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Musician

Bernard Edwards

born on 31/10/1952 in Greenville, NC, United States

died on 18/4/1996

Bernard Edwards

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bernard Edwards (October 31, 1952 April 18, 1996) was a bass player and record producer, both as a member of the funk/disco band Chic and on his own. He died of pneumonia while touring in Japan.

History

Edwards, who was born in Greenville, North Carolina, and grew up in Brooklyn, New York City, met Nile Rodgers in the early 1970s. The two formed the Big Apple Band (active 1972-1976) and then united with drummer Tony Thompson to eventually form Chic together with singer Norma Jean Wright.

With Chic (active 1976-1983), Edwards created era-defining hits such as "Dance, Dance, Dance", "Everybody Dance", "Le Freak", "I Want Your Love" and "Good Times". Edwards also worked with Nile Rodgers to produce and write for other artists, using Chic to perform everything musically and vocally except lead vocals. Those productions with Norma Jean Wright, Sister Sledge, Sheila and B. Devotion, Diana Ross, Johnny Mathis, Debbie Harry and Fonzi Thornton led to more hits such as "Saturday", "He's The Greatest Dancer", "We Are Family", "Spacer", "Upside Down", "I'm Coming Out" and "Backfired". In the song "We Are Family," Kathy Sledge gives Edwards a brief shout-out, singing "Yeah, come on Bernard, play...play your funky bass, boy!". As a lone songwriter/producer, he gave Diana Ross her Top 15 hit, "Telephone" off of her 1985 platinum "Swept Away" album released on RCA and Ross' international label, Capitol/EMI.

Chic split in 1983 due to personal and artistic differences between Edwards and Rodgers.

Edwards released a solo album the same year, and in 1985 he was instrumental in the formation of the supergroup Power Station. The band's first album was produced by Edwards and featured Chic drummer Tony Thompson, and Duran Duran members John and Andy Taylor as well as singer Robert Palmer. Edwards followed this by producing Robert Palmer's hit album Riptide. He continued to produce artists throughout the 1980s and 90s. Among others, he worked with Diana Ross, Adam Ant, Rod Stewart, Air Supply, ABC and Duran Duran.

Edwards was the father of multi-platinum record producer Bernard "Focus..." Edwards, Jr. who has produced songs for Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé Knowles, Busta Rhymes, Bishop Lamont, Tony Yayo and more.

Edwards teamed up with Nile Rodgers again for the Chic reunion in the early 1990s and released the album Chic-Ism in 1992.

Death

In 1996 Nile Rodgers was named JT Superproducer of the Year in Japan, and was invited to perform there with Chic in April of that year. Just before the concert at the Budokan Arena in Tokyo, Edwards fell ill, but despite Rodgers' insistence, he refused to cancel the gig. He managed to perform but had to be helped at times. After the concert he retired to his hotel room where he was later found dead by Rodgers. The cause of death was ruled to be pneumonia.

Basses

Edwards played a Fender Jazz bass in pre-Chic The Big Apple Band. As Chic's bassist, he used a Music Man StingRay (bequeathed to Duran Duran's John Taylor after Edwards' death), a Fender Precision Bass, and a B.C. Rich "Eagle" bass during the prime of Chic. Later he would also use a Spector NS. He also was known to play a G&L L-1000 and a Sadowsky standard.

Influence

His bass line from Chic hit "Good Times" has become one of the most copied pieces of music in history, and had a huge influence on musicians of many genres when released and was the inspiration for "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen.

The Chic song "Good Times" was credited on Sugarhill Gang's "Rappers Delight" in 1979 ("based on the music from the song 'Good Times' N. Rogers / B. Edwards" is on the vinyl label) - the first rap song to become a mainstream hit. The following twenty-odd years has seen it sampled by artists of diverse genres, from Rap to Punk and Techno to Pop. Duran Duran bassist John Taylor often played the song in homage during his solo performances, and cited Edwards as his primary influence.

On September 19, 2005, Edwards was honored posthumously for his outstanding achievement as a producer, when he was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York.

Selected discography

Chic

  • Chic (1977)
  • C'est Chic (1978)
  • Risqué (1979)
  • Real People (1980)
  • Take It Off (1981)
  • Tongue in Chic (1982)
  • Believer (1983)
  • Dance, Dance, Dance: The Best of Chic (1991)
  • Chic-Ism (1992)
  • The Best of Chic, Volume 2 (1992)
  • Live at the Budokan (1999)

Solo

  • Glad To Be Here (1983)

Production

  • Norma Jean, Norma Jean Wright (1978)
  • We Are Family, Sister Sledge (1979)
  • King of the World, Sheila and B. Devotion (1980)
  • Love Somebody Today, Sister Sledge (1980)
  • diana, Diana Ross (1980)
  • I Love My Lady, Johnny Mathis (1981) (Unreleased)
  • Koo Koo, Debbie Harry (1981)
  • unknown title, Fonzi Thornton (1982) (Unreleased)
  • Swept Away, Diana Ross (1984)
  • Power Station, Power Station (1985)
  • "A View To A Kill" (single), Duran Duran (1985)
  • Heat, Nona Hendryx (1985)
  • Riptide, Robert Palmer (1985)
  • Cocker, Joe Cocker (1986)
  • Color In Your Life, Missing Persons (1986)
  • Hearts In Motion, Air Supply (1986)
  • Alphabet City, ABC (1987)
  • If, Hollywood Beyond (1987)
  • Contact, Platinum Blonde (1987)
  • Jody Watley, Jody Watley (1987)
  • Out of Order, Rod Stewart (1988)
  • Under The One Sky, Distance (1989)
  • YUI Orta, Ian Hunter/The Hunter Ronson Band (1990)
  • Break The Silence, The Triplets (1990)
  • Vagabond Heart, Rod Stewart (1991)
  • Persuasion, Adam Ant (1991) (Unreleased)
  • Living in Fear, Power Station (1996)

External links

References

This page was last modified 10.10.2013 17:52:24

This article uses material from the article Bernard Edwards from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.