The Champs were a
rock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...
band, most famous for their Latin-tinged
instrumentalRock Instrumentals have a separate page.An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or any other sort of vocal music; all of the music is produced by musical instruments. This term is used when referring to popular music rather than to other musical genres such as European...
"
Tequila"Tequila" is a 1958 rock instrumental by the band The Champs. The title of the song constitutes the entire lyrics, and is spoken three times during the song. "Tequila" became a number-one hit on both the pop and R&B charts,...
." Formed by
studioA recording studio is a facility for sound recording. Ideally, the space is specially designed by an acoustician to achieve the desired acoustic properties...
executives at
Gene Autry'sOrvon Gene Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
Challenge RecordsChallenge 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. The label's first success came with...
to record a
B-SideA-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of 7 inch vinyl records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
for the
Dave BurgessDave Burgess was the guitarist for The Champs, who had a #1 US/#5 UK hit with the Mexican-tinged, saxophone-based instrumental 'Tequila'. He has also worked as a sessionman. He was a songwriter before he joined The Champs, most notably penning the hit "I'm Available" for Margie Rayburn in 1957,...
(aka Dave Dupree)
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
, the intended throwaway track became more famous than its A-Side, "Train to Nowhere". "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 Champs were a
rock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States after World War II in the late 1940s, from a combination of the rhythms of the blues, from the African American culture, and from America's country music and gospel music scenes...
band, most famous for their Latin-tinged
instrumentalRock Instrumentals have a separate page.An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or any other sort of vocal music; all of the music is produced by musical instruments. This term is used when referring to popular music rather than to other musical genres such as European...
"
Tequila"Tequila" is a 1958 rock instrumental by the band The Champs. The title of the song constitutes the entire lyrics, and is spoken three times during the song. "Tequila" became a number-one hit on both the pop and R&B charts,...
." Formed by
studioA recording studio is a facility for sound recording. Ideally, the space is specially designed by an acoustician to achieve the desired acoustic properties...
executives at
Gene Autry'sOrvon Gene Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
Challenge RecordsChallenge 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. The label's first success came with...
to record a
B-SideA-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of 7 inch vinyl records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
for the
Dave BurgessDave Burgess was the guitarist for The Champs, who had a #1 US/#5 UK hit with the Mexican-tinged, saxophone-based instrumental 'Tequila'. He has also worked as a sessionman. He was a songwriter before he joined The Champs, most notably penning the hit "I'm Available" for Margie Rayburn in 1957,...
(aka Dave Dupree)
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
, the intended throwaway track became more famous than its A-Side, "Train to Nowhere". "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 StudiosGold Star Recording Studios was a major independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California, USA. 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....
in 1958, and in 1959 won the
Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues RecordingThe Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording was awarded from 1959 to 1968. From 1959 to 1961 the award was called the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance....
.
There are many
cover versionIn popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition of a previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s of the
tuneA song is a metrical composition intended or adapted for singing, especially one in rhymed stanzas; a lyric; a ballad....
, for example by rappers
A.L.T.A.L.T. is an Mexican-American rapper known for the 1992 hit song "Tequila" .-Discography:*Another Latin Timebomb , Atlantic/East West*Stone Cold World , Ruthless Records-References:...
and XL Singleton. The Champs also had success with instrumentals such as "
Limbo RockLimbo Rock is a popular song written by Kal Mann and Billy Strange. An instrumental version was first recorded by The Champs in 1961. The first vocal version was recorded in 1962 by Chubby Checker : it reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Cash Box charts...
" and the famous "
La Cucaracha"La Cucaracha" is a traditional Spanish folk corrido, that became popular in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. It has additionally become a verse played on car horns.-Origins:...
". In 1985 it featured prominently in the movie "Pee Wee's Big Adventure", that inspired a 1985 Hip-Hop hit for rapper Joeski Love based on Tequila's melody.
The Champs also recorded a sequel to Tequila entitled
Too Much Tequila.
They're mentioned in
Thomas PynchonThomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist based in New York City and noted for his dense and complex works of fiction. Hailing from Long Island, Pynchon spent two years in the United States Navy and earned an English degree from Cornell University...
's 2009 novel
Inherent ViceInherent Vice is a novel by Thomas Pynchon, originally published in August 2009.-Title:The term 'inherent vice' is a legal tenet referring to a "hidden defect of a good or property which of itself is the cause of its deterioration, damage, or wastage. Such characteristics or defects make the item...
(pg. 125).
Band members
- Chuck Rio
Daniel Flores was the singer on his self-written song, "Tequila", an American Billboard number one hit in 1958 for The Champs....
- saxophone, vocals (born Danny Flores, Jul 11 1929, Santa PaulaSanta Paula is a city within Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 28,598 at the 2000 census. It has been dubbed the "Citrus Capital of the World." As the initial headquarters of the Union Oil Company of California, Santa Paula was one of the early centers of California's...
, CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
, died Sep 19 2006, Huntington BeachHuntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in southern California, United States. According to the 2000 census, the city population was 189,594...
, CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
)
- Dave Burgess
Dave Burgess was the guitarist for The Champs, who had a #1 US/#5 UK hit with the Mexican-tinged, saxophone-based instrumental 'Tequila'. He has also worked as a sessionman. He was a songwriter before he joined The Champs, most notably penning the hit "I'm Available" for Margie Rayburn in 1957,...
- guitar (born LancasterLancaster is the eighth-largest city in Los Angeles County, California and the 9th fastest growing city in the United States. Lancaster is located approximately 70 miles north of the city of Los Angeles in Southern California's Antelope Valley...
, CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
)
- Dale Norris - guitar, keyboards (born Springfield
Springfield is the largest city on the Connecticut River and the county seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States.In the 2000 census, the city population was 154,082. It is the third largest city in Massachusetts and fourth largest in New England...
, MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
)
- Bobby Morris - bass (born Tulsa
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 45th-largest in the United States. With an estimated population of 385,635 in 2008, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 916,079 residents projected to reach one million between 2010...
, OklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
)
- Dean McDaniel - bass (born Jun 28 1943, Arkansas City
Arkansas City is a city situated at the confluence of the Arkansas and Walnut rivers in the southwestern part of Cowley County, located in south-central Kansas, in the central United States. The population was 11,963 at the 2000 census...
, KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
, died Nov 1 2006, Oklahoma CityOklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's estimated population as of 2008 was 551,789, with an estimated metro-area population of 1,206,142...
, OklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
)
- Gen Alden - drums (born Cisco
Cisco is a city in Eastland County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,851 at the 2000 census.Conrad Hilton started the Hilton Hotel chain with a single hotel bought in Cisco. Hilton came to Cisco to buy a bank, but the bank cost too much, so he purchased the Mobley Hotel in 1919...
, TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
)
- Buddy Bruce - rhythm guitar
- Benjamin Van Norman - Bass died Nov 1958 in a car accident.
Band members later featured
Glen CampbellGlen Travis Campbell is a Grammy and Dove Award-winning and two time Golden Globe-nominated American country pop singer, guitarist and occasional actor...
and
Seals and CroftsSeals and Crofts are Jim Seals and Dash Crofts . The soft rock duo was one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s. They are best-known for their hits "Summer Breeze" and "Diamond Girl"...
. "Tequila!" was written and sung by the
saxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bored transposing musical instrument considered a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and are played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in 1841...
player
Danny FloresDaniel Flores was the singer on his self-written song, "Tequila", an American Billboard number one hit in 1958 for The Champs....
, although he was credited as Chuck Rio because he was under contract to another
record labelIn the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
at the time. Flores, who died in September 2006, was known as the "Godfather of Latino rock." Flores' "dirty sax" and his joyous hollering of "Tequila!" are the hallmarks of the song. Flores signed away the
U.S.The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rights to the song but retained world-wide rights until his death.
The last lineup of The Champs, in 1965, included Johnny Trombore, who co-wrote some songs with Jimmy Seals, Maurice Marshall, Dash Crofts, bassist Curtis Paul and Jimmy's replacement on sax, Keith MacKendrick. MacKendrick was another important song collaborator with Jimmy Seals and Dash Crofts.