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The 1950s doo-wop sound was born on the street corners of American cities. Groups of teenagers harmonized, creating music without instruments. Their a cappella the tunes relied on absurd words – like the bass’s “bom-bom-bom” – to mimic the absent guitars and drums. Few bands have taken this concept further than the Chips: Charles “Kenrod” Johnson (lead), Nathaniel Epps (baritone), Paul Fulton (bass) and tenors Sammy Strain and Shedrick Lincoln. The teens sang together at the corners of Bergen Street, Classon Avenue and Clifton Place in Brooklyn’s rough and tumultuous Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. However, the first song the Chips would record was written by Kenrod Johnson 60 miles upstate … at the Warwick School for Delinquent Teenagers.
Although Warwick’s school is a difficult and violent place, Johnson amused the other teenagers by mocking the army’s “hup-two three-four” chant with his own silly verses. Nursery rhymes formed the basis of “Rubber Biscuit,” a lyrical mix of wacky and wacky dishes like cold water sandwiches and Sunday rolls.
After his release, Johnson and his Brooklyn vocal group, now known as Chips, recorded “Rubber Biscuit” for Josie Records in August 1956 at Belltone Studios in New York. Released in September 1956, the record never broke the national top 40 but became a favorite among East Coast disc jockeys. The Chips toured briefly with the Dells and Cadillacs, then parted ways in late 1957; its members then joined groups like the Platters and Little Anthony and the Imperials.
In 1973, “Rubber Biscuit” received renewed attention when director Martin Scorsese included the track in his founding film “Mean Streets,” the story of little hoods in Little Italy. The original Chips is heard as Charlie (Harvey Keitel) staggers drunk at a neighborhood bar.
“Rubber Biscuit” finally became a hit in 1978 when the Blues Brothers, “Saturday Night Live” comedians John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as “Joliet” backers Jake and Elwood Blues, covered the song on their “Briefcase” LP Full of Blues “. Supported by a group of stars, Belushi and Aykroyd recorded their debut album live at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles. The LP, a reflection of Belushi and Aykroyd’s respect for the greats of rhythm and blues, reaches the first place Billboard graphics and sold two million copies; “Briefcase” also produced another hit single, “Soul Man”. The success of the album led to the release of the 1980 film “The Blues Brothers”.
And in case you were wondering, a cold water sandwich is a slice of watermelon, and a Sunday meeting bun is a roll you snatch from the kitchen table when you rush to it. church.
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Source by Lee Jensen
