Bob & Earl

Initially emerging as one among multiple pseudonyms, Bob & Earl served as the vehicle for joint recordings by Bobby Day—known for the hits “Little Bitty Pretty One” and “Rockin’ Robin”—and Earl Nelson, also known as Jackie Lee and born on September 8, 1928, on the Los Angeles-based Class Records imprint. Their voices blended with an understated yet forceful smoothness that drew on Nelson’s gospel roots, yielding four singles issued under the Bob & Earl name beginning around 1960, though certain accounts trace the moniker’s use to 1957; additional tracks appeared under the headings Earl Nelson & the Pelicans, Bobby Day & the Satellites, and the Hollywood Flames. Among these, the deliberate, emotionally charged “That’s My Desire” and its buoyant, humorous flip side “You Made a Boo Boo” received the most attention, with the pairing seeing two separate releases. After Nelson and Day went their separate ways, Nelson joined forces with vocalist Bobby Relf, and the pair retained the Bob & Earl identity for their subsequent work. In 1963 this reconstituted duo left a lasting imprint by cutting the first version of “Harlem Shuffle,” produced by Barry White, which achieved only moderate American sales yet became a major success across England. Relf departed in the middle of the decade and was succeeded by Bobby Garrett, who sustained the collaboration with Nelson through the 1970s.