The Rivingtons
Encyclopedia
The Rivingtons were a 1960s doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...

 group
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

. The group members were:
lead vocalist Carl White (died January 7, 1980), tenor Al Frazier (died November 13, 2005), baritone Sonny Harris, and bass singer Turner "Rocky" Wilson Jr.. Frazier was replaced by Madero White for a period in the late 1970s.

History

Their first hit was "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow
Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow
"Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" is a 1962 novelty nonsensical doo-wop song by The Rivingtons. The song peaked at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #35 on the Cashbox charts.-Cover versions:...

" (Liberty #55427, 1962). Like many such songs, it began with the bass
Bass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...

 chanting nonsense syllables (in this case the title), followed by the tenor singing over repetitions of it. "Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow," an even more baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 rewrite of the theme, failed to sell, but they returned to the charts the following year with the similar "The Bird's The Word." The B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 of "Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow" was "Waiting."(Liberty #55528)

Previously, the Rivingtons had been known as the Sharps, and they had already tasted chart action via Thurston Harris's "Little Bitty Pretty One
Little Bitty Pretty One
"Little Bitty Pretty One" is a rock and roll song written and originally recorded by Bobby Day, and popularized by Thurston Harris in 1957. His version reached #6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It has most notably been covered by Frankie Lymon in 1958, Clyde McPhatter in 1962, the Jackson Five in...

" in 1957, after which they appeared on several Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he had a string of hit records, produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young"...

 recordings when any extraneous sounds of rebel yell
Rebel yell
The rebel yell was a battle cry used by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War. Confederate soldiers would use the yell during charges to intimidate the enemy and boost their own morale, although the yell had other uses. The exact sound of the yell is unknown and the subject of much...

s were required, as on Eddy's 1958 hit "Rebel Rouser." They also recorded on Warner Brothers Records as "The Crenshaws" in 1961.

After their two hit singles, the Rivingtons struggled to find another hit. However, "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The Bird's The Word" were revived, courtesy of a Minnesota-based group calling itself the Trashmen
The Trashmen
The Trashmen are a rock and roll band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1962. The group's original lineup was Tony Andreason on lead guitar and vocals, Dal Winslow on guitar and vocals, Steve Wahrer on drums and vocals, and Bob Reed on bass guitar...

, who made a song up in 1963 from the two songs' nonsense syllables, calling it "Surfin' Bird
Surfin' Bird
"Surfin' Bird" is a song performed by the American surf rock band The Trashmen; it is also the name of the album that featured this hit single. It was released in 1963 and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100...

." The Trashmen recorded the selection over a record shop
Record shop
A record shop or record store is an outlet that sells recorded music. Although vinyl records and audio cassettes are no longer sold in the majority of music stores, in favour of compact discs and home video recordings products, people in some countries, like the UK, still use the term "record...

 and passed it off as their own work. It was a medley of the choruses without the verses. However, the Rivingtons's management reported it to their lawyers, and the group members were ordered to add the surnames of the Rivingtons to the credits. The Rivingtons recorded several more songs in the '60s, and after the Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 single "A Rose Growing In The Ruins" flopped, their recording career ended. They took up performing again in the '70s, with Madero White replacing Al Frazier.

Carl White died at age 47, of acute tonsillitis
Tonsillitis
Tonsillitis is an inflammation of the tonsils most commonly caused by viral or bacterial infection. Symptoms of tonsillitis include sore throat and fever. While no treatment has been found to shorten the duration of viral tonsillitis, bacterial causes are treatable with antibiotics...

, in his Los Angeles home. Al Frazier, Sonny Harris, and Rocky Wilson played the oldies circuit extensively throughout the 1980s, Replacing White with Clay Hammond until 1987, then Andrew Butler into the 1990s. In 1989, the Rivingtons appeared in an episode of L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...

as a doo-wop group, "The Sensations." They were later featured in an 1990 episode of Night Court
Night Court
Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...

,
"Razing Bull" as Mac's former group-mates "The Starlights."

After the publicity surrounding the allegations in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

,
the Trashmen had to share the writing credits on not only this recording but also a later one as a sign of good faith. "Surfin' Bird" itself was revived in the 1970s by the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...

 and The Cramps
The Cramps
The Cramps were an American rock band, formed in 1976 and active until 2009. The band split after the death of lead singer Lux Interior. Their line-up rotated much over their existence, with the husband and wife duo of Interior and lead guitarist Poison Ivy the only permanent members...

.

Discography

The Rivingtons released a number of records on the Liberty
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...

 label, including:

Singles

  • "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow
    Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow
    "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" is a 1962 novelty nonsensical doo-wop song by The Rivingtons. The song peaked at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #35 on the Cashbox charts.-Cover versions:...

    " b/w "Deep Water"
  • "Kickapoo Joy Juice" b/w "My Reward"
  • "Mama-Oom-Mow-Mow (The Bird)" b/w "Waiting"
  • "The Bird's The Word" b/w "I'm Losing My Grip"
  • "The Shaky Bird (Part 1)" b/w "The Shaky Bird (Part 2)"
  • "Cherry" b/w "Little Sally Walker"
  • "The Weejee Walk" b/w "Fairy Tales"

Albums

  • Doin' The Bird (1962)


These songs are all collected in the release The Liberty Years, released on EMI America

External links

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