The Nutty Squirrels were a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

virtual band In entertainment, a virtual band (also called a virtual idol, virtual singer, virtual group, cartoon group, cartoon idol, cartoon singer or cartoon band) is a band or music group whose members are not depicted as corporeal musicians, but animat ...

formed in imitation of

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three s ...

. The Nutty Squirrels' music was characterized by their use of

scat singing In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...

. They received a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

hit in late-1959 as the song "Uh! Oh!". They also preceded

The Alvin Show ''The Alvin Show'' is an American animated television series that aired on CBS in the early 1960s. This was the first series to feature the singing characters Alvin and the Chipmunks. ''The Alvin Show'' aired for one season, from October 4, 1961, ...

in which they appeared on television in 1960 as ''

The Nutty Squirrels Present ''The Nutty Squirrels Present'' is a 1960 animated television series that was inspired by characters from ''The Nutty Squirrels'' hit 1959 novelty record. The series was produced by Transfilm-Wylde Animation, and aired for one season (1960–1961 ...

'', but the show's success was rather decreased. The group's first two albums, '' The Nutty Squirrels'' and ''

Bird Watching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, ...

'', 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 The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

songs.

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

musicians

Don Elliott Don Elliott Helfman (October 21, 1926 – July 5, 1984) was an American jazz trumpeter, vibraphonist, vocalist, and mellophone player. Elliott recorded over 60 albums and 5,000 advertising jingles throughout his career. Career Elliott played m ...

and Granville Burland, which they called the Nutty Squirrels. Both musical groups featured the defining sped-up voices, but

Ross Bagdasarian Sr. Ross S. Bagdasarian (; January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972), known professionally by his stage name David Seville, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor, best known for creating the virtual band, cartoon band Alvin an ...

's Chipmunks favored popular music while the Squirrels favored

, particularly of the

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

variety. Ultimately, the Squirrels made it to television first, in the animated series ''

'' (appearing in September 1960), but its popularity was decreased as of the originals. "Uh! Oh! (Part 1)" peaked at #45 on the

Billboard Pop Singles Chart The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming i ...

, while "Uh! Oh! (Part 2)" peaked at #14. In the 2007 live-action/animated movie ''

'', during the credits, Ian Hawke (

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitcom ...

) is trying to get three squirrels to sing.

Personnel

* Don Elliott: vocals, trumpet, vibraphone, possible other instruments * Granville Alexander "Sascha" Burland: vocals Among the New York-based

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s playing on these albums were

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", whi ...

, (

alto sax The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

Bobby Jaspar Bobby Jaspar (20 February 1926 – 28 February 1963) was a Belgian cool jazz and hard bop saxophonist, flautist and composer. Early life Born in Liège, Belgium, Jaspar learned to play piano and clarinet at a young age. Later, he took up ...

(

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

), and

Sam Most Samuel Most (December 16, 1930 – June 13, 2013) was an American jazz flutist, clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, based in Los Angeles. He was "probably the first great jazz flutist", according to jazz historian Leonard Feather. Biography He wa ...

(

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

)

Discography

Albums

Singles

Reception

In his 2019 autobiography, ''Mr. Know-It-All'',

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamin ...

wrote, "I should have told my mother about the Nutty Squirrels. They did jazz and they ''weren't'' junkies. This sped-up vocal group who imitated the Chipmunks actually beat them to television with an animated show called ''

'', and they looked down on the pop sound of Alvin and his gang. The Nutty Squirrels actually had a big jazz hit with "Uh Oh, Part One and Two," but if you go back and listen to the rest of their discography, you'll be blown away by some of their other riffs. These cats were smoking! If my mom had heard jazz like this at the wrong speed, she might have loved it."

References

External links

Podcast - includes samples of the Nutty SquirrelsLinks to mp3s of Nutty Squirrels/Cannonball Adderley session and a slowed-down Elliott scat solo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nutty Squirrels, The Animated musical groups Fictional squirrels Fictional musical groups RCA Victor artists Musical groups established in 1959 Musical groups disestablished in 1964 1959 establishments in the United States American jazz ensembles Vocal jazz ensembles