The Rip Chords

The Rip Chords originated as an authentic duo of Ernie Bringas and Phil Stewart whose recordings were enhanced through extensive overdubs by producer Terry Melcher and his collaborator Bruce Johnston to simulate a larger ensemble. Two unsuccessful singles preceded a shift in which Melcher and Johnston assumed nearly all lead and backing vocals, yielding the act’s breakthrough track “Hey Little Cobra.” Bringas’s exit to pursue religious studies prompted Stewart to enlist Rich Rotkin and Arnie Marcus as the official touring members. Subsequent sessions featured neither Marcus nor Rotkin, and only sporadically included Stewart, as Melcher and Johnston supplied the bulk of the vocals. The two albums and later singles the group released produced no further chart activity, resulting in disbandment by late 1965, though the lineup did contribute the song “Red Hot Roadster” to the low-budget rock film A Swingin’ Summer alongside Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Donnie Brooks, the Righteous Brothers, and Raquel Welch in her screen debut. Rotkin reactivated the Rip Chords name in 2005 for the Collectables album Shut ’Em Down ...Again.