Bernice Williams is an American

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

and music business manager, who wrote the 1960s song "

Duke of Earl "Duke of Earl" is a 1962 US number-one song, originally recorded by Gene Chandler. It is the best known of Chandler's songs, and he subsequently dubbed himself "The Duke of Earl". The song was written by Chandler, Bernice Williams, and Earl Edw ...

" along with

Gene Chandler Gene Chandler (born Eugene Drake Dixon; July 6, 1937) is an American singer, songwriter, music producer, and record-label executive. Chandler is nicknamed "the Duke of Earl" or, simply, "the Duke." He is best known for his most successful song ...

and Earl Edwards. The song was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

in 2002 and is in The

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll. In the 1960s, she wrote three ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hit songs.

Career

Chandler was discovered by Williams. Under her professional guidance, Chandler was introduced to agent Bill Sheppard, and Sheppard found a slot for Chandler as the lead singer with a doo-wop group called the Dukays. Their track, "Night Owl" (also known as "Nite Owl"), was released on Nat Records, and it entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 73 in February 1962. "Duke of Earl" appeared as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in November 1961, with a song called "Kissin' In The Kitchen" (also written by Bernice Williams) on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

. "Duke of Earl" was a major hit, with one million copies sold by the end of the calendar year; the song topped both the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

pop and R&B charts in February 1962. Williams was also responsible for the discovery of The Starlets, an American girl group from Chicago, Illinois. The group came together in 1961, and auditioned for Williams. She wrote them "Better Tell Him No", which was released on Pam Records that year. The record peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100. Tiny Topsy was believed to be an alias used by Williams (who wrote Tiny Topsy's track, "Western Rock 'N' Roll") for some time, although pop historians now discount the idea. Williams has written over 200 songs.

Family

She lives in Chicago with her daughter, and continues to write music.

References

External links

"Poverty hits African Americans hard", 23 April 2009
at News.bbc.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Bernice American women songwriters Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American women