It's Too Soon To Know

"It’s Too Soon To Know" is an American doo-wop[1] ballad by Deborah Chessler,[2] performed first by The Orioles. It was number one on the American Rhythm and blues charts in November of 1948. It is considered by some to be the first "rock and roll" song,[3][4] and described by others as the first rhythm and blues vocal group harmony recording.[5]

Contents

Original release

Jerry Blaine's Natural Records released "It’s Too Soon To Know" written by Deborah Chessler performed by, the Orioles on 21 August 1948 on a 45 rpm. It was the Orioles' first record for Natural, and Sonny Til was lead vocalist. On the flip side (B side) was "Barbara Lee" also by Deborah Chessler.[6] Blaine subsequently released it on his Jubilee Record label after complaints from National Records.[7] By November it was number 1 in the R&B charts and number 13 in the pop charts.[8] This was the first time that a black band on what was then known as a "race record" crossed over onto the pop charts.[7]

Reception

In its 4 September 1948 issue Billboard noted the label and the release with "New label kicks off with a fine quintet effort on a slow race ballad. Lead tenor shows fine lyric quality"[9] as well as noting it as a race record.[9]

""It’s Too Soon To Know" was like Elvis Presley's "That's All Right (Mama)", Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", Nivana's "Smells like Teen Spirit"–a shock, a dead-in-your-tracks what is that?–a sound that was stylistically confusing and emotionally undeniable."[6]

C.B. Morrow described it as "a strong foundation with a bass vocalist and set soothing alto breaths across the middle while a falsetto tenor cut a high line across the top."[10]

Other recording history

Pat Boone's recording made the top twenty in 1958.[11] Etta James made the charts with it in 1961.[12]

Roy Orbison's recording of "It’s Too Soon To Know" did better on the charts than any of his other "come-back" hits of the 1960s.[13] Linda Ronstadt recorded it on her 1993 Winter Light album, but it didn't chart separately from the album.

Notes

  1. ^ (1992) "Art" Esquire: the magazine for men 118: page 122
  2. ^ Horner, Pamela (2009) "An Evening with Deborah Chessler, Songwriter and Former Manager of the Orioles at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" Echoes of the Past No. 88 page 18, Copy here, accessed 28 May 2010
  3. ^ Marcus, Greil (24 June 1993) "Is this the woman who invented rock & roll?' the Deborah Chessler story" Rolling Stone Issue 659, page 41
  4. ^ Marcus, Greil (1989) Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twentieth Century Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, pages 257–258, ISBN 0-674-53580-4
  5. ^ Tompkins, George (2002) "Foreword" In Rosalsky, Mitch (2002) Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Doo-Wop Vocal Groups Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland, page ix, ISBN 0-8108-4592-X
  6. ^ a b Marcus, Greil (1995) The Dustbin of History Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, page 234, ISBN 0-674-21857-4
  7. ^ a b Bogdanov, Vladimir (editor) (2003) "The Orioles" All music guide to soul: the definitive guide to R&B and soul Backbeat Books, San Francisco, California, pages 511–512, ISBN 0-87930-744-7
  8. ^ "Orioles" Encyclopedia of Popular Music University of Oxford Press, online edition, accessed 27 May 2010
  9. ^ a b quoted in Warner, Jay (2006) American Singing Groups: A History, From 1940 to Today Hal Leonard Corp., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, pages 59–60, ISBN 0-634-09978-7
  10. ^ Morrow, Cousin Bruce and Maloof, Rich (2007) Doo Wop: The Music, the Times, the Era Sterling Publishing, New York, page 58
  11. ^ McAleer, Dave (2004) Hit singles: top 20 charts from 1954 to the present day Backbeat Books, San Francisco, California, pages 43–44, ISBN 0-87930-808-7
  12. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2007) Joel Whitburn's top pop singles 1955–2006 (11th edition) Record Research, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, page 421, ISBN 0-89820-172-1
  13. ^ "Orbison, Roy" Encyclopedia of Popular Music University of Oxford Press, online edition, accessed 27 May 2010