Book Review: Douglas Friedman, Anthony Gribin, The Encyclopedia of Early American Vocal Groups—100 Years of Harmony: 1850 to 1950

Vocal group fans know that, with the exception of a few popular groups such as the Mills Brothers and the Ink Spots, there is very little information available about pre-World War II singing groups. Douglas Friedman, a retired lawyer, and Anthony Gribin, a practicing psychologist, both now working as music researchers, set out to fill this gap. Mr. Gribin previously co-authored The Complete Book of Doo-Wop, the most comprehensive treatment of post-war rhythm and blues vocal groups.

The book is divided into four parts.

• The first 94 pages are a narrative history of pre-1950 vocal groups, divided into four chapters: pre-1890, 1890-1920, the '20s and '30s, and the '40s. Each chapter begins with a discussion of the technologies which shaped the performance of vocal groups during the period. This is followed by histories of the major groups, with white and black groups discussed separately—an approach which encourages the myth of greater stylistic differences between them than actually existed. (Who but Billboard's reporters would have known to classify the Four Tunes as “race” music?) The text ends with discussion of two late '40s groups, the Orioles and the Ravens, who paved the way for the golden age of vocal groups in the '50s. Gospel and country groups are mentioned only briefly.
• The next 183 pages are a groupography—an alphabetical listing of the known personnel and histories of over a thousand groups. Entries vary in length from a short phrase to about half a page. References are given to CDs—primarily the Document Records vocal group series—that include selections by the group.
• This is followed by 235 pages of discographies of those groups known to have recorded. Most discographies list songs chronologically either by session or by order of release. Friedman and Gribin list the songs alphabetically. This is helpful when trying to locate a song, but I prefer to follow how a group's repetoire changes over time.
• Finally, there are four appendixes: technology (again), sheet music, post cards, and various lists of their favorite artists and songs.

To briefly summarize, early vocal groups sang in a very formal and structured way. Group members sang multi-part harmony in unison, almost like a small choir. Over time, the arrangements become looser and more variable. Lead singers began to sing the melody, while the other group members sang background riffs, often using a call-and-response pattern. New styles were introduced such as the walking bass line, or a falsetto high tenor soaring above the rest of the group. All these innovations were made possible by microphones and recording technologies that allowed a clearer separation between each member's contribution to the group.

There is a lot of fascinating information in this book. Much of the fun comes from looking at the photographs. Both the first and last sections are heavily illustrated, with pictures of groups and sheet music covers accounting for most of them. But one of the dominant messages of the book is how little is actually known about early American vocal groups. No personnel lists or photographs exist for the overwhelming majority of groups. Given our current state of information overload about entertainers, it is easy to forget how little communication about popular music was available 100 years ago. What we know about most of the groups comes from names and pictures on the covers of sheet music. Groups also advertised themselves by distributing postcards—a practice of which I had been only dimly aware.

A depressing side message is the popularity of minstrel shows during this period. Many of these songs were racist—so-called “coon” songs such as “You'se Just a Little Nigger, Still You'se Mine, All Mine” and “All Coons Look Alike to Me,” both ironically written by black composers. After about 1910, minstrel shows were gradually replaced by vaudeville, but they still existed in this country as late as the '50s.

This is a reference book that belongs in the music section of any library. It's also an interesting enough read to deserve a place in the personal bookshelves of vocal group fans like me.