Hey, Coolbeans:

Thanks for the long article on the Gaylords. I remember them very well. Funny you should think of them at this time. We've been talking about Doo Wop in the Kitchen Table Thread, partly because I've just met someone who has an a capella group. I am looking forward to getting to know him, and I just asked him in an e-mail what his thoughts were about the roots of doo wop. Black church music is the most obvious one, as so many of the black groups also did gospel (and often recorded with the same line-up using different names.) Ex.: The Selah Jubilee Singers were a successful black gospel group in the 40's, recording on the Decca label. They also were the Larks, and had a big hit with My Reverie in the 50's. (The also used country blues acoustic guitar as their accompaniment on a couple of songs.) The other "root" of doo wop... especially white Doo wop, may have been groups like the Gaylords and the Four Aces. Many of the 50's white doo wop groups had Italian backgrounds... Dion and The Belmonts being the most obvious. I've never read any interviews with those groups talking about their roots, but I wonder if the Gaylords might have been an influence..

Jerry