B. Bumble & The Stingers - "Nut Rocker" (1962)

"Nut Rocker" was a single by American instrumental ensemble B. Bumble and the Stingers that went to number 1 in the UK singles chart in May 1962.

The recording was made by the house band of session musicians at Rendezvous Records in Los Angeles, including drummer Earl Palmer and guitarist René Hall, who had already had hits in the US charts with rocked-up versions of "In The Mood" (1959, credited to the Ernie Fields Orchestra); and "Bumble Boogie" (1961, also credited to B. Bumble and the Stingers, with Ernie Freeman on piano). "Nut Rocker" was produced by Kim Fowley, and, since Freeman didn't show up, featured pianist Al Hazan.

In 1962, Fowley secured the copyright to an arrangement of Tchaikovsky's "March of the Wooden Soldiers" from his ballet The Nutcracker, and took this to local entrepreneur and pianist H. B. Barnum. Barnum recorded it under the name "Jack B. Nimble and the Quicks" on the small Del Rio label. However, when Rod Pierce of Rendezvous Records heard it, he convinced Fowley that his label could do a better version with their own band. A new recording was quickly arranged, but on the day of the recording Ernie Freeman, who had played piano on "Bumble Boogie", didn't show, apparently due to heavy partying the night before. In his place, guitarist and arranger René Hall rushed pianist Al Hazan into the Rendezvous office, which was rigged up as an improvised studio. According to Hazan, "Rod decided to record the first take while I was still trying to practice the piece with the other musicians. Because I was so rushed to learn 'Nut Rocker', I was not happy at all with my performance on that first take. However, in spite of my asking Rod to let me do it over again, he said he liked it just fine the way it was.] Released as "Nut Rocker" in February 1962, the record went to # 23 in the US and # 1 in the UK.

The song is a fast, lively track that is purely instrumental and was the band's biggest hit. It has been featured in many commercials, movies and television programmes such as Butcher Boy (1998), Big Momma's House (2000) and ITV's Heartbeat in 2006.

It was reissued in 1972 in the UK, and again made the charts (No. 20, week ending July 8 1972). It was also a live favourite when performed by prog-rockers Emerson, Lake & Palmer - the main keyboard used on their version was not a piano but a Clavinet. In 2009 Trans-Siberian Orchestra released a version of Nut Rocker, featuring Greg Lake, on their album Night Castle.

"Nut Rocker" is believed to be the prime inspiration for The Ventures' similar work Nutty, which became identified with the American NHL's Boston Bruins ice hockey team as the intro song for telecast Bruins games for two decades. Similarly the B. Bumble and the Stingers version was the signature tune for public speed skating sessions at Southampton Ice Rink.

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[rjc3208]

LMAO!!!  Ricky.

[nomiclas]

of all instumentals that where out there in 60-62 this a good one Bumble boogie is great.

[garrettjamessmith]

go bruins!

[wadenshelly]

This is a funny clip.

plus I love this song

[MrRedemption1]

such amazing!

[VinDcator]

J-Bug or R & R? Great post!!!

[pixiemark7]

Hey, Bloody Excellent! Always loved this record and the vid you made is a hoot.. Well Done and many thanks, Px :))

[juliegrimshaw2009art]

Great video...love it.

[chkjns]

People like YOU are what I love about youtube above any other music site! In fact, i never go elsewhere for music. FanTAStic job on this & a real treasure to add to my 1962 playlist! My 111 playlists for every year since 1900 offer these kinds of tracks that you'll never hear in the narrowly formated broadcasts of today! Thanks for including the release year - you make my channel possible! Billions & billions of stars....oh, wait.....somebody may have already said that.....

[weejoeshadows]

This was a very funny and clever video thanks for this. My grand daughter enjoy watching the video respect from joe