Bernice Williams

Last updated

Bernice Williams is an American songwriter and music business manager, who wrote the 1960s song "Duke of Earl" [1] [2] along with Gene Chandler and Earl Edwards. [3] The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002 and is in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll. [4] In the 1960s, she wrote three Billboard Hot 100 hit songs.

Contents

Passing in 2013, she leaves behind 2 adult daughters in Chicago.

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. [5] Their track, "Night Owl" (also known as "Nite Owl"), was released on Nat Records, [6] and it entered the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 73 in February 1962. "Duke of Earl" appeared as a single in November 1961, with a song called "Kissin' In The Kitchen" (also written by Bernice Williams) on the B-side. "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. pop and R&B charts in February 1962. [7] [8]

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", [9] which was released on Pam Records that year. The record peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100. [10] [11]

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. [12]

Williams has written over 200 songs. [13]

Related Research Articles

Chicago soul is a style of soul music that arose during the 1960s in Chicago. Along with Detroit, the home of Motown, and Memphis, with its hard-edged, gritty performers, Chicago and the Chicago soul style helped spur the album-oriented soul revolution of the early 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Illinois</span>

Illinois, including Chicago has a wide musical heritage. Chicago is most famously associated with the development of electric blues music. Chicago was also a center of development for early jazz and later for house music, and includes a vibrant hip hop scene and R&B. Chicago also has a thriving rock scene that spans the breadth of the rock genre, from huge stadium-filling arena-rock bands to small local indie bands. Chicago has had a significant historical impact on the development of many rock subgenres including power pop, punk rock, indie rock, emo rock, pop punk, and alternative rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Butler</span> American soul singer and songwriter

Jerry Butler Jr. is an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and retired politician. He was the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group the Impressions, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. After leaving the group in 1960, Butler achieved over 55 Billboard Pop and R&B Chart hits as a solo artist including "He Will Break Your Heart", "Let It Be Me" and "Only the Strong Survive". He was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deniece Williams</span> American R&B and soul singer (born 1950)

June Deniece Williams is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great soul voices" by the BBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Chandler</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1937)

Gene Chandler 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 songs, "Duke of Earl" and "Groovy Situation", and his association with the Dukays, the Impressions, and Curtis Mayfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Your Cheatin' Heart</span> 1952 song by Hank Williams

"Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams in 1952. It is regarded as one of country's most important standards. Williams was inspired to write the song while driving with his fiancée from Nashville, Tennessee, to Shreveport, Louisiana. After describing his first wife Audrey Sheppard as a "cheatin' heart", in minutes he dictated the lyrics to Billie Jean Jones. Produced by Fred Rose, Williams recorded the song at his last session at Castle Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 23.

Chi-Sound Records is an independent record label set up in 1976 by established Chicago record producer Carl Davis. He had been involved in the music industry since the early 1960s working with locally based record labels, including Vee-Jay and Okeh, a subsidiary of the major Columbia Records. He produced the number one hit by Gene Chandler, "Duke of Earl" for Vee-Jay. Later, as A&R chief for Okeh, he produced a run of hits with writer/singer Curtis Mayfield, for another Chicago artist, Major Lance, including "The Monkey Time" and "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um". Davis left Okeh after it was merged with Epic Records in a dispute with Epic management over side projects outside Epic/Okeh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Acklin</span> American singer-songwriter (1943–1998)

Barbara Jean Acklin was an American soul singer and songwriter, who was most successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her biggest hit as a singer was "Love Makes a Woman" (1968). As a songwriter, she is best known for co-writing the multi-million-selling "Have You Seen Her" (1971) with Eugene Record, lead singer of the Chi-Lites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke of Earl</span> 1962 single by Gene Chandler

"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 Edwards. This song was a 2002 inductee into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It has also been selected by The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cozy Cole</span> American drummer

William Randolph "Cozy" Cole was an American jazz drummer who worked with Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong among others and led his own groups.

<i>Curtis in Chicago</i> 1973 live album by Curtis Mayfield

Curtis in Chicago is a 1973 live album by Curtis Mayfield and others. Mayfield is joined by The Impressions, Jerry Butler, Gene Chandler and others in a review of Mayfield's then-fifteen years as a recording artist.

"Ko Ko Mo (I Love You So)" is a popular rock novelty song written in late 1954 by the rhythm and blues partnership of Forest Gene Wilson and Eunice Levy, and also credited to Jake Porter. One of the earliest rock and roll songs, it was probably "the most extensively recorded rock 'n' roll song of that time".

Earl G. Edwards was an American R&B singer and songwriter.

Addie "Jan" Bradley is an American soul singer.

The Starlets were an American girl group from Chicago, Illinois.

Carl H. Davis Sr. was an American record producer and music executive, who was particularly active in Chicago in the 1960s and 1970s. He was responsible for hit R&B records by Gene Chandler, Major Lance, Jackie Wilson, The Chi-Lites, Barbara Acklin, Tyrone Davis and others.

<i>Tomorrows Hits</i> (Vee-Jay Records album) 1962 compilation album by Various artists

Tomorrow's Hits is a 1962 compilation album issued by Vee-Jay Records. Unlike most compilations, the album showcased not songs which had already been issued, but songs which had mainly yet to be issued. Alongside established artists, the album introduced some unknown artists: Rod Bernard, The Sheppards, Ray Whitley, Grover Mitchell, Norman Charles, and the Bill Allen Trio.

The Sheppards was an American, Chicago-based soul and blues vocal group. The group was formed in 1959 by the members of the Ballads and the Bel Aires and was active until 1969. The group was named after producer Bill Sheppard and consisted of Millard Edwards, Jimmy Allen (baritone), James Dennis Isaac, O. C. Perkins, Murrie Eskridge, and Kermit Chandler (guitar). They recorded for Vee-Jay Records, and were featured on compilations such as Tomorrow's Hits (1962).

Otha Lee Moore, better known as Tiny Topsy, was an American R&B singer. The music journalist, Mark Lamarr, noted "Tiny in the same spirit you'd call a bald man curly, Tiny Topsy definitely had the lungpower to match her name." She was five feet tall and weighed 250 pounds.

<i>Sha Na Na</i> (album) 1971 studio album by Sha Na Na

Sha Na Na is the second album by American doo-wop and rock & roll group Sha Na Na, issued in 1971.

References

  1. Pruter, Robert (1992). Chicago Soul. University of Illinois Press. pp. 58–. ISBN   978-0-252-06259-9 . Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  2. Langer, Adam (25 July 1991). "Music People: nothing has stopped the Duke of Earl". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  3. Richie Unterberger. "Duke of Earl - Gene Chandler | Song Info". AllMusic . Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  4. "Duke of Earl Lyrics". Lyrics.com. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  5. "Today in Rock & Roll History: January 13th". Wwcfradio.org. 2020-01-13. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  6. Andrew Hamilton. "The Dukays | Biography & History". AllMusic . Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  7. Robert Pruter (1996). Doowop: The Chicago Scene. University of Illinois Press. pp. 211–213. ISBN   9780252065064.
  8. "Gene Chandler - *The Official Website*". Gene Chandler. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
  9. "The Dukays | Way Back Attack". Waybackattack.com. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  10. "The Starlets | Biography & History". AllMusic . Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  11. Joel Whitburn (2000). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (9th ed.). Billboard Books. ISBN   978-0823085545.
  12. "Tiny Topsy | Biography & History". AllMusic . Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  13. "Bernice Williams". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2020-10-27.