W.O.C.K On Vinyl: The Nutty Squirrels - A Hard Day's Night and other Smashes (1964)

Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song or album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.

The initial success of Alvin and the Chipmunks with "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" in late 1958 led to several imitators trying to replicate the success of the helium-voiced trio, the most notable of which being The Nutty Squirrels.

This squirrel duo was the brainchild of jazz musicians Don Elliott and Alexander "Sascha" Burland. Amused by the Chipmunks concept, they decided to record a jazz scat album under the guise of a hip group of squirrels, recording their voices at 16 RPM and playing them back at 33 RPM just like Ross Bagdasarian did for his Chipmunks. Backing their altered vocals were some of the best New York session musicians of the late 1950's, including Cannonball Adderley on sax, Bobby Jaspar on flute and Sam Most on clarinet.

They received a Top 40 hit in late-1959 as the song "Uh! Oh!". They also preceded The Alvin Show in which they appeared on television in 1960 as The Nutty Squirrels Present, but the show's success was rather decreased.

Uh! Oh!

The group's first two albums, The Nutty Squirrels and Bird Watching, were released in 1959. The Nutty Squirrels' final album, The Nutty Squirrels Sing A Hard Day's Night and Other Smashes, marked a stylistic change from their first two albums, featuring covers of the Beatles songs.

This was the first Squirrels album to cover current pop hits (including three by The Beatles). Previous albums had featured jazz standards.

The Nutty Squirrels' First two Albums

It would be the last Nutty Squirrels album until 1978, when they reunited (without Elliot and Alexander) under the legal pseudonym Shirley & Squirrely.

In the 2007 live-action/animated movie Alvin and the Chipmunks, during the credits, Ian Hawke (David Cross) tries to get three squirrels to sing.

This post consists of MP3 (320kps) ripped from MGM vinyl which I found on the internet many years ago (thanks to the original uploader).  I am quite fascinated with novelty records like this one, especially those released in the 60's when musicians and sound engineers started experimenting with sounds and special effects on their analog recording equipment (eg. Beatles and George Martin / Pink Floyd). And so, this album with its high pitched 'chip monk' vocals ticks the Korny box for this month's WOCK on Vinyl post. 

Funnily enough, while working on this month's post, my wife asked me what was wrong with my record player while playing the album's "Can't Buy Me Love" and I casually replied  'Nuttin' 

Tracklist

01 - I Should Have Known Better  2:48

02 - GTO  2:38

03 - Everybody Knows 1:40

04 - Do Wah Diddy Diddy 2:19

05 - Needles & Pins 2:07

06 - Can't Buy Me Love  2:07

07 - Wishin' & Hopin' 2:36

08 - A Hard Day's Night  2:26

09 - A World Without Love  2:43

10 - Bread & Butter  1:53

11 - Oh, Pretty Woman 2:42

12 - Bingle Jells  2:33

Personnel:

Don Elliott: vocals, trumpet, vibraphone, possible other instruments

Granville Alexander "Sascha" Burland: vocals

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

The Nutty Squirrels Link (65Mb)