Sixty Minute Man
Encyclopedia
"Sixty Minute Man" is a rhythm and blues
(R&B) record released in 1951
by The Dominoes. 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 pop
hit on the pop charts. It is regarded as one of the most important of the recordings which helped generate and shape rock and roll
.
(1932–1972), who later left the group to form the Drifters
, Bill Brown (1936-1956), Charlie White (d. 2005) and Joe Lamont (deceased), led by their pianist, manager and songwriter
, Billy Ward (1921–2002). Ward was a black
, classically trained vocal coach who had formed a business partnership with a white
New York talent agent, Rose Marks.
The pair decided to put together a smooth vocal group to rival the Ink Spots, the Orioles
, and other similar groups who were beginning to win acceptance with white audiences. In 1950, the Dominoes were signed to Federal Records
, and held a series of recording sessions at the National Studios in New York in November and December of that year.
Their initial release was "Do Something For Me", the first record on which McPhatter sang lead, was musically a gospel song with gospel-style melisma
s but lyrically secular. This was a success, entering the R&B charts at the beginning of February 1951. However, its follow-up, the pop standard "Harbor Lights
", which had been recorded on 30 December 1950, failed to match its success.
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". It was issued in May 1951 (on Federal 12022), and by the end of the month had reached #1 on the R&B charts, a position it held for an almost unprecedented 14 weeks. The single also made it to number seventeen, on the pop singles chart.
The recording used Bill Brown's bass voice, rather than McPhatter's tenor, as the lead. It featured 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 [his] top".
The chorus was specific:
Although the writing credits were given to Ward and Marks, the song's origins go back much further. Bragging about sexual prowess goes back to times immemorial, and was a feature of the "hokum
" style of early blues
recordings. The reference to "Dan" (alternatively, "Jim Dandy") dates back at least to minstrel show
s in the nineteenth century. 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 in 1937.
One possible source, with a very different angle on the same theme, is "One Hour Mama" by Ida Cox
.
"Sixty Minute Man" was banned by many radio stations, and was seen as a novelty record
at the time. However, in hindsight it was an important record in several respects: it crossed the boundaries between gospel
singing and blues
, its lyrics pushed the limits of what was deemed acceptable, and it appealed to many white as well as black listeners, peaking at #17 on the pop charts. Cover versions were made by several white artists including Hardrock Gunter
. Bill Haley & His Comets 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 Dominoes went on to become one of the most popular vocal groups of the 1950s, with Clyde McPhatter eventually being replaced by Jackie Wilson
. However, Bill Brown, lead singer of "Sixty Minute Man", had left even earlier, in 1952, to form a new group, the Checkers. They had little success and, according to one website, Brown and the Dominoes released their own answer song
with the same melody, "Can't Do Sixty No More", which included the line, "Please excuse this blown-out fuse, but I can't do sixty no more." Brown died in 1956.
" in the tradition of coon song
s, and did not contribute significantly to the merging of pop music and R&B. Although McPhatter's tenor singing and falsetto whoops were in the back ground on this recording, the following year, McPhatter was the lead singer in another song by The Dominoes, "Have Mercy Baby
", 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 Charts for 10 weeks.
and Roberta Lee, and also by the York Brothers. The Lee/Gunter recording is cited as an early example of rockabilly. A group called "The Untouchables" released a version of the song in 1960. A version was recorded in the early 1970s by Australian band Daddy Cool
. It was recorded in 1977 by the a capella 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 frequently covers the song in concert. 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.
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
(R&B) record released in 1951
1951 in music
-Events:*January 29 – Nilla Pizzi wins the first annual Sanremo Music Festival with "Grazie dei fiori".*February – The first complete performance of Charles Ives's Second Symphony is given in Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Bernstein.*March – Alan...
by The Dominoes. 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 pop
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
hit on the pop charts. It is regarded as one of the most important of the recordings which helped generate and shape rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
.
Background
The Dominoes were a black vocal group consisting of Clyde McPhatterClyde McPhatter
Clyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"...
(1932–1972), who later left the group to form the Drifters
The Drifters
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1963, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's backing group in 1953...
, Bill Brown (1936-1956), Charlie White (d. 2005) and Joe Lamont (deceased), led by their pianist, manager and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, Billy Ward (1921–2002). Ward was a black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
, classically trained vocal coach who had formed a business partnership with a white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
New York talent agent, Rose Marks.
The pair decided to put together a smooth vocal group to rival the Ink Spots, the Orioles
The Orioles
The Orioles were a successful and influential American R&B group of the late 1940s and early 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal bands who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound....
, and other similar groups who were beginning to win acceptance with white audiences. In 1950, the Dominoes were signed to Federal Records
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. But also hillbilly and rockabilly recordings were released,...
, and held a series of recording sessions at the National Studios in New York in November and December of that year.
Their initial release was "Do Something For Me", the first record on which McPhatter sang lead, was musically a gospel song with gospel-style melisma
Melisma
Melisma, in music, is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic, as opposed to syllabic, where each syllable of text is matched to a single note.-History:Music of ancient cultures used...
s but lyrically secular. This was a success, entering the R&B charts at the beginning of February 1951. However, its follow-up, the pop standard "Harbor Lights
Harbor Lights
"Harbor Lights" is a popular song by Hugh Williams with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy. This song was originally sung by Frances Langford in 1937 and was published again in 1950....
", which had been recorded on 30 December 1950, failed to match its success.
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". It was issued in May 1951 (on Federal 12022), and by the end of the month had reached #1 on the R&B charts, a position it held for an almost unprecedented 14 weeks. The single also made it to number seventeen, on the pop singles chart.
The recording used Bill Brown's bass voice, rather than McPhatter's tenor, as the lead. It featured 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 [his] top".
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
Although the writing credits were given to Ward and Marks, the song's origins go back much further. Bragging about sexual prowess goes back to times immemorial, and was a feature of the "hokum
Hokum
Hokum is a particular song type of American blues music - a humorous song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make sexual innuendos...
" style of early blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
recordings. The reference to "Dan" (alternatively, "Jim Dandy") dates back at least to minstrel show
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
s in the nineteenth century. 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 in 1937.
One possible source, with a very different angle on the same theme, is "One Hour Mama" by Ida Cox
Ida Cox
Ida Cox was an African American singer and vaudeville performer, best known for her blues performances and recordings...
.
"Sixty Minute Man" was banned by many radio stations, and was seen as a novelty record
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...
at the time. However, in hindsight it was an important record in several respects: it crossed the boundaries between gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
singing and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, its lyrics pushed the limits of what was deemed acceptable, and it appealed to many white as well as black listeners, peaking at #17 on the pop charts. Cover versions were made by several white artists including Hardrock Gunter
Hardrock Gunter
Sidney Louie Gunter Jr. , known as Hardrock Gunter, is a singer, songwriter and guitarist whose music at the turn of the 1950s prefigured rock and roll and rockabilly music....
. Bill Haley & His Comets 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 Dominoes went on to become one of the most popular vocal groups of the 1950s, with Clyde McPhatter eventually being replaced by Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...
. However, Bill Brown, lead singer of "Sixty Minute Man", had left even earlier, in 1952, to form a new group, the Checkers. They had little success and, according to one website, Brown and the Dominoes released their own answer song
Answer song
An answer song is, as the name suggests, a song made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. It is also known as a response song. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s through 1950s...
with the same melody, "Can't Do Sixty No More", which included the line, "Please excuse this blown-out fuse, but I can't do sixty no more." Brown died in 1956.
Legacy
Ultimately "Sixty Minute Man" remained a novelty song, a throwback to such songs as "Open the Door, RichardOpen the Door, Richard
"Open the Door, Richard" is a song first recorded on the Black & White Records label by saxophonistist Jack McVea at the suggestion of A&R man Ralph Bass. In 1947, it was the number-one song on Billboards "Honor Roll of Hits" and became a runaway pop sensation.-Origin:"Open the Door, Richard"...
" in the tradition of coon song
Coon song
Coon songs were a genre of music popular in the United States and around the English-speaking world from 1880 to 1920, that presented a racist and stereotyped image of blacks.-Rise and fall from popularity:...
s, and did not contribute significantly to the merging of pop music and R&B. Although McPhatter's tenor singing and falsetto whoops were in the back ground on this recording, the following year, McPhatter was the lead singer in another song by The Dominoes, "Have Mercy Baby
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...
", 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 Charts for 10 weeks.
Other recordings
In 1951 "Sixty Minute Man" was recorded as a duet by Hardrock GunterHardrock Gunter
Sidney Louie Gunter Jr. , known as Hardrock Gunter, is a singer, songwriter and guitarist whose music at the turn of the 1950s prefigured rock and roll and rockabilly music....
and Roberta Lee, and also by the York Brothers. The Lee/Gunter recording is cited as an early example of rockabilly. A group called "The Untouchables" released a version of the song in 1960. A version was recorded in the early 1970s by Australian band Daddy Cool
Daddy Cool (band)
Daddy Cool is an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1970 with the original line-up of Wayne Duncan , Ross Hannaford , Ross Wilson and Gary Young . Their debut single "Eagle Rock" was released in May 1971 and stayed at number 1 on the Australian singles chart for ten weeks...
. It was recorded in 1977 by the a capella group The Persuasions
The Persuasions
The Persuasions are an a cappella group that began singing together in Brooklyn, New York in the mid 1960s. They have performed interpretations of both secular and non-secular music, and have covered a wide range of musical genres....
on their record Chirpin'
Chirpin'
-Track listing:# "Papa Oom Mow Mow" – 2:18# "Willie and Laura Mae Jones" – 3:15# "Moonlight and Music" – 3:00# "Johnny Porter" – 4:34# "Looking for an Echo" – 4:11# "Women and Drinkin'" – 6:53# "Sixty Minute Man" – 2:00# "Win Your Love " – 3:32...
An instrumental version was recorded as the title song to Charles Tyler
Charles Tyler
Admiral Sir Charles Tyler, GCB was a British admiral who gained fame during the Napoleonic Wars as one of the Nelsonic Band of Brothers and a naval officer of great reputation and success who fought at the battles of Copenhagen and Trafalgar.-Early life:Tyler was born in 1760, the son of Captain...
's solo saxophone album in 1979. Huey Lewis frequently covers the song in concert. Country group Restless Heart performed the song on their "Fast Movin' Train" tour in the late 1980s. Rockapella
Rockapella
Rockapella is an American a cappella musical group formed in 1986 in New York City. Their name is derived from the words "rock" and "a cappella". They sing original vocal music and a cappella covers of pop and rock songs; over time, their sound has evolved from high-energy pop and world music...
also recorded a cover of the song, featuring Barry Carl
Barry Carl
Barry Strauss Carl is an American musician and voice-over actor best known as the bassist of the a cappella band Rockapella while the group was house band on the PBS children's geography game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? . He was a member of Rockapella from 1988 until he left the...
as the lead vocalist.
Contemporary usage
- "Sixty Minute Man" was featured in the movie Bull DurhamBull DurhamBull Durham is a 1988 American romantic comedy baseball film. It is based upon the minor league experiences of writer/director Ron Shelton and depicts the players and fans of the Durham Bulls, a minor league baseball team in Durham, North Carolina....
, starring Kevin CostnerKevin CostnerKevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...
, Susan SarandonSusan SarandonSusan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
, and Tim RobbinsTim RobbinsTimothy Francis "Tim" Robbins is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon...
. - Ed BradleyEd BradleyEdward Rudolph "Ed" Bradley, Jr. was an American journalist, best known for twenty-six years of award-winning work on the CBS News television program 60 Minutes...
, African-American reporter for 60 Minutes60 Minutes60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, the television newsmagazine, performed the song at musical promotions he was involved in although he did not otherwise represent himself as a singer. Ed Bradley performed the song on stage with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band at a concert in New York's Madison Square Garden in November 2001.
See also
- Billy Ward and the DominoesBilly Ward and the DominoesBilly Ward and His Dominoes were an African-American vocal group, one of the best-selling American R&B groups of the 1950s. The team began the careers of both Clyde McPhatter and Jackie Wilson.-Career:Billy Ward Billy Ward and His Dominoes were an African-American vocal group, one of the...
- First rock and roll record