From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Fri Dec 13, 2002  6:17 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Dave Burgess
 
DAVE BURGESS

Born 13 December 1934, Beverly Hills, California

Guitarist / songwriter / music publisher / leader of the Champs.
Burgess began his recording career with two singles for Okeh in
1954, followed by two singles for Tampa in 1955. All were countrified
pop and had no success. In 1956, Burgess started recording for Top
Records. Top would take unknown, but talented artists, have them
cover the latest hits as closely as possible to the original, then issue
them four-to-a-record for 49 cents. Top's slogan was "twice the music
at half the cost" and it was a bargain until the unsuspecting buyer got
home and played the record. Burgess appeared on an unknown
amount of records, but at least ten came out with his name in the
credits.
Ethics aside, Burgess got a first hand education in recording and
performing while at Top. In March 1957, he was signed to Challenge,
a new independent label, launched by Gene Autry. Dave's first three
Challenge releases (recorded under the pseudonym Dave Dupree) failed
to make any impact, but the fourth, "I'm Available" was covered by Margie
Rayburn on Liberty and went to # 9 in November 1957. Another Burgess
song, "I'll Be There", was a hit for country star Ray Price.
Burgess was now firmly established at Challenge, where he also became
a regular session guitarist. On December 10, 1957, Burgess, a session
bassist called Cliff Hills and the Danny Flores Trio backed The Kuf-Linx on
a cover of "So Tough". Joe Johnson, one of the owners of Challenge, liked
what he heard and encouraged Burgess to cut an instrumental using the
same five musicians. This happened on December 23. Most of the time
was allotted to "Train To Nowhere", intended to be the A-side. With ten
minutes studio time left, a B-side was improvised. Danny Flores offered a
Tex-Mex sax line, Buddy Bruce a snappy guitar riff, drummer Gene Alden
played a backbeat on the bell of his cymbal and Burgess plucked the muted
strings of his electric guitar. The song, called "Tequila", was considered a
throwaway and, with the exception of Burgess, the musicians didn't even
stay in the studio to hear the playbacks.
The group needed a name, and someone suggested Champions, after Gene
Autry's famous horse. The Champions became the Champs, and demo
copies were sent to major deejays across the country in early 1958.
Flores was masquerading as "Chuck Rio" on the writer credits to avoid
contravening his RPM contract. Early signals for "Train To Nowhere"
suggested that it was not likely to even leave the station. Suddenly though,
radio stations began to flip the disc. On March 28, 1958, "Tequila" made
an unprecedented jump from # 12 to # 1 on the Billboard charts, stayed
at the top for five weeks, also topped the R&B charts and won the 1958
Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance.
Requests soon began coming in for personal appearances. Burgess, Chuck
Rio (saxophone) and Gene Alden (drums), who had played at the Tequila
session, were joined by Dale Norris (guitar) and Joe Burnass (bass). The
group hit the road with little rehearsal or preparation and it showed. Rio, an
old hand at live performing became upset with the lack of professionalism
and left the group in June, 1958. Several other personnel changes followed.
In April, the second single "El Rancho Rock" was released. Another Tex-Mex
tune, it was based on a traditional Mexican song "El Rancho Grande" and
peaked at # 30, with the B-side "Midnighter" also charting at # 94. The third
single, "Chariot Rock" released in July sold moderately well (# 59).
With constant personnel changes there was little loyalty between members
and performing became a "job." After "Chariot Rock" it wouldn't be until "Too
Much Tequila," that the group would have another hit in early 1960. That same
year, Burgess stopped touring with the group, choosing to concentrate on the
business end of Challenge Records, in which he had become a major share-
holder. His place as a guitarist was filled by Glen Campbell, the later country
megastar. Despite a continuing string of quality singles, again two years went
by before the Champs had another hit with "Limbo Rock", though they were
outsold by a vocal cover from Chubby Checker. This success kept them on
the road for another couple of years. Their last chart entry was "Limbo Dance"
in 1962.
The Champs disbanded in 1965, their final single being a fine cover of the Buck
Owens instrumental "Buckaroo". Looking back at the 30 singles and four LP's
of the Champs, Burgess can be justifiably proud of his legacy.

Recommended listening:
The Champs, The Early Singles (Ace 525).
The Champs, The Later Singles (Ace 631).
Their four LP's are collected on "The Challenge Album Collection", a 2 CD-set
from One Way Records (OW 34488).
More info: http://www.sealsandcrofts.com/champs.html