Bobby Relf
Bobby Relf
The other half of Bob and Earl died aged 70.
Re: Bobby Relf
'The Times' reports :
Los Angeles soul singer and song-writer whose hits, notably Harlem Shuffle, were successful in the Northern Soul clubs
Bobby Relf
As half of the soul music duo Bob & Earl, Bobby Relf was an almost permanent fixture in the lower reaches of the UK pop charts during the late 1960s. Their record, Harlem Shuffle, originally released in the US in 1963, came out in the UK a year later and became a club favourite which sold steadily without breaking into the Top 20. But demand for the record grew and when it was re-released in 1969 it reached No 7 in the UK charts.
Behind Relf?s belated success lay a long and varied history as a vocal group singer in Los Angeles, where he was born in 1937. Robert Relf was attending Fremont High School in 1954 when he got together with his fellow pupils Sam Jackson, Ted Brown and Ronald Brown to form the Laurels.
They got the chance to record the following year with the ballad Yours Alone for the LA-based Flair label. The group next recorded as backing singers for the R&B star Jesse Belvin before performing a similar task for the blues star Peppermint Harris. The Laurels had the opportunity to record by themselves again for the RCA X label and rounded off a busy year with discs on the Combo and Cash labels. The latter ? an operatic-like ballad called Our Love ? was described by the music writer Jim Dawson as one of Relf?s best recordings ? ?a strange, lugubrious performance that sounds like nothing else?.
Relf went solo for his next recording, Little Fool, in 1956. After it failed to find success, he continued to sing and spent short stints with groups such as the Crescendoes, the Upfronts, the Hollywood Flames and Bobby Day and the Satellites.
Day, who found fame with the song Little Bitty Pretty One, teamed up with singer Earl Nelson to form the original Bob & Earl duo in 1957. When Day left to go solo in 1962, Relf took his place. Together, under the guidance of the producer Fred Smith, they recorded Don?t Ever Leave Me, which became a local LA hit, before recording Harlem Shuffle for the Marc label in 1963.
The song was based on a number called Slauson Shuffletime by another LA singer, Round Robin. The song took its name from Slauson Avenue, a major east-west thoroughfare in southern Los Angeles County. ?We wanted to make the shuffle a national hit,? Relf told the music researcher Steve Propes. ?No one back East knew of Slauson, but they knew Harlem. We changed Slauson to Harlem, making it a hit in LA and New York.? The record, part-arranged by the keyboards player and soul star in the making, Barry White, reached No 44 in the US charts and was revived by the Rolling Stones in the 1980s.
One of the duo?s follow-up records, Baby It?s Over, reached No 26 in the US July 1966. But their run ended when Nelson went solo under the name of Jackie Lee. Not to be outdone, Relf adopted the name Bobby Garrett and recorded an uptempo dance number entitled I Can?t Get Away on the Mirwood label.
This, too, would enjoy a life of its own, becoming a big hit in Northern Soul clubs and, more than 30 years later, being used in the UK as the theme for a Kentucky Fried Chicken TV advertisement. Relf also wrote and produced for the Mirwood label, with one of his songs, Try a Little Bit Harder by the Fi-Dels, becoming another Northern Soul hit, before recording again, this time under his real name, for the Trans-American label in 1968.
The song, the self-penned Blowing My Mind to Pieces, was another huge hit on the Northern Soul scene in the early 1970s, so much so that a new version of the song released in the UK in 1974 bore his name but was actually by a completely different singer.
When Harlem Shuffle became a UK hit Nelson and Relf teamed up again for a series of concerts, but the partnership did not last. In the early 1970s Relf resumed working with White, who had become a succesful soul singer and arranger.
Relf helped to produce discs by Love Unlimited, Gloria Scott and White Heat. One of Relf?s compositions, Bring Back My Yesterdays, was recorded by White in 1973 on the album I?ve Got So Much to Give.
As Relf?s involvement in the music world lessened, Harlem Shuffle contined to impress. The Rolling Stones recorded it in 1986 on their Dirty Work album and released it as a single, and House of Pain sampled the song?s celebrated opening horn line on the track, Jump Around.
Bobby Relf, singer and songwriter, was born on January 10, 1937. He died on November 20, 2007, aged 70
Los Angeles soul singer and song-writer whose hits, notably Harlem Shuffle, were successful in the Northern Soul clubs
Bobby Relf
As half of the soul music duo Bob & Earl, Bobby Relf was an almost permanent fixture in the lower reaches of the UK pop charts during the late 1960s. Their record, Harlem Shuffle, originally released in the US in 1963, came out in the UK a year later and became a club favourite which sold steadily without breaking into the Top 20. But demand for the record grew and when it was re-released in 1969 it reached No 7 in the UK charts.
Behind Relf?s belated success lay a long and varied history as a vocal group singer in Los Angeles, where he was born in 1937. Robert Relf was attending Fremont High School in 1954 when he got together with his fellow pupils Sam Jackson, Ted Brown and Ronald Brown to form the Laurels.
They got the chance to record the following year with the ballad Yours Alone for the LA-based Flair label. The group next recorded as backing singers for the R&B star Jesse Belvin before performing a similar task for the blues star Peppermint Harris. The Laurels had the opportunity to record by themselves again for the RCA X label and rounded off a busy year with discs on the Combo and Cash labels. The latter ? an operatic-like ballad called Our Love ? was described by the music writer Jim Dawson as one of Relf?s best recordings ? ?a strange, lugubrious performance that sounds like nothing else?.
Relf went solo for his next recording, Little Fool, in 1956. After it failed to find success, he continued to sing and spent short stints with groups such as the Crescendoes, the Upfronts, the Hollywood Flames and Bobby Day and the Satellites.
Day, who found fame with the song Little Bitty Pretty One, teamed up with singer Earl Nelson to form the original Bob & Earl duo in 1957. When Day left to go solo in 1962, Relf took his place. Together, under the guidance of the producer Fred Smith, they recorded Don?t Ever Leave Me, which became a local LA hit, before recording Harlem Shuffle for the Marc label in 1963.
The song was based on a number called Slauson Shuffletime by another LA singer, Round Robin. The song took its name from Slauson Avenue, a major east-west thoroughfare in southern Los Angeles County. ?We wanted to make the shuffle a national hit,? Relf told the music researcher Steve Propes. ?No one back East knew of Slauson, but they knew Harlem. We changed Slauson to Harlem, making it a hit in LA and New York.? The record, part-arranged by the keyboards player and soul star in the making, Barry White, reached No 44 in the US charts and was revived by the Rolling Stones in the 1980s.
One of the duo?s follow-up records, Baby It?s Over, reached No 26 in the US July 1966. But their run ended when Nelson went solo under the name of Jackie Lee. Not to be outdone, Relf adopted the name Bobby Garrett and recorded an uptempo dance number entitled I Can?t Get Away on the Mirwood label.
This, too, would enjoy a life of its own, becoming a big hit in Northern Soul clubs and, more than 30 years later, being used in the UK as the theme for a Kentucky Fried Chicken TV advertisement. Relf also wrote and produced for the Mirwood label, with one of his songs, Try a Little Bit Harder by the Fi-Dels, becoming another Northern Soul hit, before recording again, this time under his real name, for the Trans-American label in 1968.
The song, the self-penned Blowing My Mind to Pieces, was another huge hit on the Northern Soul scene in the early 1970s, so much so that a new version of the song released in the UK in 1974 bore his name but was actually by a completely different singer.
When Harlem Shuffle became a UK hit Nelson and Relf teamed up again for a series of concerts, but the partnership did not last. In the early 1970s Relf resumed working with White, who had become a succesful soul singer and arranger.
Relf helped to produce discs by Love Unlimited, Gloria Scott and White Heat. One of Relf?s compositions, Bring Back My Yesterdays, was recorded by White in 1973 on the album I?ve Got So Much to Give.
As Relf?s involvement in the music world lessened, Harlem Shuffle contined to impress. The Rolling Stones recorded it in 1986 on their Dirty Work album and released it as a single, and House of Pain sampled the song?s celebrated opening horn line on the track, Jump Around.
Bobby Relf, singer and songwriter, was born on January 10, 1937. He died on November 20, 2007, aged 70
Re: Bobby Relf
I'm more shocked that Steve posted something longer than his usual 6 word limit to your querie Trumpton.
Harlem Shuffle..............a classic
Harlem Shuffle..............a classic
The West London of my youth is now on dvd
I've met the man on the street............and he's a cunt
I've met the man on the street............and he's a cunt