Billy Ward and the Dominoes were one of the top American R&B groups of the 1950s, and launched the careers of both Clyde McPhatter and Jackie Wilson.
Billy Ward (b Robert Williams, 19 September 1921, Los Angeles – d. 16 February 2002, Inglewood, California) grew up in Philadelphia, and was a child musical prodigy, winning an award for a piano composition at the age of 14. Following military service he studied music in Chicago, and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. While working as a vocal coach and part-time arranger on Broadway, he met talent agent Rose Marks, who became his business and songwriting partner.
The pair set out to form a vocal group from the ranks of his students. The group was at first called the Ques, and comprised Clyde McPhatter (lead tenor), Charlie White (tenor), Joe Lamont (baritone), and Bill Brown (bass). Ward acted as their pianist and arranger. After the group made successful appearances on talent shows in the Apollo Theater and on the Arthur Godfrey show in 1950, Rene Hall recommended them to Ralph Bass of Federal Records, a subsidiary of King, where they were signed to a contract and renamed the Dominoes. Their first single release, "Do Something For Me", with McPhatter’s lead vocal, reached the R&B charts in early 1951, climbing to #6.
After a less successful follow-up, the group released "Sixty Minute Man", on which Bill Brown sang lead, and boasted of being able to satisfy his girls with fifteen minutes each of "kissin'" "teasin'" and "squeezin'", before "blowin'" his "top". It reached #1 on the R&B chart in May 1951 and stayed there for a near-record 14 weeks. 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. In later years, it became a contender for the title of "the first rock and roll record".
The group toured widely, building up a reputation as one of the top R&B acts of the era, and an audience which crossed racial divides. However, Ward’s strict disciplinarian approach, and failure to recompense the singers, caused internal problems. The name "The Dominoes" was owned by Ward and Marks, who had the power to hire and fire, and to pay the singers a salary. Clyde McPhatter was being paid barely enough to live on, and often found himself billed as "Clyde Ward" to fool fans into thinking he was Billy Ward's brother. White and Brown both left in 1951/52 to form the Checkers, and were replaced by James Van Loan and David McNeil.
In March 1952, the Dominoes were chosen to be the only vocal group at Alan Freed's "Moondog Coronation Ball". The hits continued, with "Have Mercy Baby" topping the R&B charts for 10 weeks in 1952. However, in early 1953, McPhatter also decided to leave, and soon formed a new group, the Drifters. His replacement in the Dominoes was Jackie Wilson, who had sung with the group on tour. Lamont and McNeil also left and were replaced by Milton Merle and Cliff Givens. With Wilson singing lead, singles such as "You Can't Keep A Good Man Down" continued to be successful.
In 1954, Ward moved the group to the Jubilee label and then to Decca, where they enjoyed a #27 pop hit with "St. Teresa of the Roses". However, the group were unable to follow that success in the charts, and there were a succession of personnel changes. They increasingly moved away from their R&B roots with appearances in Las Vegas and elsewhere. In late 1956, Wilson left for a solo career, replaced by Eugene Mumford, of The Larks. The group then got a new contract with Liberty Records, and had a hit with "Star Dust.” "Star Dust" made #13 on the Top 100 in the summer of 1957 and sold for 24 weeks. This proved to be their last major success, although various line-ups of the group continued recording and performing into the 1960s.
Sixty Minute Man
Billy Ward and His Dominoes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Look a here girls I'm telling you now
They call me "Lovin' Dan"
I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long
I'm a sixty-minute man
If you don't believe I'm all that I say
Come up and take my hand
When I let you go you'll cry "Oh yes"
There'll be 15 minutes of kissing
Then you'll holler "Please don't stop" (Don't stop !)
There'll be 15 minutes of teasing
And 15 minutes of squeezing
And 15 minutes of blowing my top........
The lyrics of Billy Ward's Sixty Minute Man portray a man who is boasting about his sexual prowess, claiming that he can satisfy a woman for a full hour without pause. The opening lines of the song introduce the man's nickname, "Lovin' Dan," and his reputation as a highly-skilled lover. The lyrics suggest that the man is well-known among women for his ability to "rock 'em, roll 'em all night long," and that he is confident that he can live up to his reputation.
In the following lines, the man challenges any woman who doubts his abilities to come forward and take his hand. He boasts that after he is done with her, she will be crying out that he is indeed a "sixty-minute man." The following lines reinforce the sexual nature of the song, with the man suggesting that there will be 15 minutes of kissing, 15 minutes of teasing, 15 minutes of squeezing, and 15 minutes of climax ("blowing my top").
Overall, the song is a celebration of male sexual prowess and a commentary on the ways in which men are often praised and rewarded for their sexual conquests. While the lyrics are certainly explicit and even controversial, they are also representative of the social norms and values of the time in which the song was written.
Line by Line Meaning
Sixty-minute man, sixty-minute man
I am a man who can sexually satisfy a partner for an entire hour
Look a here girls I'm telling you now
Listen closely, ladies, because I have something important to say
They call me 'Lovin' Dan'
My name has been replaced with this nickname because of my sexual prowess
I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long
I am able to provide sexual pleasure for my partner throughout the entire night
If you don't believe I'm all that I say
If you doubt my abilities to provide sexual satisfaction for an entire hour
Come up and take my hand
Come and join me in a sexual encounter so you can witness my abilities firsthand
When I let you go you'll cry 'Oh yes'
At the end of our sexual encounter, you will be highly satisfied and express it with cries of pleasure
'He's a sixty-minute man'
You will refer to me as the man who can sexually satisfy you for an hour
There'll be 15 minutes of kissing
The first 15 minutes of our sexual encounter will be focused on kissing
Then you'll holler 'Please don't stop' (Don't stop !)
You will beg me to continue the sexual encounter
There'll be 15 minutes of teasing
The next 15 minutes of our sexual encounter will involve teasing and foreplay
And 15 minutes of squeezing
We will engage in physical touching and squeezing of each other's body parts
And 15 minutes of blowing my top........
The final 15 minutes of our sexual encounter will involve sexual climax for both parties
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: ROSE MARKS, WILLIAM E WARD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@christopherdessources
Sixty-minute man
Sixty-minute man
Lookie here girls I'm telling you now
They call me "Lovin' Dan"
I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long
I'm a sixty-minute man
Yeah, yeah , yeah
If you don't believe I'm all I say
Come up and take my hand
When I let you go you'll cry "Oh yes
He's a sixty-minute man"
There'll be 15 minutes of kissing
Then you'll holler "please don't stop" (don't stop)
There'll be 15 minutes of teasing
And 15 minutes of squeezing
And 15 minutes of blowing my top
If your man ain't treating you right
Come up and see ol' Dan
I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long
I'm a sixty-minute man
Sixty-minute man
They call me Lovin' Dan
I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long
I'm a sixty-minute man
Sixty-minute man
They call me Lovin' Dan
I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long
I'm a sixty-minute man
There'll be 15 minutes of kissing
Then you'll holler "please don't stop" (don't stop)
There'll be 15 minutes of teasing
And 15 minutes of squeezing
And 15 minutes of blowing my top
If your man ain't treating you right
Come up and see ol' Dan
I rock 'em, roll 'em all night long
I'm a sixty-minute man, oh yeah
Sixty-minute man
@thebrazilianatlantis165
"We're Gonna Rock" Wild Bill Moore 1947 (#3 R&B)
"Good Rocking Tonight" Wynonie Harris 1947 (#1 R&B)
"Rock And Roll" Wild Bill Moore 1948
"Man Eater" Jay McNeely 1948
"Hole In The Wall" Albennie Jones with Sam Price and his Rockin' Rhythm 1949
"Rock The Joint" Jimmy Preston 1949 (#6 R&B)
"Rock That Boogie" Jimmy Smith 1949
"Boogie At Midnight" Roy Brown 1949 (#3 R&B)
"Butcher Pete" Roy Brown 1949
"Rockin' All Day" Jimmy McCracklin 1949
"All She Wants To Do Is Rock" Wynonie Harris 1949 (#1 R&B)
"Little Red Hen" Johnny Otis 1949
"Jump And Shout" Erline "Rock And Roll" Harris 1949
@Dervraka
To those they didn't realize old songs were just as dirty as modern music, they were just a little more subtle about it....
@cyanidetaco759
This isn't exactly subtle. I like it alot better, but this ain't it.
@athan5647
@@cyanidetaco759 it's more subtle in comparison to today, now we have songs about licking my pussy my neck my back and my crack
@KS-wb7ym
@@athan5647 take anaconda for example
@anthonyramirez1856
@@athan5647 only listen to oldie but goodies so never heard nothing like that, n wouldn't listen to it anyways..but will take ur word..but I do know they allow all kinds of nonsense...now...dk who's in charge...
@taylornowa8252
Way more clean and takes the ability to actually be able to sing. I love that about older music XD
@Mikeh2077
“60 Minutemen”
Preston Garvey heavy breathing intensifies
@noaamonyakuza5
Another settlement needs your help, here I’ll mark it on your map for you
@ochithepochi8997
60 minute MAN
@Zircon
@@noaamonyakuza5 I heard that in his voice