CASA - the contemporary a cappella society - A Cappella Urban Sound Revisited

A Cappella Urban Sound Revisited

Written by Abe Santiago

Sunday, 09 April 2006

PRESS RELEASE -- For the first time in over forty years, the street corner a cappella sound is back. Born on the banks of the Hudson River and cultivated along the corridor that stretches from Boston to Philadelphia, the vocal group sound is off and running at high speed.

The team of Santiago & Dunham - a fifty-nine year old former singer and a thirty-eight year old record collector from Las Vegas - have managed to spark international interest among record collectors, vocal group enthusiasts and lovers of the doo-wop scene with their new book, “Acappella Street Corner Vocal Groups.”

It is the first book to document the bygone era of street corner singers. Although the book is primarily a discography of a cappella recordings that were made in the 1960s, it is sure to be a top seller in the oldies market and beyond.

Propelled by a vision of informing the public about the “Golden Age of A Cappella,” this book is a must for those who are interested in rock 'n roll, the preservation of the group R&B sound, and the birth of the oldies market. Interest in the book has reached to Barcelona, Spain, London, England and Tokyo, Japan.

The legendary R&B vocalist Jerry Butler, formerly of the Impressions, says this about the book: “Take what you've got and make what you need, which is what the mantra of a cappella singing is all about.”

To whet your appetite, here's an excerpt from chapter 3 of the book:

UN Groups
Even amid the social and racial unrest of the 1960s, a peaceful coexistence survived through music in the acappella corridor that stretched from Boston to Philadelphia. Vocal groups as a whole rose above ethnic and racial barriers at a dynamic movement in American history. Acappella groups inherited a mindset from the 1950s that diversity creates a powerful musical mélange. Because of their ethnic membership a number of acappella groups were dubbed “UN” groups, composed primarily of Italian, Jewish, African American and Puerto Rican singers. The cultural syncretism that acappella embodied produced a harmony sound that was well received by early listeners. In the 1960s, there were few "all black" singing groups during the acappella era in comparison to white and mixed ethnic groups. For this reason, we can say that black participation in groups was usually in the form of racial mixed groups, which evolved, like rock and roll and R&B before it, as a multiracial form of music. Indeed, part of acappella’s legacy is the bridge it built among audiences across ethnic and racial lines. As ambassadors to a divided nation, acappella groups demonstrated forms of friendship and camaraderie among group members that was as evident in their music as it was in their performances.

To order: 888-281-5170
The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping/handling