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"Sixty Minute Man" is an R&B record released on
Federal Records Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to rhythm & blues releases. The comp ...
in
1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...
by
the Dominoes Billy Ward and his Dominoes were an American R&B vocal group. One of the most successful R&B groups of the early 1950s, the Dominoes helped launch the singing careers of two notable members, Clyde McPhatter and Jackie Wilson. Early life B ...
. It was written by Billy Ward and Rose Marks and was one of the first R&B hit records to cross over to become a hit on the pop chart. It is regarded as one of the most important of the recordings that helped generate and shape
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
.


Background

The Dominoes were a black vocal group consisting of
Clyde McPhatter Clyde Lensley McPhatter (November 15, 1932 – June 13, 1972) was an American rhythm and blues, soul, and rock and roll singer. He was one of the most widely imitated R&B singers of the 1950s and early 1960sPalmer, Robert (1981)"Roy Brown, a Pio ...
(1932–1972), who later left the group to form
the Drifters The Drifters are an American pop and R&B/soul vocal group. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1959 and ...
; Bill Brown (1926-1956); Charlie White (1930-2005); and Joe Lamont (1920-1991), led by their pianist, manager and
songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...
, Billy Ward (1921–2002). Ward was a
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
, classically trained vocal coach who had formed a business partnership with a
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
New York talent agent, Rose Marks. The pair decided to put together a smooth vocal group to rival
The Ink Spots The Ink Spots were an American vocal pop group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style predated the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely ...
,
the Orioles The Orioles were an American R&B group in the late 1940s and early 1950s. One of the first vocal groups in R&B, they were early pioneers of the doo-wop sound. Dubbing themselves after Maryland's state bird, the Orioles started the trend of b ...
, and similar groups who were beginning to win acceptance with white audiences. In 1950, the Dominoes were signed to
Federal Records Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to rhythm & blues releases. The comp ...
and held a series of recording sessions at the National Studios in New York in November and December of that year. Their initial release, "Do Something For Me", was the first record on which McPhatter sang lead. The song was musically a gospel song with gospel-style
melisma Melisma (, , ; from , plural: ''melismata''), informally known as a vocal run and sometimes interchanged with the term roulade, is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in ...
s but was lyrically secular. A success, the song entered the R&B chart at the beginning of February 1951. Less successful was its follow-up, the
pop standard Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...
" Harbor Lights", recorded on December 30, 1950. The record company then turned to the other sharply contrasting, straight R&B song which the group had recorded on the same day, "Sixty Minute Man", written by Ward and Marks. It was issued in May 1951 (on Federal 12022), and by the end of the month had reached number one on the R&B chart, a position it held for an almost unprecedented 14 weeks. The single also made it to number 17 on the pop singles chart and was voted "Song of the year" for 1951. The recording features René Hall on guitar, and used Bill Brown's bass voice, rather than McPhatter's tenor, as the lead. It features the singer's boasts of his sexual prowess, of being able to satisfy his girls with fifteen minutes each of kissing, teasing, and squeezing, before his climactic fifteen minutes of "blowing istop". The chorus was specific: ::There'll be fifteen minutes of kissin' ::Then you'll holler "Please don't stop" (Don't stop!) ::There'll be fifteen minutes of teasin' ::Fifteen minutes of squeezin' ::And fifteen minutes of blowin' my top'' Lyrics of this type already had a long history. The reference to "Dan" (alternatively, "Jim Dandy") dates back at least to
minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of Afr ...
s in the nineteenth century, and double-entendre had been used in blues lyrics for decades before the song was written. A common reference was to "Dan, the Back Door Man"—the lover of a married woman who would leave her house by the back door—as in a song of that title recorded by
Georgia White Georgia White (9 March 1903 – c.1980) was an American blues singer, most prolific in the 1930s and 1940s. White was born in Sandersville, Georgia in 1903. By the late 1920s she was singing in nightclub, clubs in Chicago. She made her first sou ...
in 1937. Among the many precedents, but with a different perspective, is "One Hour Mama" by
Ida Cox Ida M. Cox ( Prather; February 26, 1888 or 1896 – November 10, 1967) was an American singer and vaudeville performer, best known for her blues performances and recordings. She was billed as "The Uncrowned Queen of the Blues".Harrison, Daphne Du ...
. Consequently, "Sixty Minute Man" is also listed as an example of a
dirty blues Dirty blues (also known as bawdy blues) is a form of blues music that deals with socially taboo and obscene subjects, often referring to sexual acts and drug use. Because of the sometimes graphic subject matter, such music was often banned from rad ...
song. "Sixty Minute Man" was banned by many radio stations and was seen as a
novelty record A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...
at the time. However, in hindsight it was an important record in several respects: it crossed the boundaries between
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
singing and
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
, its lyrics pushed the limits of what was deemed acceptable, and it appealed to many white as well as black listeners, peaking at number 17 on the pop chart. Cover versions were made by several white artists including Hardrock Gunter.
Bill Haley & His Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band formed in 1947 and continuing until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...
sang the song in the mid-1950s during their live shows. In later years, the Dominoes' record became a contender for the title of "the
first rock and roll record The origins of rock and roll are complex. Rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in the United States in the early to mid-1950s. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which itself developed from earlie ...
". One source summarized the song's appeal: it "contains "rebelliousness, unsubtle sexuality, and a steady rhythm. It arguably coined the very name of this new type of music: rock and roll". Its success on the pop chart indicated that R&B cross over was certainly possible. The recording "opened the door for other sexually forthright records, planting the seed for
Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...
’ “ Roll with Me Henry” and other future hits". On the other hand,
The Drifters The Drifters are an American pop and R&B/soul vocal group. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1959 and ...
’ explicit " Honey Love" and "
Such a Night "Such a Night" is a popular song from 1953, written by Lincoln Chase and originally recorded by the Drifters. The Drifters featuring Clyde McPhatter recorded the song in November 1953, and Atlantic Records released it in January 1954 as t ...
" and
The Midnighters The Midnighters were an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan. They were an influential group in the 1950s and early 1960s, with many R&B hit records. They were also notable for launching the career of lead singer Hank Ballard and the w ...
’ "Sexy Ways" were banned in 1954. The Dominoes became one of the more popular vocal groups of the 1950s. However, Bill Brown, lead singer of "Sixty Minute Man", left in 1952 to form The Checkers. In 1954, Brown and The Checkers cut a follow-up to "Sixty Minute Man" titled "Don't Stop Dan," in which the original song's Lovin' Dan seems to meet his match. Clyde McPhatter was replaced by
Jackie Wilson Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer who was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a master showman and one of th ...
in 1953, and went on to form
The Drifters The Drifters are an American pop and R&B/soul vocal group. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1959 and ...
, before embarking on a solo career in 1955. In 1955 with a new lineup, the Dominoes recorded their own
answer song An answer song, response song or answer record is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer son ...
"Can't Do Sixty No More" with the same melody (the flip side "If I Never Get to Heaven"), which included the line "Please excuse my blown-out fuse, because I can't do sixty no more." Coincidentally, Prentice Moreland recorded with the group in this lineup as well as with The Du-Droppers who had recorded an earlier version of "Can't Do Sixty No More" in 1952. Though they share the same title, the earlier version was written by The Du Droppers' lead tenor, J. C. Ginyard.


Legacy

Ultimately "Sixty Minute Man" remained a novelty song, and did not contribute significantly to the merging of pop music and R&B, more in the tradition of " Open the Door, Richard" in which black performers winked and rolled their eyes, rather than the soulful renditions that would follow. Although McPhatter's tenor singing and falsetto whoops were in the background on this recording, the following year, McPhatter was the lead singer in another song by The Dominoes, "
Have Mercy Baby "Have Mercy Baby" is a popular rhythm and blues song, written by Billy Ward and Rose Marks, recorded by The Dominoes in Cincinnati, produced by Ralph Bass, and released by Federal Records in 1952. It was Number One on the R&B Charts for ten ...
", a hit R&B song which had a stronger gospel influence. It was considered the definitive fast "rhythm and gospel record" and was number one on the
R&B Chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
for 10 weeks. The disc jockey
Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...
was probably the first to use the phrase
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
to describe a style of music; he introduced the phrase on mainstream radio in the early 1950s. Several sources suggest that he discovered the term (a euphemism for sexual intercourse in the black community) on the record "Sixty Minute Man". The lyrics include the line, "I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long". Freed did not acknowledge that source (or the original meaning of the expression) in interviews.


Other recordings

In 1951, "Sixty Minute Man" was recorded as a duet by Hardrock Gunter and Roberta Lee, and also by the York Brothers. The Lee/Gunter recording is cited as an early example of rockabilly.
Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...
recorded the song in 1957 and in 1973. Dick Curless, a country singer from Maine, recorded an arrangement (titled "Lovin' Dan - 60 Minute Man") on 1966's ''The Soul of Dick Curless'', released on Tower Records, and on 1973's ''Live at the Wheeling Truck Driver's Jamboree.'' A version was recorded in the early 1970s by the Australian band Daddy Cool. The Trammps released a version of the song in 1972.
James Booker James Carroll Booker III (December 17, 1939 – November 8, 1983) was an American New Orleans rhythm and blues keyboardist and singer. Flamboyant in personality and style, and a pianist of extraordinary technical skill, he was dubbed "the Blac ...
recorded the song in 1976. It was recorded in 1977 by the a cappella group the Persuasions on their record '' Chirpin'''. An instrumental version was recorded as the title song to Charles Tyler's solo saxophone album in 1979.
Huey Lewis Hugh Anthony Cregg III (born July 5, 1950), known professionally as Huey Lewis, is an American actor and former singer-songwriter. Lewis sang lead and played harmonica for his band, Huey Lewis and the News, until being forced into retirement due ...
frequently covered the song in concert. The
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
group, Restless Heart, performed the song on their "Fast Movin' Train" tour in the late 1980s. Rockapella also recorded a cover of the song, featuring Barry Carl as the lead vocalist.


See also

*
First rock and roll record The origins of rock and roll are complex. Rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in the United States in the early to mid-1950s. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which itself developed from earlie ...
*
Dirty blues Dirty blues (also known as bawdy blues) is a form of blues music that deals with socially taboo and obscene subjects, often referring to sexual acts and drug use. Because of the sometimes graphic subject matter, such music was often banned from rad ...


References


Bibliography

* Jim Dawson and Steve Propes, ''What Was The First Rock'n'Roll Record?'', Faber and Faber Books (1992) {{Authority control Billy Ward and his Dominoes songs The Trammps songs Songs written by Billy Ward (singer) Songs written by Rose Marks 1951 singles 1972 singles Hokum blues songs