Dave Burgess (guitarist)

Last updated

Dave Burgess (born December 3, 1934, Beverly Hills, California, United States) is an American guitar player, singer, songwriter, and band leader of The Champs. [1] [2]

Contents

Biography

Singing career

In 1953, he recorded for Okeh, as a singer and made his first records with no success. His first release was "Judalina" b/w "Don't Put A Dent In My Heart" (Okeh 4-7002). A second release was "Gratefully Yours" b/w "Too Late For Tears" (Okeh 4-7044). He subsequently recorded for different record labels, with many of his vocals appearing on the budget TOPS label. In 1957, he recorded for Challenge as Dave Dupré. He finally found initial success as a songwriter with many songs including the 1957 hit I'm Available for Margie Rayburn. Dave also recorded his own version of "I'm Available" for Challenge (Challenge 1008). [3]

The Champs

On December 23, 1957, while working with other session musicians, they started a jam session which resulted in the composition of "Tequila". This was when the band officially formed, with Burgess on rhythm guitar.

Full-time manager

In late 1960, since Glen Campbell came in as the new rhythm guitarist for the band, Burgess left, but was still the band's manager. In 1965, the Champs disbanded. He composed many of their songs, while he was still manager.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mississippi John Hurt</span> American country blues singer and guitarist

John Smith Hurt, known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scotty Moore</span> American guitarist (1931–2016)

Winfield Scott Moore III was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herman's Hermits</span> English beat rock band

Herman's Hermits are an English rock and pop group formed in 1963 in Manchester and fronted by singer Peter Noone. Known for their jaunty beat sound and Noone's often tongue-in-cheek vocal style, the Hermits charted with numerous transatlantic hits in the UK and in America, where they ranked as one of the most successful acts in the Beatles-led British Invasion. Between March and August 1965 in the United States, the group logged twenty-four consecutive weeks in the Top Ten of Billboard's Hot 100 with five singles, including the two number ones "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and "I'm Henry VIII, I Am".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Willis</span> American R&B singer-songwriter (1926–1958)

Harold "Chuck" Willis was an American blues, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll singer and songwriter. His biggest hits, "C. C. Rider" (1957) and "What Am I Living For" (1958), both reached No.1 on the Billboard R&B chart. He was known as The King of the Stroll for his performance of the 1950s dance the stroll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brook Benton</span> American singer and songwriter (1931–1988)

Benjamin Franklin Peay, known professionally as Brook Benton, was an American singer and songwriter whose music transcended rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music genres in the 1950s and 1960s, with hits such as "It's Just a Matter of Time" and "Endlessly".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">10cc</span> British art rock band

10cc are a British rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians — Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme — who had written and recorded together since 1968. All four members contributed to songwriting, working together in various permutations. Godley and Creme’s songwriting has been described as being inspired by art and cinema. Every member of 10cc was a multi-instrumentalist, singer, writer and producer. Most of the band's records were recorded at their own Strawberry Studios (North) in Stockport and Strawberry Studios (South) in Dorking, with most of those engineered by Stewart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Champs</span> American rock and roll band

The Champs are an American rock and roll band, most famous for their Latin-tinged 1958 instrumental single "Tequila". The group took their name from that of Gene Autry's horse, Champion, and was formed by studio executives at 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Survivor (band)</span> American rock band

Survivor was an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1978 by Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan. The band achieved its greatest success in the 1980s, producing many charting singles, especially in the United States. The band is best known for their double-platinum certified 1982 hit "Eye of the Tiger", the theme song for the 1982 motion picture Rocky III. The single spent six weeks at number one in the US. The band continued to chart in the mid-1980s with singles like "Burning Heart", "The Search Is Over", "High on You", "Is This Love", and "I Can't Hold Back."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tequila (The Champs song)</span> 1958 single by the Champs

"Tequila" is a 1958 Latin-inspired surf instrumental song written by Chuck Rio and recorded by American rock and roll band The Champs. "Tequila" became a No. 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.

Daniel Flores, also known by his stage name Chuck Rio, was an American Rock and roll saxophonist. He is best remembered for his self-penned song "Tequila", which he recorded with The Champs, the band of which he was a member at the time, and which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Richard discography</span>

This page is a discography for American musician Little Richard (1932–2020). Described as "the architect of rock and roll", Little Richard was a pioneering singer-songwriter whose career also encompassed rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel. He began his recording career in 1951, signing to RCA Victor, releasing his first singles, and his first album in 1957, although he released his last album in 1992, he continued to tour into the 21st century. He attained international success after signing with Specialty Records in 1955.

Translator is an American rock band from San Francisco that had success during the 1980s, which continues into the present day. The group created a sound that spanned updated British Merseybeat and stripped-down punk-like rock to psychedelia. Inspired by the Beatles, Cream and 1960s California folk rock bands such as the Byrds, their guitar-based music had wide exposure during the early 1980s on non-commercial campus radio and new wave music stations. The group's stripped-down music and sometimes ironic and disturbing existentialist lyrics may have been a precursor to alternative rock.

Roy Lee Johnson was an American R&B and soul songwriter, singer, and guitarist. He is best known for his composition "Mr. Moonlight", which has been covered by many artists, including The Beatles. Johnson is recognized as an influence on the bands that made up the British Invasion.

The Revels were an American rock band from California, associated with the 1960s surf music craze. They had hits with "Six Pak", and "Church Key" which was their most famous single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Sharman</span> Musical artist

Dave Sharman is an English guitarist, singer-songwriter, whose primary genre is rock and metal. He is also a multi-instrumentalist and record producer.

Ramon Daniel Pennington was an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for writing the song "I'm a Ramblin' Man", and for founding the independent Step One Records label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucky Star (Gene Vincent song)</span> 1961 single by Gene Vincent

"Lucky Star" is a 1961 song by Dave Burgess, first recorded as a B-side by Ricky Nelson but better known in the A-side version by Gene Vincent.

Stanley Augustus Kesler was an American musician, record producer and songwriter, whose career began at the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. He co-wrote several of Elvis Presley's early recordings including "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" and "I Forgot to Remember to Forget", and played guitar and bass on hit records by Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. As a producer, his successful records included "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.

Dean Beard was an American rockabilly musician, known as the "West Texas Wild Man".

References

  1. "The Champs". history-of-rock.com. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  2. O'Keeffe, Michael (April 16, 2015). "Guitarist on 1958 classic Tequila, song featured in Pee Wee's Big Adventure, puts Grammy up for auction". New York Daily News . Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  3. Global Dog OKeh & Challenge discographies