Harptones, "What Did I Do Wrong?" (1957)

(listen)

The Harptones, a mid-'50s vocal group out of New York, practically established a whole wing of the music that came to be known as "doo wop." Along with the Orioles (probably the true originals), and various forays by others, they perfected that innovation of bending a droopy-dog tempo and gospel harmonies to the burden of a soaring, deliberate vocal lead. They had a coulda-woulda-shoulda star in Willie Winfield, plus an arranger, Raoul Cita, who was built in to the act, and in their fleeting moment really nailed a sound to the floor. But the Harptones never did have a hit, not even on R&B charts. "What Did I Do Wrong?" is not considered top-tier by most among such better-known efforts as "Sunday Kind of Love," "The Shrine of St. Cecilia," and a version of "Life Is But a Dream." But I think it's a real honey, my favorite by them. It steps in with a good bit of deceptive pomp and dignity, then a pause, and then ladies and gentlemen Miss Carol Blades and the song is underway proper. As it moves in deeper, it proves to be almost a little spindly, led by Blades's big voice wielded like an instrument piercing the swirl of vocal harmonies, which alternate between thick washes lush as velvet curtains and more free-floating probing lines standing up and sitting down like big dogs yawning, and way off in the background a small band, tapped and brushed drums, a bass, a piano. It hits a real nerve on that big start particularly with the great line of the title, delivered so tenderly and with such a naked heart. For a moment it's as if the wounds themselves can be felt. "What did I do wrong?" That's the question.