Dootone Doo Wop Vol 1-3 (2013)

Tracklist
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Vol 1
01. Guided Missiles - The Cuff Links
02. You're An Angel - The Penguins
03. Let Me Give You Money - The Pipes
04. You're Not Too Young - Charles McCullough
05. Ookey Ook - The Penguins
06. Teller Of Fortunes - The Dootones
07. My Pretty Baby - Johnny Twovoice & The Medallions
08. How You Lied - The Cuff Links
09. I Laughed So Hard - The Fabulous Pearls
10. Always And Always - Don Julian & The Meadowlarks
11. Alene, Sweet Little Texas Queen - The Souvenirs
12. Don't Take Your Love (From Me) - The Calvanes
13. Down The Road - The Dootones
14. Buick '59 - Vernon Green & The Medallions
15. Zoom - The Cufflinx
16. My Girl - Charles McCullough & The Silks
17. No There Ain't No News Today - The Penguins
18. It's Too Late Now - The Cuff Links
19. Craving - The Cameos
20. The Day You Said Goodbye - The Dootones
21. They Call Me Fool - The Calvanes
22. Double Dealing Baby - The Souvenirs
23. To Keep Our Love - Cleve Duncan & The Radiants
24. The Winner - The Cuff Links
25. Only For You - The Cameos
26. Flee Oo Wee - The Calvanes
27. Rocket Ship - Vernon Green & The Medallions
28. My Heart's Desire - The Fabulous Pearls

Vol 2
01. Crazy Over You - The Calvanes
02. Heaven And Paradise - Don Julian & The Meadowlarks
03. I Wonder Why - The Fascinators
04. I Still Remember - The Romancers
05. Honey Gee - The Saigons
06. Lawful Wedding - The Cuff Links
07. Ay Si Si (Mambo) - The Dootones
08. Baby Come On Home - The Calvanes
09. Jump And Hop - The Romancers
10. I Ain't Gonna Cry No More - The Penguins
11. Did I Do Wrong - The Cuff Links
12. Tell Me Baby - Lee Collins & The Orbits
13. Sailor Boy - The Dootones
14. Speedin' - Vernon Green & The Medallions
15. You're Heavenly - The Saigons
16. My Heart - The Cuff Links
17. I'm Betting My Heart On You - Cleve Duncan & The Radiants
18. You Are An Angel - The Pipes
19. House Cat - The Romancers
20. If You Were My Darling - The Dootones
21. One More Kiss - The Calvanes
22. That'll Make It Nice - Eli & The Manhattans
23. I'll Never Love Again - Johnny Twovoice & The Medallions
24. Two Crazy Scientists - Lee Collins & The Orbits
25. May We Be On Better Terms - The Debonairs
26. So Long Daddy - The Souvenirs
27. Ding A Ling - The Crescendos
28. This Is Goodbye - The Romancers

Vol 3
01. Be Fair
02. Trick Knees
03. My Big Dream
04. Shivers And Shakes
05. Going Away Baby
06. Chancing My Love
07. Strange Love Affair
08. Look At A Fool
09. Baby Let's Make Some Love
10. I've Had You
11. So Tough
12. Edna
13. Please Don't Stop Me
14. I Cried All Night Long
15. Hard Time Lover
16. Teardrop Eyes
17. Baby Drop Top
18. Teller Of Fortunes
19. I Don't Want Nobody
20. Darling Be Mine
21. I Love The Life I Live
22. The Cause Of A Bad Romance
23. My Love Is With You
24. I Found Someone
25. Back Home Again
26. Baby Doll
27. Zorro
28. A Fool's Fortune

Walter "Dootsie" Williams' Los Angeles-based independent Dootone Records was an active imprint from 1951 to 1963, releasing close to 200 singles during that time (for legal reasons, the name was changed to Dooto Records in 1957), most of them by homegrown street corner vocal groups. As this fine set shows, the quality level was high for these releases, and Williams' sparse production insured that the song was always the thing. There's so much to like here, including the Pipes' wry "Let Me Give You Money," Charles McCullough's moving and powerful "You're Not Too Young," the Fabulous Pearls' exuberant "I Laughed So Hard," the impressive "Down the Road" by the Dootones, and Vernon Green's bouncing "Rocket Ship," but there really isn't a lame track in the whole set, making this a wonderful introduction to a wonderful label.

Dootsie Williams' DooTone Records had a special policy when it came to recording the R&B vocal groups that Williams found singing in the Los Angeles area during the first half of the '50s, and it's evident from the opening song, "Be Fair" by the Pipes (led by Huey Roundtree), on this 28-track collection. Unlike a lot of other record company heads of the era, who tried to dress up their acts as professionally as possible, embellishing their work to make it seem polished and professional, he would keep any musical accompaniment or backing arrangement to an absolute minimum, so that the raw "street" quality of the singing came through. There would be a bass and drums present, and maybe a piano and even occasionally a saxophone break, but the latter would never eclipse the singing, which was the point of the recording in the first place. The result of that policy, as demonstrated here, is a surprisingly raw and honest body of R&B harmony vocal music -- commonly called doo wop -- that manages to be both authentically "street" in its sensibilities yet just professional enough to be radio-friendly. "Strange Love Affair" by the Dootones is perhaps the perfect example of Williams' notion at work, virtually a cappella except for a tiny bit of tinkling piano and a bass that's barely audible. As is usually the case with these Ace Records compilations, the selections are impeccable and the mastering is a match, bringing out details that were present but not always obvious on the original records, either in the singing or accompaniment. An occasional blues-style track, such as "I Cried All Night" by Charles McCullogh & the Silks -- which is unusually guitar-heavy for a song on this collection, and closer in spirit to Chicago blues (and, if that's what you're into, is almost worth the price of admission by itself) than to doo wop -- sneaks in, but in the main this is as solid an R&B vocal collection as you're going to find. As an added enticement, the annotation by Jim Dawson is thorough and detailed, and the only complaint that one has is the size of the typeface on the latter, which is barely readable, and not easily legible even with a magnifier.

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