Class Records was formed in late 1951 by Leon Rene in Los Angeles California. The label's output consisted of popular, rhythm and blues and Jazz. Leon Rene was a songwriter who had been in the music business since the early '30s. With his brother Otis, he had written "Sleepy Time Down South" and "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano," and later Leon wrote such rock staples as "I Sold My Heart To The Junkman" and "Rockin' Robin." During the 1940s, Leon and Otis ran the pioneering independent rhythm and blues labels Exclusive and Excelsior. They had purchased their own record pressing plant, but when the format changed from 78 RPM to 45 RPM, they could not press the new speed and the labels went out of business in 1950. The Class label was formed in 1951 after the failure of Exclusive and Excelsior. In 1956, Class Records moved to El Centro Avenue in Hollywood, and by 1959 they had moved again, to 3617 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles.

The director of A&R for Class Records and one of the artists was Leon's son, Rafael "Googie" Rene, who was a piano player, orchestra leader and composer. Googie had some minor instrumental hits for Class with "Wham Bam", "Midnight", "Skumbo," and "Shine On Harvest Moon".

Bobby Byrd was really the rock and roll mainstay of Class Records. Byrd's group was signed to Ebb Records as the Hollywood Flames, who had the hit "Buzz, Buzz, Buzz" in 1957. To avoid contract conflicts, Byrd and his group recorded under the name Bobby Day and the Satellites for Class, as well as recording under different names for other labels. In 1957, they recorded a song Byrd had written called "Little Bitty Pretty One" for Class, but a cover version by Thurston Harris on Aladdin became the hit. The next year, Day recorded "Rockin' Robin," which Leon Rene wrote under the pseudonym Jimmy Thomas. It went to number two on the national charts. The flip side, the self-penned "Over and Over," was a minor hit in it's own right, reaching #41, but the song became a #1 hit for the Dave Clark Five in 1965.

The omnipresent Bobby Byrd also teamed with Earl Nelson, another of the Hollywood Flames, as the duo "The Voices" on Cash Records, and then in 1960 as Bob & Earl for Class. Bob & Earl recorded for both Class and Tip Records, but by the time the duo had a couple of chart singles in 1962-63 ("Don't Ever Leave Me," "Harlem Shuffle"), Byrd had left and been replaced by Bob Relf. Nelson also later recorded as Jackie Lee (using his wife's first name and his own middle name) and scored a top-15 record with "The Duck" in 1965.

Class also had a top 40 hit with Eugene Church's "Pretty Girls Everywhere" in late 1958. Church was a member of Jesse Belvin's various vocal groups, including the Cliques, who hit with "The Girl In My Dreams" in 1956 for Modern. Church noted that he and fellow Belvin-ite Tommy "Buster" Williams got the idea for the song while out driving one day and noting the women walking on the sidewalk. It was recorded as by Eugene Church and the Fellows.

Other acts for Class included bandleader Oscar McLollie, who also recorded one chart hit with Jeanette Baker. Even though the duo made it to #61 with "Hey Boy-Hey Girl" in 1958, the two didn't particularly get along, so there wasn't even a followup record.

In 1958, Rendezvous Record Company was formed in Los Angeles. The owners were Leon Rene, Rod Pierce and Gordon Wolf, and the output of this label was mostly pop music. The biggest hits for Rendezvous Records were "In the Mood" in 1959 by Ernie Fields, and "Bumble Boogie" in 1961 and "Nut Rocker" in 1962 by B. Bumble and the Stingers. "In the Mood," of course, was a reworking of the old Glenn Miller hit, and "Bumble Boogie" was a reworking of a Jack Fina single from the late 1940s, which itself was based on Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight Of The Bumblebee." Rendezvous also reissued four of the Class albums with identical art work; in fact the front covers of the Rendezvous reissues had the Class logo and album number. Only the back cover and the record labels had the Rendezvous logo and issue number.

The Ernie Fields "Orchestra" was actually the Rendezvous Records House Band, which included pianist Ernie Freeman (later with hits on Imperial), guitarist Rene Hall (former guitarist for the Dominoes), saxophonist Plas Johnson, and drummer Earl Palmer (former session drummer for the famous New Orleans acts like Fats Domino and Little Richard). Like many of the really talented studio groups in Los Angeles in the late 1950s and early 1960s, this Rendezvous House Band recorded under many different names, including B. Bumble and the Stingers (with bassist Red Callender) , the Dyna-Sores, and later as the Marketts and the Routers (on Warner Bros.).

Kim Fowley produced the B.Bumble & The Stingers hits. The first few B. Bumble records featured Ernie Freeman on piano, but by the time "Nut Rocker" came out in 1961, Al Hazan had replaced Freeman on piano, as Freeman had become a well-known act on his own. But when the studio group's hits demanded they go on tour, they weren't having any of it. They quickly hired three kids (an actual trio from Oklahoma) to stand in for them on the road, including a preposterous cover story that the guitarist's name was William (Billy) Bumble. The other two "road-Stingers" were Ron Brady and Fred Richard.

Class and Rendezvous Records were both issuing records from 1958 through 1963. Rendezvous became inactive in 1963, with no more records issued on Rendezvous after that year. Class Records continued issuing singles until 1966, and seems to have gone out of business that year. None of the Class or Rendezvous albums charted.

We would appreciate any additions or corrections to this discography. Just send them to us via e-mail. Both Sides Now Publications is an information web page. We are not a catalog, nor can we provide the records listed below. We have no association with Class Records, which is currently inactive. Should you be interested in acquiring albums listed in this discography (which are all out of print), we suggest you see our Frequently Asked Questions page and follow the instructions found there. This story and discography are copyright 1998, 1999 by Mike Callahan.