The original duo were Bobby Byrd (who also recorded solo as Bobby Day) and Earl Nelson. They had both been members of the Hollywood Flames, a prolific doo-wop group in Los Angeles whose major hit was 'Buzz, Buzz, Buzz' in 1958, on which Nelson sang lead. However, the early Bob & Earl releases had little success and Byrd restarted his solo career.

In 1962, Nelson recruited a second 'Bob', Bobby Relf (who also used the stage names of Bobby Garrett and Bobby Valentino). This duo recorded several singles for different labels before recording 'Harlem Shuffle' in 1963. When released on the Marc label, it became a modest hit on the R&B chart, but its major success came as late as 1969 when it was re-released in the UK and was a Top 10 hit.

Bob & Earl toured together after the 1969 reissue but split up for the last time in the early 1970s.