50's DooWop show on Public TV

[marcapra]

Last night I was watching a 50s Doo Wop show on PBS hosted by Bowser of the old 1970s ShaNaNa show. Some of the singing was phenomenal. I can't believe that these were the original singers from the 50s! I know most of the groups have newer members, but some of them were original, like Kathy Young for example. The group that sang that famous Doo wop version of Blue Moon (the Marcels?) was phenomenal! Especially the great bass man who sang Bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuue Mooooooooooon! Did anyone else see this show that knows if the singers were some of the original ones? To me, this was Rock 'n Roll when is was just fun. here it is:

[YouTube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BziGPUGjhIE[/YouTube]

[Joe_DS]

Some of these old timers can still hit (most of) the notes, and it's amazing to think that performers who started out 50-60 years ago are still performing today. They show this type of program regularly--every three weeks for their three week pledge drives--on the SF Bay area PBS stations. (As an aside, they state that they offer you a full year of quality television for your basic membership contribution; but in reality, it's only about six months when you factor in the pleading and begging.)

It's interesting to compare the twilight careers of the rock-n-roll as well as folk era singers with those that came before, such as the big band era performers. Many, such as Mel Torme, could still sing as well as they always did, while others, such as Rosemary Clooney, talked their way through their old hits--as did Sophie Tucker a generation before. Bing Crosby lowered his range as time went by, because he could no longer hit the higher notes. Jolson did the same thing.

One of my favorite singers from the 1960s was Judy Collins, who still performs today, and still has quite a range. Unlike many of her generation, her voice does not seem to have become more "throaty" with age --

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE6-hjM3wQQ[/youtube]

-- though the higher notes seem a bit strained, at least compared to what she sounded like decades ago when she was in her prime, and drop dead beautiful.


Joe

[marcapra]

Joe, thanks for your response. Judy Collins is great! Looking around on Youtube I found an older PBS special which had the Marcels singing Blue Moon about 2010 with the original lead man who died in 2012. That bass man I found out is the original Marcel on the 1961 hit. On the earlier performance the bass man has long hair and shades, but neither he nor the original lead singer are very good. It is a weak performance. Ironically, this newer performance with Bowser as the host, is much better with an excellent singer singing the lead and the bass man in top form. Back in the 1970s, I saw people like Count Basie with Big Joe Turner and Benny Goodman who were still great. In the 80s I saw the Woody Herman band with Helen Forrest, but her voice had gone. On 50sOn5 on XM radio, I heard an interview with Neil Sedaka and his voice was still great as was Johnny Rivers. Dylan's voice has deteriorated unfortunately.