Monday 28 November 2022

Bruce Channel born 28 November 1940


Bruce Channel born 28 November 1940) is an American singer and songwriter, known for his 1962 million-selling number one hit, "Hey! Baby". 
High School 1960

Channel (pronounced "shuh-nell") was born Bruce McMeans in Jacksonville, Texas. He performed originally for the radio program Louisiana Hayride and then joined with the harmonica player Delbert McClinton, singing country music. Channel wrote "Hey! Baby" with Margaret Cobb in 1959 and performed the song for two years before recording it for Fort Worth record producer Bill Smith. It was issued originally on Smith's LeCam label, but as it started to sell well, it was acquired for distribution by Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury. 

The song went to number one in the US in March 1962 and held that position for three weeks. Besides topping the U.S. popular music charts, it also became number two in the United Kingdom. It sold more than one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Channel had four more singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Number One Man" (which peaked at number 52), "Come On Baby" (number 98), "Going Back to Louisiana" (number 89), and "Mr. Bus Driver" (number 90, produced by Dale Hawkins in Memphis and recorded by Terry Manning), but none of them was as successful as "Hey! Baby". 


                             

Channel toured Europe and was supported at one gig by The Beatles, who were then still unknown. John Lennon, who had "Hey! Baby" on his jukebox, was fascinated by McClinton's harmonica. A popular urban legend has it that Lennon was taught to play harmonica by McClinton, but by that time, Lennon had already been playing the instrument live for some time. 

L to R: Pete Best, John Lennon, Delbert McClinton,
Bruce, Paul McCartney and George Harrison

The harmonica break in "Hey! Baby" inspired Lennon's playing on The Beatles' first single, 1962's "Love Me Do" as well as later Beatles records and the harmonica break on Frank Ifield's "I Remember You."  Ironically, it was the Beatles who led the British Invasion of the mid-60's which swamped artists such as Bruce Channel but he became a very popular act in England. 

Channel's only other top 40 recording in the UK Singles Chart was "Keep On" (June 1968), which reached number 12; it was written by Wayne Carson Thompson and produced by Dale Hawkins. "Keep On" also charted in Australia. Channel disliked touring, so he settled as a songwriter in Nashville, scoring a number of Broadcast Music Incorporated award-winning songs during the 1970s and 1980s – "As Long As I'm Rockin' with You", for John Conlee; "Don't Worry 'bout Me Baby", for Janie Fricke; "Party Time", for T. G. Sheppard; "You're the Best", for Kieran Kane; and "Stand Up", for Mel McDaniel. In 1987, "Hey! Baby" was featured in the popular movie Dirty Dancing. In 1988 Channel made a surprise guest appearance while on a visit to the UK, as a disc jockey on BBC Radio 2. 

Delbert McClinton went on to have success as a solo artist and songwriter, penning songs recorded by Waylon Jennings and Emmylou Harris. In 1995 Channel recorded his own version of "Stand Up" for the Memphis, Tennessee based Ice House label. Delbert McClinton reprised his role on harmonica on it and several other tracks including a heavy duty version of "My Babe." Channel then recorded a project with singer-songwriter Larry Henley (ex-The Newbeats) as Original Copy. 

Channel was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He continued to perform in cruises with other 1960s musicians and now lives in Nashville with his wife Christine who he first met whilst in England. He’s been devoting full days to writing music for nearly 60 years and has upwards of 300 songs to his credit. 

(Info edited from Wikipedia and Music Path) 

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for this but there are many faults either on the CD or the extraction to mp3. Track 17 is worse so far with skipping from after the first few seconds. There are some skips in earlier tracks.

Jack

boppinbob said...

I appologize to all the 140 downloaders of the first link of corrupt mp3's. And a big thank you to one kind person to point it out. I have now reconstructed the playlist from my trustworthy mp3 site and here is the new link.(All checked and OK)

For”Bruce Channel – Hey! Baby - The Early Years 1959-1962 (2019 Jasmine)” go here:

https://www.imagenetz.de/fbZBx

1 Run Romance Run
2 Don't Leave Me
3 Will I Ever Love Again
4 slow Down Baby
5 Boy! This Stuff Kills Me
6 Now Or Never
7 Hey! Baby
8 Dream Girl
9 Breakin' Up Is Hard To Do
10 Baby It's You
11 Chantilly Lace
12 Ain't Got No Home
13 Sorry Baby
14 Dream Baby
15 Since I Met You Baby
16 Love Me
17 If Only I Had Known
18 Baby You've Got What It Takes
19 Number One Man
20 Come On Baby
21 Mine Exclusively
22 Somewhere In This Town
23 Stand Tough
24 Oh! Baby
25 Let's Hurt Together
26 No Other Baby
27 Night People
Bonus Tracks
28 Delbert McClinton - Hully Gully
29 The Two Smith Brothers - Let Your Mind Roll On [Bruce Channel & Delbert McClinton]
30 The Two Smith Brothers - Cherry Wine [Bruce Channel & Delbert McClinton]

Texas-born Bruce Channel is chiefly remembered for his 1962 worldwide hit 'Hey! Baby', a disc which also featured Delbert McClinton on harmonica. He charted with follow-ups, 'Number One Man', 'Come On Baby', and 'Somewhere In This Town', while his LP, 'Hey! Baby (And 11 Other Songs About Your Baby)', which also featured McClinton, is a highly sought-after collectors' item. This unique compilation includes all of these, alongside Channel's three rare-as-hens-teeth early, pre-fame 45s, which rarely turn up on other compilations, plus a couple of non-charting late 1962 singles.

Included as bonus tracks are a couple of 45s recorded in the UK in 1962, whilst on tour, during the course of which he famously headlined over The Beatles at the New Brighton Tower (when McClinton allegedly taught John Lennon how to play harmonica). The majority of the rarities and bonus tracks have never previously appeared on CD when this was issued.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the repair job.

Jack

Aussie said...

THANK YOU

Bobbo said...

Could you please re-up the early years cd. I must have missed it. Thank You

boppinbob said...

Hiya Bobbo, Here's Bruce...
https://www.imagenetz.de/cFonb

Bobbo said...

Thank You Bob!