Donald Woods
Donald Woods was an American doo-wop singer. He and Vernon Greene originally recorded as members of The Medallions. He later left the band, taking several members along with him to establish another group, Donald Woods & The Bel-Aires , also known as The Vel-Aires, when backing Woods. They recorded Death Of An Angel/Man From Utopia (Doris Woods-Donald Woods) - Donald Woods and The Vel-Aires with Ray Johnson Combo (Flip Records 45-306, 1955)
Frank Zappa and Donald Woods
"The songs of that period were locked into a choice of three formula/flavors: I-VI-IV-V ("Earth Angel"), or I-II-I-II ("Nite Owl"), or I-IV-V ("Louie Louie"). Very seldom would you hear a III chord or a flat VII chord -- or hear someone going from I to flat VII. There were only a few examples of that type of harmonic deviation during the fifties -- the best one being "This Paradise" by Donald Woods and the Bel-Aires on Flip -- so our chord progressions were not exactly part of that tradition."
Zappa mentioned Donald Woods in the sleeve of Freak Out! (1966), under the heading: "These People Have Contributed Materially In Many Ways To Make Our Music What It Is. Please Do Not Hold It Against Them".
