Bob (Robert Relf) & Earl (Nelson) were black American session singers and later act reunited together agian at Marc Records LA by a young up and coming Mr Barry White who was in co-charge of A&R. White had played piano on various sessions and famously played piano on Jesse Belvin's "Goodnight Sweetheart/Pleasant Dreams" (later revived as "Beware"and by White too!). Relf had written "Harlem Shuffle" (he would later go on to work directly with Barry White and his team at Mo Soul productions: Gene Page, Tony and Bill Sepe, Relf co-wrote "You're The First, The Last, My Everything). The original duo were Bobby Byrd and Earl Nelson they had both been members of The Hollywood Flames, a prolific doo-wop group in Los Angeles, California whose minor hit was "Buzz Buzz Buzz" in 1958, on which Nelson sang lead. ...show more

Bob (Robert Relf) & Earl (Nelson) were black American session singers and later act reunited together agian at Marc Records LA by a young up and coming Mr Barry White who was in co-charge of A&R. White had played piano on various sessions and famously played piano on Jesse Belvin's "Goodnight Sweetheart/Pleasant Dreams" (later revived as "Beware"and by White too!). Relf had written "Harlem Shuffle" (he would later go on to work directly with Barry White and his team at Mo Soul productions: Gene Page, Tony and Bill Sepe, Relf co-wrote "You're The First, The Last, My Everything). The original duo were Bobby Byrd and Earl Nelson they had both been members of The Hollywood Flames, a prolific doo-wop group in Los Angeles, California whose minor hit was "Buzz Buzz Buzz" in 1958, on which Nelson sang lead.

By 1957, Byrd had started a parallel solo career, writing and recording for contractual reasons as Bobby Day. (Byrd wrote and recorded the original version as Bobby Day & The Satelites of "Little Bitty Pretty One", Byrd had his first hit as the solo Bobby Day with "Rockin' Robin" (Class Records 1958). In 1960, Day/Byrd and Nelson began recording together as Bob & Earl, for Class. However, their releases had relatively little success, and Day/Byrd restarted his own solo career.

Nelson was teamed up with a second "Bob", Bob (Robert) Relf, who was also using the stage names of Bobby Garrett and Bobby Valentino. Relf had already fronted several Los Angeles based acts in his career, including the Laurels, the Upfronts, and Valentino and the Lovers. The latter two groups also featured Barry White in various guises) Bob & Earl's biggest hit and claim to fame is "Harlem Shuffle" which was written by Relf and Nelson, arranged by Barry White, and co-produced by Barry White & Fred Smith, the multi tracks were naturally mixed to mono for AM Radio and when released on the Marc label in 1963 became a modest hit on the R&B chart. Its vocal interplay directly influenced later duos such as Sam and Dave. ...show less