Bruce Channel born 28 November 1940) is an American singer and songwriter, known for his 1962 million-selling number one hit, "Hey! Baby".
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| High School 1960 |
Channel (pronounced "shuh-nell") was born Bruce McMeans in Jacksonville, Texas. He performed originally for the radio program Louisiana Hayride and then joined with the harmonica player Delbert McClinton, singing country music. Channel wrote "Hey! Baby" with Margaret Cobb in 1959 and performed the song for two years before recording it for Fort Worth record producer Bill Smith. It was issued originally on Smith's LeCam label, but as it started to sell well, it was acquired for distribution by Smash Records, a subsidiary of Mercury.
The song went to number one in the US in March 1962 and held that position for three weeks. Besides topping the U.S. popular music charts, it also became number two in the United Kingdom. It sold more than one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Channel had four more singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Number One Man" (which peaked at number 52), "Come On Baby" (number 98), "Going Back to Louisiana" (number 89), and "Mr. Bus Driver" (number 90, produced by Dale Hawkins in Memphis and recorded by Terry Manning), but none of them was as successful as "Hey! Baby".
Channel toured Europe and was supported at one gig by The Beatles, who were then still unknown. John Lennon, who had "Hey! Baby" on his jukebox, was fascinated by McClinton's harmonica. A popular urban legend has it that Lennon was taught to play harmonica by McClinton, but by that time, Lennon had already been playing the instrument live for some time.
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| L to R: Pete Best, John Lennon, Delbert McClinton, Bruce, Paul McCartney and George Harrison |
The harmonica break in "Hey! Baby" inspired Lennon's playing on The Beatles' first single, 1962's "Love Me Do" as well as later Beatles records and the harmonica break on Frank Ifield's "I Remember You." Ironically, it was the Beatles who led the British Invasion of the mid-60's which swamped artists such as Bruce Channel but he became a very popular act in England.
Channel's only other top 40 recording in the UK Singles Chart was "Keep On" (June 1968), which reached number 12; it was written by Wayne Carson Thompson and produced by Dale Hawkins. "Keep On" also charted in Australia. Channel disliked touring, so he settled as a songwriter in Nashville, scoring a number of Broadcast Music Incorporated award-winning songs during the 1970s and 1980s – "As Long As I'm Rockin' with You", for John Conlee; "Don't Worry 'bout Me Baby", for Janie Fricke; "Party Time", for T. G. Sheppard; "You're the Best", for Kieran Kane; and "Stand Up", for Mel McDaniel. In 1987, "Hey! Baby" was featured in the popular movie Dirty Dancing. In 1988 Channel made a surprise guest appearance while on a visit to the UK, as a disc jockey on BBC Radio 2.
Delbert McClinton went on to have success as a solo artist and songwriter, penning songs recorded by Waylon Jennings and Emmylou Harris. In 1995 Channel recorded his own version of "Stand Up" for the Memphis, Tennessee based Ice House label. Delbert McClinton reprised his role on harmonica on it and several other tracks including a heavy duty version of "My Babe." Channel then recorded a project with singer-songwriter Larry Henley (ex-The Newbeats) as Original Copy.
Channel was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He continued to perform in cruises with other 1960s musicians and now lives in Nashville with his wife Christine who he first met whilst in England. He’s been devoting full days to writing music for nearly 60 years and has upwards of 300 songs to his credit.
(Info edited from Wikipedia and Music Path)