Challenge Records (1950s)

Last updated
Challenge Records
Founded 1957
Founder Gene Autry, Joe Johnson
Defunctlate 1960s
Status Sony/ATV Music Publishing holds the catalog
Genre Rock and roll
Country of origin United States
Location Los Angeles, California

Challenge Records was founded in Los Angeles in 1957 by cowboy singer Gene Autry and former Columbia Records A&R representative Joe Johnson. Autry's involvement with the label was short lived as he sold his interest to the remaining partners in October 1958.

Los Angeles City in California

Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in California, the second most populous city in the United States, after New York City, and the third most populous city in North America. With an estimated population of four million, Los Angeles is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. The city is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, Hollywood and the entertainment industry, and its sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles is the largest city on the West Coast of North America.

Gene Autry American actor and singer

Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician and rodeo performer who gained fame as a singing cowboy in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades beginning in the early 1930s. Autry was the owner of a television station, several radio stations in Southern California, and the Los Angeles/California/Anaheim Angels Major League Baseball team from 1961 to 1997.

Columbia Records American record label; currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment

Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded in 1887, evolving from the American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, and the second major company to produce records. From 1961 to 1990, Columbia recordings were released outside North America under the name CBS Records to avoid confusion with EMI's Columbia Graphophone Company. Columbia is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels, alongside former longtime rival RCA Records, as well as Arista Records and Epic Records.

Contents

The label's first success came with instrumental group the Champs, who had their biggest hit in 1958 with "Tequila", a Latin-flavored Rock and roll instrumental song written by Daniel "Danny" Flores and recorded by the Champs themselves. "Tequila" became a #1 hit on both the pop and R&B charts at the time of its release and continues to be strongly referenced in pop culture to this day [1] .

The Champs American rock and roll band

The Champs were an American rock and roll band, most famous for their Latin-tinged instrumental "Tequila". The group took their name from the name of Gene Autry's horse, Champion, and was formed by studio executives at Gene Autry's Challenge Records to record a B-side for the Dave Burgess single, "Train to Nowhere". The intended throwaway track became more famous than its A-side, as "Tequila" went to No. 1 in just three weeks and the band became the first group to go to the top spot with an instrumental that was their first release. The song was recorded at Gold Star Studios in fall 1957, and in 1959 won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.

"Tequila" is a 1958 Mexican-flavored rock and roll instrumental written by Daniel Flores and recorded by the Champs. "Tequila" became a #1 hit on both the pop and R&B charts at the time of its release and continues to be strongly referenced in pop culture to this day.

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s from musical styles such as gospel, jump blues, jazz, boogie woogie, and rhythm and blues, along with country music. While elements of what was to become rock and roll can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.

History

Challenge Records was founded in Los Angeles, California in 1957 by cowboy singer Gene Autry and former Columbia Records A&R Representative Joe Johnson. Autry's involvement with the label was short lived as he sold his interest to the remaining partners in October 1958. The label's first success came with instrumental band the Champs, who had their biggest hit in 1958 with "Tequila".

The first Challenge label was blue with silver print, followed after the first half dozen releases by a short-lived light-blue label with red print, then a maroon-colored label with silver print. Finally, around late 1959, the company issued their singles on a green label with silver print. Early Challenge Records releases contained a crest above the Challenge logo with the letters "G A" symbolizing Gene Autry's ownership interest. They had a sublabel called Jackpot Records.

In 1957 Challenge Records signed Dave Burgess (born 1934), a rockabilly singer-songwriter from California who often recorded under the name "Dave Dupré". At the end of 1957, having produced no hits, Challenge Records looked to Burgess, who organized a recording session on December 23 in Hollywood. In the studio that day were Burgess on rhythm guitar, Cliff Hills on bass guitar, the Flores Trio (Danny Flores on saxophone and keyboards, Gene Alden on drums, and lead guitarist Buddy Bruce), and Huelyn Duvall contributing backing vocals. [2] They gathered primarily to record "Train to Nowhere", a song by Burgess, as well as "Night Beat" and "All Night Rock".

Dave Burgess was an American guitar player, singer, songwriter, and band leader of The Champs.

Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered "classic" rock and roll. Some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass with rock and roll. The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" and "hillbilly", the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and electric blues.

Singer-songwriter musician who writes, composes and sings

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose, and perform their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies.

The last tune recorded was "Tequila", essentially just a jam by the Flores Trio. It is based on a Cuban mambo beat. The word "Tequila" is spoken three times throughout the tune. There were three takes, and Danny Flores, who wrote the song, was also the man who spoke the word "Tequila!". Flores also played the trademark "dirty sax" solo. [3] The song served as the B-side for "Train to Nowhere", which was released by Challenge Records on January 15, 1958. Duvall recalls that the record initially found little success, but, after a DJ in Cleveland played the B-side, "Tequila" skyrocketed up the charts, reaching #1 on the Billboard chart on March 28, 1958.

A-side and B-side the two sides of 78, 45, and 33 1/3 rpm phonograph records and cassette capes

The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78, 45, and 33​1⁄3 rpm phonograph records, or cassettes, whether singles, extended plays (EPs), or long-playing (LP) records. The A-side usually featured the recording that the artist, record producer, or the record company intended to receive the initial promotional effort and then receive radio airplay, hopefully, to become a "hit" record. The B-side is a secondary recording that has a history of its own: some artists released B-sides that were considered as strong as the A-side and became hits in their own right. Others took the opposite approach: producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side.

Cleveland City in Ohio

Cleveland is a major city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. The city proper has a population of 385,525, making it the 51st-largest city in the United States, and the second-largest city in Ohio. Greater Cleveland is ranked as the 32nd-largest metropolitan area in the U.S., with 2,055,612 people in 2016. The city anchors the Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area, which had a population of 3,515,646 in 2010 and is ranked 15th in the United States.

Daniel "Danny" Flores had actually written the song Tequila, but, because he was signed to another label, the tune was credited to Chuck Rio, a name he adopted for the stage. Those present for the December 23 session began recording together again on January 20, 1958, under the name the Champs; the group technically was formed after recording "Tequila". The tune has been noted[ by whom? ] to have a similar rhythm structure to Bo Diddley's 1958 release "Dearest Darling".[ citation needed ]

The Champs recorded a sequel to "Tequila" entitled "Too Much Tequila". Released as a maroon-label Challenge single, it reached #30 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The group also had a series of hits with pop singer Jerry Wallace ("Primrose Lane") and country singer Wynn Stewart ("Wishful Thinking"). Other recording artists with the label included Jan and Dean, Gary Usher, the Knickerbockers, and singer-songwriter Jerry Fuller.

Challenge Records went out of business in the late 1960s. Sony/ATV Music Publishing owns the catalog today.

Challenge Records artists

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 109.
  2. ↑ Huelyn Duvall. "Memories of the Tequila Recording Session" . Retrieved August 21, 2006.
  3. ↑ Grobaty, Tim. "Danny Flores Remembered". Spectropop. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  4. ↑ Bob Morris (2) discography at Discogs
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