth. This is one of those books that can be read and reread, started at the beginning, or just picked up anywhere in the middle because there are fabulous photos, posters, magazine and comic book covers, etc. on every page. Even the graphics and choice of type are spot on! The book is so much more than I expected. I bought it knowing I loved the music and am thrilled that it offers so much more in terms of where it all came from and its place in our world. I love this book!

This book is full of inaccuracies. The Castelles (black group) are discussed in one section of the book referencing the early 50's groups but a picture of the Castelles (white group) from the 60's is shown. Also many of the groups that had their beginnings in the 50's are accompanied with pictures of their later 60's albums. The book is simplistic and not for the hard core collector or 50's R&B Group Harmony aficianado. Cousin Brucie is using his name to sell a book that he never put any sweat into. Very sloppy.

BOMB! How did I end up with this turkey? I thought the cover looked pretty cool, the size, number of pages and even the weight suggested a coffee-table book that might be the last word on this musical genre. There were even several five-star reviews. Unfortunately it wasn't to be, because:
* The text really is very superficial. Nothing new here and if you are familiar with the history of doo wop and rock 'n roll you'll probably have read all these clichés before.
* Dozens of groups are mentioned and I would have thought a possible strength of the book like this would have been a useful discography but there isn't one and amazingly not even an index.
* I doubt very much that Cousin Brucie had anything to do with the book other than accepting a fee for his celebrity endorsement. Ace DJ that he was the real author is Rich Maloof.
* The layout of the pages is particularly bland. As a publication designer I could see that, potentially, the book could look visually exciting but the pages are a crude mix of color panels for text and decoration, loads of different headline types and a too big text type, this suggests to me that the text was enlarged to pad out the number of pages. Every photo in the book is the usual boring shot from record company PR departments mixed in with record covers, music graphics and news photos. With all this stock imagery a grid would have given all the pages a coherent look.
* The editorial seems very wide ranging. Chapter one starts on the west coast of Africa and includes Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra and other stars of the Forties. Later chapters include Peter, Paul and Mary, Mamas and the Papas, Bob Dylan and the Beatles. Admittedly the various strands of pop music are more or less intertwined but the book is called Doo Wop and I think it should have concentrated on that specific style and personalities.
* Overall it seems to me a book packagers quickie. The publishers, Sterling (owned by Barnes & Noble) gave the job to Band-F Limited, who even give themselves a plug on a page at the back. I predict the title will be available in coming months at close-out prices.

I think I'll stick to my Rock On Almanac: The First Four Decades of Rock 'N' Roll : A Chronology by Norm N Nite as the book that fills me in about doo wop groups. Photos, biogs and record listings are all here or even better American Singing Groups: A History, From 1940 to Today which lists, just for the fifties alone 150 groups and includes a ton of facts about them and a discography for lots of them

***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.

Thank you, Cousin Brucie, for creating a book of memories
that I can open whenever I want to travel back to the music
I love. Not only is it fun reading, it evokes memories of
people and experiences that tend to get lost with time. It has the same sense of energy that you have exuded throughout your many years of
broadcasting. I found myself singing while reading your book. How many
books can create that kind of reaction??????? Thanks for the memories!!!
Elaine Gilbert

The beauty of Doo Wop music was simplicity & accessibility, in truth it was an urban teen age "folk" music style.This volume is plain "simple-minded" and I was moved to plant a quartet of trees (nutmegs and willows of course) to apologize for the paper used here.
We all love Cousin Brucie and the music, but this volume is so shallow and cliche ridden that it's a tragedy!It's fine to see lesser knowns spotlighted (be it Johnny Maestro,The SixTeens,The Schoolboys) and any interview with Dion (however short) is worth reading but the random fashion and context of this large volume renders is useless.The most successful doo-wop group of all time (4 Seasons) is mentioned but once and I don't even recall the notation of Kenny Vance who has brightly carried the doo-wop torch into the 2000s!
If you're really looking for an inspired Doo Wop gift,search out "They All Sang On The Corner" or one of the Rhino CD collections.This book
is just too content flimsy to do the legendary style any justice.

I love it, I bought it, its very colorful and it shows how things were in those days, I really enjoy it, as alot of the articles in it, I knew about. I say buy it if you are a 50's and 60's fan of music (: Mary SI NY

Are there days when you just need to extricate yourself from this crazy digital world of 24/7 non-stop information frenzy? Take some time off and give yourself a gift. Just try holding "Doo Wop, The Music..The Times..The Era"in your hands and feel the stress evaporate and be transported to a wonderful time. Cousin Brucie captures so passionately and intelligently the evolution of popular music to a sound that we, as teenagers could identify as ours. This book is more than just a chronology of the early harmony groups that grew out of the streets of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and elsewhere. It's a gorgeous snapshot of who we were in the post World War II period of the late 40's, 50's and early 60's. This is a very colorful "coffee table" book that I couldn't stop reading as soon as I brought it home. And, what a terrific way to bridge the generation gap. Your kids will be wide-eyed as they look at the photos of the political and cultural events of those years. If you grew up listening to Cousin Bruce, you can almost hear that super-energized voice as you flip through the pages. By the way, I just realized this book would be a perfect gift for some friends and business associates.

Hi Cous Just as I have enjoyed your radio broadcasts over the years, I have thoroughly enjoyed your new book. Doo Wop: The Music, The Times, The Era . Your title says it all giving great insight as well as a pictorial review of the period. The memories that it has evoked has made it a treasure that I will forever enjoy.