The Nutty Squirrels
| Company type | Virtual band |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1959 |
| Founder | Don Elliott and Granville Burland |
| Defunct | 1964 |
Area served | United States |
| Products | Jazz music, albums, singles |
The Nutty Squirrels were a jazz virtual band formed as a playful counterpart to Alvin and the Chipmunks, notable for incorporating scat singing into their performances. They secured a spot in the Top 40 charts in late 1959 with their track "Uh! Oh!". In 1960, they made a television appearance with The Nutty Squirrels Present, which aired prior to The Alvin Show, though it did not achieve comparable acclaim.
Their initial two records, The Nutty Squirrels and Bird Watching, both debuted in 1959. Their last album, titled The Nutty Squirrels Sing A Hard Day's Night and Other Smashes, marked a stylistic transition by featuring covers of songs originally by the Beatles.
Biography
After the success of The Chipmunks in 1958, production of an animated series encountered delays due to challenges in art direction. This interval provided an opportunity for jazz artists Don Elliott and Granville Burland to introduce the Nutty Squirrels, a rival act that emphasized bebop jazz combined with sped-up vocal effects. The Nutty Squirrels premiered on television first with The Nutty Squirrels Present in September 1960; however, they did not attain the same level of popularity as the Chipmunks.
On the Billboard Pop Singles Chart, "Uh! Oh! (Part 1)" reached position #45, while "Uh! Oh! (Part 2)" climbed higher, peaking at #14.
In the 2007 movie Alvin and the Chipmunks, a post-credits scene shows Ian Hawke (David Cross) attempting to make three squirrels sing.
Personnel
- Don Elliott: vocals, trumpet, vibraphone, plus additional instruments
- Granville Alexander "Sascha" Burland: vocals
Prominent New York studio musicians featured on these recordings included Cannonball Adderley on alto saxophone, Bobby Jaspar playing flute, and Sam Most on clarinet.
Albums
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1959 | The Nutty Squirrels | Hanover |
| 1961 | Bird Watching | Columbia |
| 1964 | The Nutty Squirrels Sing A Hard Day's Night and Other Smashes | MGM |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | US Country | CAN CHUM | |||
| 1959 | "Uh! Oh! Part 1" | 45 | — | — | — | The Nutty Squirrels |
| "Uh! Oh! Part 2" | 14 | 9 | — | 7 | ||
| 1960 | "Eager Beaver" | — | — | — | — | |
| "Uh-Huh + 3" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Please Don't Take Our Tree for Christmas" | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1963 | "Hello Again" | — | — | — | — | |
Reception
In his 2019 memoir, Mr. Know-It-All, John Waters highlighted the group's groundbreaking contributions to jazz, mentioning that they "preceded [the Chipmunks] on television with an animated series titled The Nutty Squirrels Present. They achieved notable success with the jazz track 'Uh Oh, Part One and Two' and demonstrated remarkable instrumental solos throughout their recordings." Waters underscored their significant impact on both vocal jazz and animated entertainment.
Further reading
- The Rocklopedia Fakebandica by T. Mike Childs, St. Martin's (2004), page 155