B. Bumble and the Stingers
Encyclopedia
B. Bumble and the Stingers were an American
instrumental ensemble in the early 1960s, who specialized in making rock and roll
arrangements of classical melodies. Their biggest hits were "Bumble Boogie" and "Nut Rocker
", which reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart
in 1962. The recordings were made by session musician
s at Rendezvous Records
in Los Angeles
, but when they became successful a touring group was formed led by R. C. Gamble (3 November 1941 – 2 August 2008) as "Billy Bumble".
, René Hall
and Plas Johnson
, all African American musicians from Louisiana
, were the house band at Rendezvous Records. According to Palmer, the three friends “always talked about how we could make some money and not leave the studio. One day I said, 'Let's do a rock version of "In the Mood
"'. The single, credited to the Ernie Fields
Orchestra, became a hit, reaching # 4 on the US pop charts in early 1960.
, he approached pianist
Jack Fina
, whose 1946 swing arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumble Bee" for Freddy Martin
and his Orchestra, called "Bumble Boogie" (RCA Victor 20-1829), had reached # 7 on the charts and been used in the 1948 Walt Disney
animated film Melody Time
. Using Fina's arrangement, Fowley recorded pianist Ernie Freeman
on two tracks, one using a grand piano for the rhythm part, while the other featured a "tack piano
", a modified upright piano with tacks attached to the hammers to create a tinny "honky tonk" sound. The other musicians on the session, at Gold Star Studios
, were Palmer on drums, Red Callender
on bass, and Tommy Tedesco
on guitar.
"Bumble Boogie" went to # 21 on the Billboard charts
in June 1961. Because the session musicians all had other studio commitments, a teen band from Ada, Oklahoma
, who had played no part in the recording itself, were recruited to handle promotion and public appearances. Their names were given as Fred Richards, Don Orr, and "B. Bumble", a pseudonym for guitarist R. C. Gamble.
, and "Caravan", were less successful, and Rendezvous seemed to lose interest in B. Bumble and the Stingers. Fowley then secured the copyright to an arrangement of Tchaikovsky's "March of the Wooden Soldiers" from the Nutcracker Suite, and took this to local entrepreneur and pianist H. B. Barnum
, who recorded it under the name "Jack B. Nimble and the Quicks" on the small Del Rio label. When Rod Pierce of Rendezvous heard it, he convinced Fowley that his label could do a better version with their own band.
A recording date was quickly arranged, but on the day, Freeman did not appear. In his place, guitarist and arranger René Hall rushed pianist Al Hazan
into the Rendezvous office, which was rigged up as an improvised studio. According to Hazan, "Rod decided to record the first take while I was still trying to practice the piece with the other musicians. Because I was so rushed to learn 'Nut Rocker', I was not happy at all with my performance on that first take. However, in spite of my asking Rod to let me do it over again, he said he liked it just fine the way it was." Released as "Nut Rocker
" in February 1962, the record went to # 23 in the US and # 1 in the UK. Del Rio struck a deal with Randy Wood of Dot Records
and re-released what they were now calling "(The Original) Nut Rocker" by Jack B. Nimble and the Quicks, but it was not a hit.
. However, neither that record nor the next release, "Dawn Cracker", based on a piece by Grieg, were successful, and no more B. Bumble and the Stingers records were issued after 1963, when Rendezvous went out of business. Hall went on to work with Sam Cooke
and many others, Palmer and Freeman became successful session musician
s, Fowley moved on to new challenges as a producer and as svengali to The Runaways
, and Hazan later recorded solo as Ali Hassan (on instrumentals) and Al Anthony (as a singer).
R. C. Gamble retired from music in 1965 and later became economics professor at Fort Hayes State College in Hayes, Kansas. He died in 2008.
A version of "Nut Rocker" was recorded in 1972 by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
. The original version was reissued at the same time, and again made the UK charts (#19). The recording has been used as background in several movies, including Butcher Boy (1998) and Big Momma's House
(2000).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
instrumental ensemble in the early 1960s, who specialized in making rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
arrangements of classical melodies. Their biggest hits were "Bumble Boogie" and "Nut Rocker
Nut Rocker
-External links:**...
", which reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in 1962. The recordings were made by session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s at Rendezvous Records
Rendezvous Records
Rendezvous Records was a record label established in 1958 in Los Angeles, California. Its biggest successes were with "Bumble Boogie" and "Nut Rocker", recorded by members of its house band going under the name B...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, but when they became successful a touring group was formed led by R. C. Gamble (3 November 1941 – 2 August 2008) as "Billy Bumble".
Background
In 1959, Earl PalmerEarl Palmer
Earl Cyril Palmer was an American rock & roll and rhythm and blues drummer, and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....
, René Hall
René Hall
René Hall , was an American guitarist and music arranger.He was born in Morgan City, Louisiana, and first recorded as a banjo player with Joseph Robichaux in New Orleans in 1933. He then worked around the country as a member of the Ernie Fields Orchestra, before joining Earl Hines as musical arranger...
and Plas Johnson
Plas Johnson
Plas John Johnson Jr. is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most familiar as the lead on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme"....
, all African American musicians from Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, were the house band at Rendezvous Records. According to Palmer, the three friends “always talked about how we could make some money and not leave the studio. One day I said, 'Let's do a rock version of "In the Mood
In the Mood
"In the Mood" is a big band era #1 hit recorded by American bandleader Glenn Miller. Joe Garland and Andy Razaf arranged "In the Mood" in 1937-1939 using a previously existing main theme composed by Glenn Miller before the start of the 1930s...
"'. The single, credited to the Ernie Fields
Ernie Fields
Ernie Fields was an African American trombonist, pianist, arranger and bandleader. He first became known for leading the Royal Entertainers, which were based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and toured along a circuit stretching from Kansas City, Kansas, to Dallas, Texas.-Early life and career:Fields was born...
Orchestra, became a hit, reaching # 4 on the US pop charts in early 1960.
"Bumble Boogie"
Hall then came up with the idea for B. Bumble and the Stingers, taking the same approach to a piece of classical music. Prompted by record producer Kim FowleyKim Fowley
Kim Vincent Fowley is an American record producer, impresario, songwriter, musician, film maker, and radio actor. He is best known for his role behind a string of novelty and cult rock pop singles in the 1960s, and for managing The Runaways in the 1970s...
, he approached pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Jack Fina
Jack Fina
Jack Fina was a bandleader, songwriter, and pianist.Known as "The Ten Most Talented Fingers On Radio", Fina was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and educated at the New York College of Music and was a student of August Fraemcke and Elsa Nicilini...
, whose 1946 swing arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumble Bee" for Freddy Martin
Freddy Martin
Frederick Alfred Martin was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist.-Early life:Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Raised largely in an orphanage and with various relatives, Martin started out playing drums, then switched to C-melody saxophone and later tenor saxophone, the latter the one...
and his Orchestra, called "Bumble Boogie" (RCA Victor 20-1829), had reached # 7 on the charts and been used in the 1948 Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
animated film Melody Time
Melody Time
Melody Time is a 1948 animated feature produced by Walt Disney and released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on May 27, 1948. Made up of several sequences set to popular music and folk music, the film is, like Make Mine Music before it, the popular music version of Fantasia Melody Time is a 1948...
. Using Fina's arrangement, Fowley recorded pianist Ernie Freeman
Ernie Freeman
Ernie Freeman was an American pianist, organist and arranger.In 1935 he began playing in local Cleveland area nightclubs, and also formed a classical music trio for local social functions with his father and his sister Evelyn...
on two tracks, one using a grand piano for the rhythm part, while the other featured a "tack piano
Tack piano
In music, the tack piano is a permanently altered version of an ordinary piano, in which tacks or nails are placed on the hammers of the instrument at the point where the hammers hit the strings, giving the instrument a tinny, more percussive sound...
", a modified upright piano with tacks attached to the hammers to create a tinny "honky tonk" sound. The other musicians on the session, at Gold Star Studios
Gold Star Studios
Gold Star Studios was a major independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California, United States. For more than thirty years, from 1950 to 1984, Gold Star was one of the most influential and successful commercial recording studios in the world....
, were Palmer on drums, Red Callender
Red Callender
Red Callender, , was a jazz bass and tuba player, famous for turning down a chance to work with Duke Ellington's Orchestra and the Louis Armstrong All-Stars....
on bass, and Tommy Tedesco
Tommy Tedesco
Thomas J. Tedesco was an American master session musician and renowned jazz and bebop guitarist.Tedesco's credits include the iconic brand-burning accompaniment theme from television's Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Vic Mizzy's iconic theme from Green Acres, M*A*S*H, Batman, and Elvis Presley's '68...
on guitar.
"Bumble Boogie" went to # 21 on the Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
in June 1961. Because the session musicians all had other studio commitments, a teen band from Ada, Oklahoma
Ada, Oklahoma
Ada is a city in and the county seat of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,008 at the 2000 census. As of 2009, the city population was estimated at 17,019....
, who had played no part in the recording itself, were recruited to handle promotion and public appearances. Their names were given as Fred Richards, Don Orr, and "B. Bumble", a pseudonym for guitarist R. C. Gamble.
"Nut Rocker"
Follow-up records "Boogie Woogie", with Freeman's tack piano double trackedDoubletracking
Double tracking is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or "bigger" sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. It is a form of overdubbing; the distinction comes from the...
, and "Caravan", were less successful, and Rendezvous seemed to lose interest in B. Bumble and the Stingers. Fowley then secured the copyright to an arrangement of Tchaikovsky's "March of the Wooden Soldiers" from the Nutcracker Suite, and took this to local entrepreneur and pianist H. B. Barnum
H. B. Barnum
H. B. Barnum is an American pianist, arranger, record producer, songwriter, and former child actor....
, who recorded it under the name "Jack B. Nimble and the Quicks" on the small Del Rio label. When Rod Pierce of Rendezvous heard it, he convinced Fowley that his label could do a better version with their own band.
A recording date was quickly arranged, but on the day, Freeman did not appear. In his place, guitarist and arranger René Hall rushed pianist Al Hazan
Al Hazan
Al Hazan is an American pop-rock recording artist, songwriter, and record producer.-Biography:Al Hazan was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. To history fans of American pop-rock music he is sometimes called the “Mystery Music Man of the 1960’s” because of his tendency to use other names...
into the Rendezvous office, which was rigged up as an improvised studio. According to Hazan, "Rod decided to record the first take while I was still trying to practice the piece with the other musicians. Because I was so rushed to learn 'Nut Rocker', I was not happy at all with my performance on that first take. However, in spite of my asking Rod to let me do it over again, he said he liked it just fine the way it was." Released as "Nut Rocker
Nut Rocker
-External links:**...
" in February 1962, the record went to # 23 in the US and # 1 in the UK. Del Rio struck a deal with Randy Wood of Dot Records
Dot Records
Dot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen...
and re-released what they were now calling "(The Original) Nut Rocker" by Jack B. Nimble and the Quicks, but it was not a hit.
Later releases and legacy
Such was "Nut Rocker"'s popularity in Britain that a touring group, with Hazan and R. C. Gamble, was flown over in October 1962 to promote the follow-up, "Apple Knocker", based on Rossini's William Tell OvertureWilliam Tell Overture
The William Tell Overture is the instrumental introduction to the opera Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Rossini. William Tell premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he went into semi-retirement, although he continued to compose cantatas, sacred music and secular vocal...
. However, neither that record nor the next release, "Dawn Cracker", based on a piece by Grieg, were successful, and no more B. Bumble and the Stingers records were issued after 1963, when Rendezvous went out of business. Hall went on to work with Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
and many others, Palmer and Freeman became successful session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s, Fowley moved on to new challenges as a producer and as svengali to The Runaways
The Runaways
The Runaways were an American all-girl rock band that recorded and performed in the second half of the 1970s. The band released four studio albums and one live set during its run. Among its best known songs: "Cherry Bomb", "Queens of Noise", "Neon Angels On the Road to Ruin", "California Paradise"...
, and Hazan later recorded solo as Ali Hassan (on instrumentals) and Al Anthony (as a singer).
R. C. Gamble retired from music in 1965 and later became economics professor at Fort Hayes State College in Hayes, Kansas. He died in 2008.
A version of "Nut Rocker" was recorded in 1972 by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
. The original version was reissued at the same time, and again made the UK charts (#19). The recording has been used as background in several movies, including Butcher Boy (1998) and Big Momma's House
Big Momma's House
Big Momma's House is a 2000 American crime comedy film directed by Raja Gosnell, written by Darryl Quarles and Don Rhymer, and starring Martin Lawrence as FBI agent Malcolm Turner. The majority of the film took place in Cartersville, Georgia, but the film was shot on location in California. The...
(2000).