A Quote by Ben E. King

In my vocal, I think you can hear something of my earlier times when I'd sing in subway halls for the echo and perform doo-wop on street corners. But I had a lot of influences, too - singers like Sam Cooke, Brook Benton and Roy Hamilton.

Ben E. King

Quote Topics

Brook Corners Earlier Echo Had Halls Hamilton Hear Influences Like Lot Perform Roy Sam Sam Cooke Sing Singers Something Street Street Corner Street Corners Subway Think Times Too Vocal

Quote Author

Ben E. King
American - Celebrity
September 28, 1938 - April 30, 2015

I did have my beginnings in doo-wop music; I had a group called the Tokens in Brooklyn. They went on, of course, to do 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and a lot of other great things. I went on as a soloist. But I still love doo-wop music.

Neil Sedaka

Doo-wop is the true music to me, man. Doo-wop was what nurtured me and grew me into who I am, and I guess even when I was in school, the teacher probably thought I had ADD or something every day, because I'd be beating on the desks, singing like the Flamingos or the Spaniels or Clyde McPhatter or somebody.

Aaron Neville

I've been into every doo-wop there is. I think I went to the university of doo-wop-ology.

Aaron Neville

I had been on tour with people like Roy Orbison. I knew Bobby Darin, Sam Cooke. So many great performers.

Bobby Vinton

I think there are people that still hold on that like Heavy Metal like a bit of what is going on now, but it isn't all of what they love and which goes on and it's the same with me... There's still a lot of Ray Charles, Sam Cooke songs that I still happen to like a lot, but then there are a lot of Madonna and... a lot of the female singers that I like as well, but it's like liking it with different emotions, you know.

Tina Turner

I was singing doo-wop on the corner under the streetlight with four other guys when it wasn't called doo-wop. We just got together and sang, so that music is inside of me. It's a lot of stuff that has been rolling around in here and becoming this compost and has made me who I am as a singer.

Al Jarreau

I gave a Christmas party last year - well, two Christmases ago - where I did a Sam Cooke show. I didn't perform as R. Kelly. I performed the Sam Cooke show from 1964, when he performed at the Copacabana.

R. Kelly

The first time I recorded without Allen Toussaint, I wanted to do doo-wop. Everything I've done since then has got some kind of doo-wop essence in it.

Aaron Neville

'Doo-wop' is a very special word for me. Because I grew up listening to my dad who, as a Fifties rock & roll head, loved doo-wop music.

Bruno Mars

People like Clyde McPhatter who came out of the black churches - like Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin - were all church singers who became great pop singers because gospel singing is very close to the blues.

Ahmet Ertegun

My vocal influences are a lot of jazz singers: Billie Holiday, Julie London, they had this tenderness to their voice.

Borns

I used to listen to so much doo-wop, and I've talked a lot about gospel music, but I realised a lot of that language came from doo-wop music. You know, "I Asked the Lord Above," "Heaven Sent Me an Angel." That's rock-'n-roll, and that's where a lot of this language is coming from. Also, I've said before that as soon as you start having a conversation with Jesus in a song you know you're dealing with issues of morality and how fragile it is to be human. It's a shortcut to putting those ideas across.

Jason Pierce

Brian Owens is a young guy from Ferguson, Missouri, my hometown, who I don't think emulates me at all, but I really enjoy his particular style. He kind of makes me think of the older school of soul singers like Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye.

Michael McDonald

A lot of times, that's hard to capture: what you sound like in person versus what you sound like on record. If I had total control, I would do a lot of the old songs - not only my songs but Sam Cooke songs, Luther Vandross, melody songs. That's what I would really do if I had an opportunity to do a record.

Darlene Love

It [my vocal] didn't sound like what I wanted to hear; the vibrato isn't what I liked anymore. So I got myself to an ear, nose and throat guy who does a lot of work with singers, and I was hoping there was a big wart on my vocal cords or something and they could scrape it off and I could have the voice I wanted. But he said, "No, for 71, that's your voice."