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 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]

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)', Nirvana'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

Ella Fitzgerald recorded a version of the song in 1948.

Pat Boone's recording made the top twenty in 1958.[11]

Etta James made the charts with it in 1961.[12]

Irma Thomas recorded it in 1961 (Minit 633).

Linda Ronstadt recorded it on her 1993 Winter Light album, but it did not chart separately from the album.

Glenn Frey recorded the song for his 2012 album After Hours.

Country singer Don Gibson also released one of the best versions of the song in 1958.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Art", Esquire magazine, 118: 1992, p. 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, p. 18, 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, p. 41.
  4. ↑ Marcus, Greil (1989) Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twentieth Century, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, pp. 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, Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, p. ix, ISBN 0-8108-4592-X
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Marcus, Greil (1995), The Dustbin of History, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, p. 234, ISBN 0-674-21857-4
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Bogdanov, Vladimir (ed.) (2003), "The Orioles", All Music Guide to Soul: the definitive guide to R&B and soul, San Francisco, California: Backbeat Books, pp. 511–512, ISBN 0-87930-744-7
  8. ↑ "Orioles", Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Oxford University Press, online edition, accessed 27 May 2010.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 quoted in Warner, Jay (2006), American Singing Groups: A History, From 1940 to Today, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard Corp., pp. 59–60, ISBN 0-634-09978-7
  10. ↑ Morrow, Cousin Bruce, and Rich Maloof (2007), Doo Wop: The Music, the Times, the Era, New York: Sterling Publishing, p. 58.
  11. ↑ McAleer, Dave (2004), Hit Singles: top 20 charts from 1954 to the present day, San Francisco, California: Backbeat Books, pp. 43–44, ISBN 0-87930-808-7
  12. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2007), Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2006 (11th edition), Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, p. 421, ISBN 0-89820-172-1