Dave Burgess (born December 13, 1934, Beverly Hills, California, United States) is an American guitar player, singer, songwriter, and band leader of

The Champs The Champs are an American rock band, most famous for their Latin-tinged rock and roll instrumental " Tequila". The group took their name from that of Gene Autry's horse, Champion, and was formed by studio executives at Autry's Challenge Rec ...

Biography

Singing career

In 1953, he recorded for

Okeh Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...

, as a singer and made his first records with no success. His first release was "Judalina" b/w "Don't Put A Dent In My Heart" (Okeh 4-7002). A second release was "Gratefully Yours" b/w "Too Late For Tears" (Okeh 4-7044). He subsequently recorded for different record labels, with many of his vocals appearing on the budget TOPS label. In 1957, he recorded for Challenge as Dave Duprè. He finally found initial success as a songwriter with many songs including the 1957 hit I'm Available for

Margie Rayburn Marjorie Helen Orwig (June 3, 1924 – June 14, 2000), better known as Margie Rayburn, was an American traditional pop singer. Rayburn was born in Madera, California, United States, and sang as a member of The Sunnysiders, who had a Top 40 hit in ...

. Dave also recorded his own version of "I'm Available" for Challenge (Challenge 1008). Global Dog OKeh & Challenge discographies

The Champs

On December 23, 1957, while working with other session musicians, they started a jam session which resulted in the composition of "

Tequila Tequila (; ) is a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ('' Los Altos de Jalisco'') of the central western Mexican s ...

". This was when the band officially formed, with Burgess on rhythm guitar.

Full-time manager

In late 1960, since

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting '' The Glen Campbell Good ...

came in as the new rhythm guitarist for the band, Burgess left, but was still the band's manager. In 1965, the Champs disbanded. He composed many of their songs, while he was still manager.

References

External links

* Living people 1934 births Musicians from Beverly Hills, California 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from California {{US-guitarist-stub