Gil Bernal (February 4, 1931–July 17, 2011) was an American singer and session musician. His saxophone can be heard on recordings such as "
Searchin'
"Searchin" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller specifically for the Coasters. Atco Records released it as a single in March 1957, which topped the R&B Chart for twelve weeks. It also reached number three on the ''Billboard'' s ...
" by
The Coasters
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. With hits including "Searchin'", "Young Blood (The Coasters song), Young Blood", "Charlie Brown (The Coasters song), Charlie Bro ...
. In the 1950s he played on
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy (April 26, 1938 – April 30, 2024) was an American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" guitar sound, including ...
's 1958 album ''
Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel''. In later years, he played on
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer and songwriter. His most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money" and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". All t ...
's 2003 album ''
The Wind'' and the ''
Chávez Ravine'' album by
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...
.
Background
Bernal was born on February 4, 1931, in Watts, Los Angeles. His father was Sicilian and his mother Mexican.
Career
As well as a musician, Bernal was a singer in his own right. As singer he sang on his own singles, which included "Keep Those Wanderin' Eyes Off My Baby", "Tower of Strength" and "The Dogs".
Early years to the 1950s
By the time he was in his teens he was an accomplished singer and saxophonist. In the early days he played at parties. In 1950, he ended up replacing a sax player that Lionel Hampton had fired. He then toured nationally with Hampton in a band that included
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...
and
Little Jimmy Scott. In the period between 1954 and 1955, Bernal recorded under his own name. He recorded "Easyville" and "The Whip" for the
Spark Records label. Two others he recorded for the label were "Strawberry Stomp" and "King Solomon's Mines". "The Whip" did receive some airplay and was used by
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...
as the opening theme for his late R&B show. He did some session work for the label which included "
Riot in Cell Block Number 9
"Riot in Cell Block #9" is a R&B song composed by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1954. The song was first recorded by The Robins the same year. That recording was one of the first R&B hits to use sound effects and employed a Muddy Waters stop ...
" by
The Robins
The Robins were a successful and influential American R&B group of the late 1940s and 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal groups who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound. They were founded by Ty Terrell, and twin brothers Bil ...
.
He played on Duane Eddy's 1958 hit "
Rebel Rouser" and also "Stalkin'".
1960s
His single "This Is Worth Fighting For" was picked by ''Billboard'' in July 1967 to chart in the hot 100. Also in 1967, the film ''
Banning'' that starred
Robert Wagner
Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor. He is known for starring in the television shows ''It Takes a Thief (1968 TV series), It Takes a Thief'' (1968–1970), ''Switch (American TV series), Switch'' (1975–1978), ...
and
Jill St. John and
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – ) was an American actor. Hackman made his credited film debut in the drama ''Lilith (film), Lilith'' (1964). He later won two Academy Awards, his first for Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Actor for ...
was released. Bernal sang the song "The Eyes of Love" which was featured in the film. He received an Academy Award nomination for it. He performed "It Sure Is Groovy" for the movie "In The Heat of the Night" starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. Bernal also sang "The Next Train Out", featured in the 1969 film ''
Blood of Dracula's Castle''.
1970s
In 1970, he was signed to
Amaret Records with the intention to be produced
Joe Porter and
Jerry Styner.
1990s to 2000s
In 1997 he appeared in the film ''The End of Violence''. In the 90s, he received a phone call from
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...
, who had known him for about five years, asking him to come to Havana in the next few days to play on a recording by
Ibrahim Ferrer
Ibrahim Ferrer (20 February 1927 – 6 August 2005) was a Cuban singer who played with the group Los Bocucos for nearly forty years. He also performed with Conjunto Sorpresa, Chepín y su Orquesta Oriental, and Mario Patterson. After his re ...
. Bernal didn't have his passport in order and it would have been weeks before he could get it sorted. In the end, the solution was to overdub the saxophone parts. So following Cooder's instructions, he added the parts. In 2005, Bernal contributed to Cooder's concept album ''
Chavez Ravine
Chavez Ravine is a shallow canyon in Los Angeles, California. It sits in a large promontory of hills north of downtown Los Angeles, next to Major League Baseball's Dodger Stadium. Chavez Ravine was named for a 19th-century Los Angeles councilm ...
''.
In 2012, his record "The Dogs" bw "James" was re-released by Jukebox Jam Series in 2012. The A side is a
Northern Soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...
favorite while the B side is a tribute to Civil Rights Movement figure
James Meredith
James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights activist, writer, political adviser, and United States Air Force veteran who became, in 1962, the first African-American student admitted to the racially segregated Univers ...
. Bernal had agreed to the terms of reissuing the 45 but died before the record was released.
Death
In 2011, he died in
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles.
As of 2024, Glendale ha ...
, at the age of 80.
[''BBC News'' July 28, 201]
US saxophonist Gil Bernal dies aged 80
/ref>
Discography
References
Links
*
* Gil Bernal Wikipedia Germany
Discussions
Gil Bernal discussed at Monstor Movie Music
Gil Bernal discussed at Soul Source
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernal, Gil
1931 births
2011 deaths
American people of Italian descent
American session musicians
American jazz tenor saxophonists
American male saxophonists
American male pop singers
Singers from Los Angeles
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
American musicians of Mexican descent
American male actors of Mexican descent
Jazz musicians from California
American male jazz musicians
20th-century American saxophonists