Just about the most seminal quintessential Northern Soul record ever. The notorious Simon Soussan used to say this record epitomised Northern Soul. Bob Relf also recorded as Bobby Garrett and was one half of Bob And Earl, along with Jackie Lee. The original duo were Bobby Byrd and Earl Nelson who later became Jackie Lee. They had both been members of The Hollywood Flames, a prolific doo-wop group in Los Angeles, California whose major hit was "Buzz Buzz Buzz" in 1958, on which Nelson sang lead. By 1957, Byrd had started a parallel solo career, writing and recording for contractual reasons as Bobby Day. He wrote and recorded the original version of "Little Bitty Pretty One", and had a hit of his own with "Rockin' Robin" (1958). In 1960, Day / Byrd and Nelson began recording together as Bob & Earl, on the Class record label. However, these releases had relatively little success, and Day / Byrd restarted his solo career. Nelson then recruited a second "Bob", Bobby Relf, who also used the stage names of Bobby Garrett and Bobby Valentino. Relf had already led several Los Angeles based acts in his career, including the Laurels, the Upfronts, and Valentino and the Lovers. The latter two groups also featured the then pianist and bass singer, Barry White. This duo of Relf and Nelson recorded several singles for different labels, before recording "Harlem Shuffle" in 1963. The song was written by Relf and Nelson, arranged by Barry White, and produced by Fred Smith, and when released on the Marc label became a modest hit on the R&B chart. Its vocal interplay directly influenced later duos such as Sam and Dave. However, its main success came as late as 1969, when it was re-released in the UK and became a Top Ten hit there. Reportedly, George Harrison called it his favourite record of all time. By that time, Nelson had achieved further success as a solo artist under the alias of Jackie Lee, with "The Duck", a hit dance record released in 1965. (Jackie was Nelson's wife's name and Lee his own middle name). When "Harlem Shuffle" became successful on reissue, Nelson and Relf reunited as Bob & Earl to tour. However, the duo split up finally in the early 1970s. For the last ten years, Bob Relf has been in ill health, yet we still managed to film this in 1999, the only time he has ever performed this legendary song, which was released in 1968 on his own label, Transamerican, which he co-owned with actor Aki Aleong.
Tags: Northern-Soul Classic Sixties-Soul Male-Soul Anthem Blackpool-Mecca Soul-Groups Motorcity
