Challenge Records was founded in Los Angeles in 1957 by cowboy singerGene Autry and former Columbia Records A&R representative Joe Johnson. Autry's involvement with the label was short lived as he sold his interest to the remaining partners in October 1958. The label's first success came with instrumental group the Champs, who had their biggest hit in 1958 with "Tequila", a Latin-flavored Rock and roll instrumental song written by Daniel "Danny" Flores and recorded by the Champs themselves. "Tequila" became a No. 1 hit on both the pop and R&B charts at the time of its release and continues to be strongly referenced in pop culture to this day.
History
Challenge Records was founded in Los Angeles, California in 1957 by cowboy singer Gene Autry and former Columbia Records A&R Representative Joe Johnson. Autry's involvement with the label was short lived as he sold his interest to the remaining partners in October 1958. The label's first success came with instrumental band the Champs, who had their biggest hit in 1958 with "Tequila". The first Challenge label was blue with silver print, followed after the first half dozen releases by a short-lived light-blue label with red print, then a maroon-colored label with silver print. Finally, around late 1959, the company issued their singles on a green label with silver print. Early Challenge Records releases contained a crest above the Challenge logo with the letters "G A" symbolizing Gene Autry's ownership interest. They had a sublabel called Jackpot Records. In 1957 Challenge Records signed Dave Burgess, a rockabilly singer-songwriter from California who often recorded under the name "Dave Dupré". At the end of 1957, having produced no hits, Challenge Records looked to Burgess, who organized a recording session on December 23 in Hollywood. In the studio that day were Burgess on rhythm guitar, Cliff Hills on bass guitar, the Flores Trio, and Huelyn Duvall contributing backing vocals. They gathered primarily to record "Train to Nowhere", a song by Burgess, as well as "Night Beat" and "All Night Rock". The last tune recorded was "Tequila", essentially just a jam by the Flores Trio. It is based on a Cuban mambo beat. The word "Tequila" is spoken three times throughout the tune. There were three takes, and Danny Flores, who wrote the song, was also the man who spoke the word "Tequila!". Flores also played the trademark "dirty sax" solo. The song served as the B-side for "Train to Nowhere", which was released by Challenge Records on January 15, 1958. Duvall recalls that the record initially found little success, but, after a DJ in Cleveland played the B-side, "Tequila" skyrocketed up the charts, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard chart on March 28, 1958. Daniel "Danny" Flores had actually written the song Tequila, but, because he was signed to another label, the tune was credited to Chuck Rio, a name he adopted for the stage. Those present for the December 23 session began recording together again on January 20, 1958, under the name the Champs; the group technically was formed after recording "Tequila". The tune has been noted to have a similar rhythm structure to Bo Diddley's 1958 release "Dearest Darling". The Champs recorded a sequel to "Tequila" entitled "Too Much Tequila". Released as a maroon-label Challenge single, it reached No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100. The group also had a series of hits with pop singer Jerry Wallace and country singer Wynn Stewart. Other recording artists with the label included Jan and Dean, Gary Usher, the Knickerbockers, and singer-songwriter Jerry Fuller. Challenge Records went out of business in the late 1960s. Sony/ATV Music Publishing owns the catalog today.
