Dave Burgess (guitarist)
Dave Burgess (born December 13, 1934, Beverly Hills, California, United States) is an American guitar player, singer, songwriter, and band leader of The Champs.[1][2]
Biography
Singing career
In 1953, he recorded for Okeh, as a singer and made his first record with no success. He recorded for different record labels throughout the next few years. 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.
Work with "The Champs" band
On December 23, 1957, while working with other session musicians, they started a jam session which resulted in the composition of "Tequila". This was when the band officially formed, with Burgess on rhythm guitar.
Manager feud with Danny Flores
With Danny Flores, they co-managed "The Champs". Since they both contributed to most of the band's success, they had differences. This subsequently led to Flores and the drummer, Gene Alden, leaving the band.
Full-time manager
In 1959, since Glen Campbell came in as the new rhythm guitarist for the band, Burgess left, but was still the band's manager. In 1965, he put an end to The Champs. He composed many of their songs, while he was the manager.
References
- "The Champs". history-of-rock.com. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
- O'Keeffe, Michael (April 16, 2015). "Guitarist on 1958 classic Tequila, song featured in Pee Wee's Big Adventure, puts Grammy up for auction". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
