The Nutty Squirrels

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The Nutty Squirrels were a scat singing imitation of The Chipmunks that had a Top 40 hit in late 1959 with the song "Uh-Oh". The Squirrels actually preceded the Chipmunks on television in an animated cartoon, but with much less success.

[edit] Biography

After the Chipmunks' initial success in 1958, plans were almost immediately made to make them into an animated cartoon series. Unfortunately, there were some initial art direction snags (specifically with the character designs) and the show was delayed. This gap resulted in a race between the Chipmunks and an imitative group created by jazz musicians Don Elliott and Alexander "Sascha" Burland, which they called the Nutty Squirrels.

Both musical groups featured the defining sped-up voices, but Ross's Chipmunks favored popular music while the Squirrels favored jazz, particularly of the bebop variety. Ultimately, the Squirrels made it to television first (appearing in September 1960), but they were not as popular as the originals (at least partly because of the less popular nature of jazz music at that time) and quickly faded from view.

In 1976 Bob Milsap resurrected the act, at first with a novelty single based on the current CB citizens band radio craze, "Hey Shirley (This Is Squirrely)" followed by two albums (one a Christmas release) . Due to legal reasons, his version of the creation went credited under the individual character names—Shirley and Squirrely. Time heals all wounds, as Ross Bagdasarian, Jr, even collaborated with Milsap, on the Nutty Squirrels' final album, Shirley, Squirrely and Melvin - "Live" (1981) on Excelsior, the same label as Bagdasarians' 1980 "Chipmunk Punk".

[edit] Personnel

• Don Elliott: vocals, trumpet, vibraphone, possible other instruments
• Alexander "Sascha" Burland: vocals

Among the New York based session musicians playing on these albums were Cannonball Adderley[1] (alto sax), Bobby Jaspar (flute), and Sam Most (clarinet)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• 1959 The Nutty Squirrels (Hanover)
• 1961 The Nutty Squirrels Go Bird Watching (Columbia CL-1859/CS-8389)
• 1964 The Nutty Squirrels Sing A Hard Day's Night and Other Smashes^[1] (MGM SE-4272)

as Shirley & Squirrely

• 1976 Hey Shirley!: The Album (GRT)
• 1976 Christmas With Shirley & Squirrely (and Melvin Too!) (GRT)
• 1981 Shirley, Squirrely and Melvin: LIVE (Excelsior)

[edit] Singles

• 1959 "Uh! Oh! Part 1"/"Uh! Oh! Part 2" (Hanover)
• 1960 "Eager Beaver"/"Zowee" (Hanover)
• 1960 "Uh-Huh + 3" - EP (Hanover)
• 1960 "Please Don't Take My Tree for Christmas"/"Nutty Noel" (Columbia)
• 1963 "Hello Again"/"Bluesette" (RCA)

as Shirley & Squirrely

• 1976 "Hey Shirley (This Is Squirrely)" (GRT)
• 1976 "A Squirrely Christmas" (GRT)

[edit] Trivia

• Known in South America as Las Ardillitas Locas, according to album notes on Go Bird Watching.
• "Uh-Oh (Part 1)" peaked at #45 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart, while "Uh-Oh (Part 2)" peaked at #9.
• In the 2007 live-action movie Alvin and the Chipmunks during the credits Ian Hawke (David Cross) is trying to get three squirrels to sing with no success an obvious joke on The Nutty Squirrels.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Podcast - includes samples of the Nutty Squirrels
• Links to mp3s of Nutty Squirrels/Cannonball Adderley session and a slowed-down Elliott scat solo