GNRSlashLover,
**** SHOWCASE FILM CLIP #1: Speedo- Cadillacs (ACTUAL film segment from 1955)
TCSguy, March 20, 2011
Rare film footage of the Cadillacs singing "Speedo" at an Alan Freed Show at the Brooklyn Paramount in 1955. Found in a rock documentary that aired in the 70s. At this time, the group consisted of: Earl Carroll, LaVerne Drake, Bobby Phillips, Earl Wade, and Charles Brooks.
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Here's a comment about this film clip from PJ Riverdale, published in 2015 in that YouTube video's discussion thread:
"From an ABC TV RNR documentary aired in the 1970's. The
primary film footage was shot by CBS News for a negative report on Rock music
and its fans,c.1956 . Look carefully at the audience shots, you can see where
they were probably going with this.
From that same footage,a clip of a Chuck Berry duck walk
also exists and has been shown here and
there. It is believed that the original CBS footage was shot silent,any audio
has been dubbed.
Almost any footage of early rock music exists solely to
incense adult audiences particularly in the South where all manner of racial
rhetoric and associations were added to negatively portray this phenomenon as
the newest danger to [white] youth and the American[White] way of life."...
****
SHOWCASE FILM CLIP #2: Speedo & The Cadillacs (Live)~ Speedoo, Gloria,Peek A Boo,The Girl I Love
worldwidepromoters2, Feb. 9, 2011
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The Cadillacs perform the song "Speedoo" from .031 to 3:44 in this film clip.
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Here's a comment written by Al D'Antonio in 2014 from this video's discussion thread:
"The first two performances of 'Speedoo' & 'Gloria' were on the Clint Holmes' 'NY at Night' show that aired between 1987-88 while the last two performances herein are of Earl & the Cadillacs a few years later on the Harvey Holiday Doo Wop Show which also had Jocko Henderson introducing the Cadillacs as they sang 'Peek-A-Boo' and 'The Girl I Love' with Earl's hair being just a little greyer than in the first two performances!"
**** INFORMATION ABOUT EARL CARROLL LEAD SINGER OF THE CADILLACS From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Carroll_(vocalist) "Earl "Speedo" Carroll (November 2, 1937 – November 25, 2012) was the lead vocalist of the doo-wop group The Cadillacs.[1] The group's biggest hit was "Speedoo", which with a minor spelling change became Carroll's subsequent nickname. It was released in 1955. He joined The Coasters in 1961, leaving the group in the early 1980s to permanently reform The Cadillacs.
In 1982, Earl took a job as a custodian at the PS 87 elementary
school in New York City and worked there until retiring in 2005. A popular
figure with the students, he was chosen to be the subject of a children's book,
That's Our Custodian, by Ann Morris (Brookfield, Connecticut: Millbrook Press).
The publicity helped him to revive his career. He became a mainstay of the PBS
series honoring doo wop, hosted by Jerry Butler and continued performing until
the early 2010s when deteriorating health forced him to retire."...
****
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CADILLACS
From https://extras.denverpost.com/scene/soundcheck0908.htm Sound Check
By G. Brown, Sept. 8, 2000
..."Look at that Cadillac
The Cadillacs were one of New York's first and very best doo-wop groups - in 1956, the joyful closeharmony street-corner sound of "Speedoo" hit big for the Harlem quintet: "They often call me Speedoo but my real name is Mr. Earl ... " It was written about smooth-assilk lead singer Earl "Speedoo" Carroll.
In his recollection, "We were playing an armory up in Boston, and after the gig Bobby Phillips, the little bass singer and the ham of the group, saw a great big torpedo shell outside. My head is kinda pointy - they used to tease me about it all the time - and he looked over at me and said, "Hey, Speedoo, there's your torpedo!" "And the guys just rolled on the ground - they thought that was the funniest thing ever. I was so upset, I said, "Listen, man, my name is Earl - Mr. Earl - as far as you're concerned, you little bum.' So we got in the car, and they kept teasing me all the way back to New York unti we wrote the song. And the rest is history!" The Cadillacs became known for humorous jump material, and they were the first R&B vocal group to extensively use hot choreography in their stage routines.
"I remember playing the Fox Theatre in Detroit when we first went there. We looked in the wings, and there was Smokey (Robinson) and the Temptations and everybody from Motown looking at what we were doing. We started five guys stepping together. I'm proud of that." In recent years, Carroll's favorite audience has been children - he still works as the head custodian at P.S. 87 in Manhattan.
"I've been there since 1982. I was thinking about retirement this year at 62, but they talked me into going to 65 and getting the full benefits. It's such an easy, beautiful job, and I love what I'm doing with the teenie-weenies. They're something else, they keep me young. It's like a family." But doo-wop got a big boost recently from the TV special "DooWop 50," the most lucrative fundraiser in public TV history. The program revived the Cadillacs' career in a way Carroll never thought possible.
Rhino Records has issued a third doo-wop boxed set, and "The Legends of Doo-Wop" as seen on PBS is on tour and will visit University of Denver's Magness Arena tonight. What is it about doo-wop that brings forth such excitement?
"A couple of years ago, I was saying, "Well, I guess this doo-wop rock 'n' roll thing is all over.' And it just seems to get bigger and bigger. It really is amazing to me. I thought it would be long gone like disco, but it's never going to die. Anybody who counts out '50s music evidently can't count!" The Cadillacs with the Marcels, Del Vikings, Gene Chandler, Chantels, Spaniels, Penguins and the Monte Carlos: 7:30 tonight; Magness Arena; $58.50, $48.50, $38.50 and $33.50; Ticketmaster"...
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "SPEEDOO"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedoo
"Speedoo" is a song written by Esther Navarro and
performed by The Cadillacs featuring the Jesse Powell Orchestra. It reached
number 3 on the U.S. R&B chart and number 17 on the U.S. pop chart in
1955.[1] The song was featured on their 1957 album, The Fabulous Cadillacs.[2]
Lyrically, the song tells of Mister Earl who acquired the
nickname "Speedoo" because, when it comes to his pursuit of pretty
girls, "he don't believe in wastin' time" and "he don't never
take it slow".
[...]
The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 1990 film
Goodfellas.[12]
The song was performed by The Cadillacs in the beginning of
the 1998 miniseries The Temptations
The song was featured on the 2001 episode "Employee of
the Month" of the show The Sopranos."....
****
LYRICS - SPEEDOO
