Doo Wop 50, Volumes One & Two
Taped during a 1999 tribute in Pittsburgh, this straightforward, live  review honors rock 'n' roll's '50s and early '60s legacy of vocal groups. For  oldies fans hoping to bask in nostalgia, the caliber of the hits and the  inclusion of most of the groups originally associated with the recorded hits  makeDoo Wop at 50a satisfying stroll down memory lane. In light of the  focal importance of the songs, rather than the singers, for the majority of  listeners the program's choice of material will be sufficient reason to watch,  as underscored by the success of PBS's broadcast of the complete concert.Veteran soul stylist Jerry Butler, who hosts the show, is himself a legitimate  bridge between the street corner symphonies of the '50s and the more  sophisticated urban pop and soul that succeeded them. Butler shepherds a lineup  including current editions of the Platters, the Del-Vikings, Jimmy Beaumont and  the Skyliners, the Penguins, the Cadillacs, the Moonglows, the Flamingos, and  other fondly remembered groups. A competent if not exactly inspired revue band  accompanies all the acts, taped performing on a set decorated with oversized  portraits of '50s icons like James Dean and Marilyn Monroe, with a few vintage  hot rods parked alongside to hammer home the nostalgic thrust of the night.More impassioned doo-wop fans and rock historians, however, will be a tougher  sell. If the groups indeed carry the names associated with the hits, many  feature reconstituted lineups with few of the members actually heard on the  original singles, a practice that can be traced back to the '60s (as with the  Platters). Alternatively, more authentic lineups, like The Marcels (heard  performing their galloping version of "Blue Moon" for the first time in  decades), reflect their advancing years in rough vocal edges or arrangements  transposed to lower keys. Given the show's inspiration (Rhino's exemplaryDoo Wop Boxanthologies, which  unearthed both big hits and forgotten gems and placed the music and performers  in a rich historical context), it would have been intriguing to provide some  documentary context.--Sam Sutherland