Bob & Earl
Biography
Bob and Earl were an American soul music singing duo in the 1960s, best known for writing and recording the original version of "Harlem Shuffle".
The original duo were Bobby Byrd and Earl Nelson (born Earl Lee Nelson, 8 September 1928, Lake Charles, Louisiana). They had both been members of The Hollywood Flames.
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By 1957, Byrd had started a parallel solo career, writing and recording for contractual reasons as Bobby Day. In 1962, Nelson then recruited a second "Bob", Bobby Relf (January 10, 1937 - November 20, 2007), who also used the stage names of Bobby Garrett and Bobby Valentino.
This duo of Relf and Nelson recorded several singles for different labels, before recording "Harlem Shuffle" in 1963. 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[4], 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. When "Harlem Shuffle" became successful on reissue, Nelson and Relf reunited as Bob and Earl to tour. However, the duo split up finally in the early 1970s.
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