The Bernard Edwards Appreciation Thread

[Bass_In_Yer_Face]

Been listening to a lot of Bernard Edwards stuff recently. It is well document how highly he was rated amongst the bass playing community so I won’t go into that. For me he is in my top 3 all time players.

I have checked out his stuff with Chic/Sister Sledge/Diana Ross/Carly Simon but I am just keen to hear as much as possible.

Can anyone suggest some further listening as it’s damn difficult to find out what he played on unless you hear it by accident as I did with Carly Simon’s ‘Why?’…it was instantly recognisable as the famous ‘Nard’ before I even checked the credits!

I understand that JT from Duran Duran was given his Stingray after his death (man just to hold that would be incredible) and that some over enthusiastic studio technician replaced all the original strings during a Duran Duran recording session!...saying that ‘he thought they looked old’

[Clarky]

[quote name='Bass_In_Yer_Face' post='280133' date='Sep 9 2008, 08:29 AM']Been listening to a lot of Bernard Edwards stuff recently. It is well document how highly he was rated amongst the bass playing community so I won’t go into that. For me he is in my top 3 all time players.

I have checked out his stuff with Chic/Sister Sledge/Diana Ross/Carly Simon but I am just keen to hear as much as possible.

Can anyone suggest some further listening as it’s damn difficult to find out what he played on unless you hear it by accident as I did with Carly Simon’s ‘Why?’…it was instantly recognisable as the famous ‘Nard’ before I even checked the credits!

I understand that JT from Duran Duran was given his Stingray after his death (man just to hold that would be incredible) and that some over enthusiastic studio technician replaced all the original strings during a Duran Duran recording session!...saying that ‘he thought they looked old’[/quote]
Do you - or any other Forumite - have a link (Youtube?) which shows his unusual playing style? I read in 'Bass Player' magazine that he held his forefinger and thumb together and struck the strings almost as if he had a plectrum between them.

Cheers Clarky

PS, fantastic player and his basslines were part of the soundtrack of my youth

[chris_b]

Bernard Edwards has two great qualities for me.
His economy of playing: Every note is effective and there is not a single note wasted or out of place.
His unpretentiousness: Forget GAS, mojo or the technology of bass playing, his attitude was to just pick up a bass (any bass!) and nail the tune.

How do you put a different or better line to a BE tune? You can't. That's unique.

[Shaggy]

He's "the man" as far as I'm concerned, and the reason I bought Shockwaves' Eagle NT as I really coveted BE's one back in the day. I had a discography for him I'll try and dig up, this is the piece from "Bass Player";

Bernard Edwards of Chic, Part 1
By Marco Passarelli | August, 2006


It’s the conundrum of many bassists, but in Bernard Edwards’s case it’s particularly poignant: How can a person create grooves so massive that they become emblazoned in our cultural consciousness, yet his name remains largely unknown? With Chic, Edwards brought a new sophistication to late-’70s disco with hits like “Le Freak” and “Good Times,” songs propelled by his stylish funk lines and guitarist Nile Rodgers’s signature chicken-scratch sound. Rodgers and Edwards, who co-founded the group, went on to write and produce hits for others, including the 1979 smash “We Are Family” for Sister Sledge and “I’m Coming Out” and “Upside Down” for Diana Ross. After Chic disbanded, Bernard produced tracks for Robert Palmer, the Power Station, Duran Duran, and Rod Stewart. Despite such an illustrious track record, Edwards’s name usually elicits a collective “Huh?” from non-bassists. But hum one of his signature bass lines and that blank look may quickly morph to a knowing grin.




For bassists, though, Edwards—who died ten years ago after collapsing onstage—is an icon. He elevated the role of bass with articulate, well-thought-out parts, deep musicality, and a distinctive playing style that became an integral part of the band’s unique sound. Rodgers says Chic worked hard to create that sound. “We analyzed the Brothers Johnson and Rufus with Chaka Khan, and we decided we needed to have a sound that people knew was Chic when they heard it. We spent a great deal of time working on that.” For inspiration, Bernard would also turn to Motown’s James Jamerson, Atlantic session great Jerry Jemmott, and Larry Graham, Sly & the Family Stone’s slap-and-pop pioneer. “He thought Larry Graham was unreal,” says Nile. “He just couldn’t believe that technique.” But Rodgers also remembers other musicians checking out Edwards’s unusual playing style. “When we were on the tour with the Brothers Johnson, I used to see them standing at the side of the stage staring and going, ‘How the hell is he doing that?’”

Rodgers explains: “Bernard was a guitar player before he played the bass, but the last thing that he wanted to be was a bass player who used a pick. So he played with his forefinger and thumb, like he was holding a pick. He’d strike the string with the bottom and top of his finger. The strength of the low end comes from his thumb on top and the other three fingers curled up underneath, so he had the fattest pick you could ever imagine!” Bear in mind that it takes considerable time to build up the strength necessary for this technique. As Nile warns, “Bernard’s fingers would often bleed. If we played a two- or three-hour show, the blood would be dripping down the bass! But he was used to it; that’s how he played.”

Are you up for the challenge? Don’t worry; you can cop much of Edwards’s style with a soft pick or with regular fingerstyle playing. Examples 1a and 1b illustrate the main parts to Chic’s breakout hit, “Le Freak.” Nile Rodgers explains the song’s origins: “One night we were denied entrance to Studio 54, so we went around the corner to my place and started jamming. I came up with the riff because I was singing, ‘f*** off!’ to vent our frustration. Bernard just starting accenting the ‘f*** off!’ part.” Ex. 1a illustrates the expletive-laden line in question, which evolved into the chorus’s “Freak out!” Note how the part alternates between staccato downbeats and slide-offs. To usher in the verse line (Ex. 1b), Edwards plays an ultra-cool octave riff followed by a clever chromatic walk-up to the tonic. Relentlessly repetitive eighth- and 16th-note octaves were the disco norm of the time, but Edwards employed the octave as a stylish flourish. In the verse riff itself, Edwards used hammer-ons to mirror and embellish Rodgers’s scratch-guitar part, while continuing to incorporate the “Freak out” motif in his approach to the downbeat.

Ex. 2a shows the main chorus riff in Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family,” one of the biggest hits written and produced by Chic for another artist. Bernard’s catchy part accentuates how the chord changes anticipate each downbeat, while stressing the roots with slick beat three octave jumps. In Ex. 2b’s altered version, dig Bernard’s tasty, syncopated hammer-ons to the A7 chord tones. Ex. 2c shows the song’s verse bass line. The part’s busy bar 1 figure ushers in the vocal part, which starts on the “and” of three. In bar 2, Bernard’s crafty part provides rhythmic contrast to the bar 2’s syncopated vocal.

Next: Duran Duran’s John Taylor tells why Bernard Edwards was his hero, and the bass line that launched hip-hop.

[Mike Brooks]

Plenty of Bernard's playing on the second Power Station album "Living In Fear" and the Rod Stewart albums "Out Of Order" and " Vagabond Heart".

Not to mention the bass part on Robert Palmer's "Addicted To Love"

Mike

[SJA]

Norma Jean- "saturday"

see the chic tribute site for more info-
[url="http://www.chictribute.com/"]http://www.chictribute.com/[/url]

re. his chucking technique, he's seen using it on "dance dance dance" at the 1996 Budokan gig-
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvGU_iHlSrk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvGU_iHlSrk[/url]

Edited September 9, 2008 by SJA

[Bass_In_Yer_Face]

I think I read somewhere that Queen met Chic while recording at the same time in a studio and JD based the bass part of 'Another One Bites The Dust' on 'Good Times'...I think.

[molan]

There's a pretty extensive discography here:

[url="http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:a9frxqy5ldje~T4"]http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...a9frxqy5ldje~T4[/url]

It runs for 3 pages but includes both his production credits and a lot of mentions of compilation albums that he featured on. Worth checking out though for some of the less well known stuff like Stacy Latislaw, Paul Simon, Bowie!, Joe Cocker, Jagger, Rod Stewart, Robert Palmer etc.


PS - How great a rhythm guitarist is Nile Rodgers by the way? I can listen to him all day

Edited September 9, 2008 by molan

[molan]

[quote name='SJA' post='280224' date='Sep 9 2008, 11:24 AM']re. his chucking technique, he's seen using it on "dance dance dance" at the 1996 Budokan gig-
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvGU_iHlSrk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvGU_iHlSrk[/url][/quote]

What a brilliant series of vids - I'm sitting at my desk downloading the entire set of 10 right now

[SJA]

[quote name='molan' post='280340' date='Sep 9 2008, 01:22 PM']What a brilliant series of vids - I'm sitting at my desk downloading the entire set of 10 right now [/quote]

I got the DVD+Cd of that Budokan 96 gig (Nard's last) 2years ago.
Jill Jones is rather easy on the eye too....

[The Hammer]

Go to youtube and search for Zuma. He's a bassist in the US who is a huge Bernard Edwards/John Taylor fan. He has several lesson on youtube showing how to play in their styles.

[barneyg42]

[quote name='SJA' post='280359' date='Sep 9 2008, 01:57 PM']I got the DVD+Cd of that Budokan 96 gig (Nard's last) 2years ago.
Jill Jones is rather easy on the eye too....[/quote]
YOWSAH YOWSAH YOWSAH!!


She was with Prince too.

The Budakan Dvd is regular viewing for me. I seemed to have got into some bass players after they were gone, Edwards, Jaco........it drives you crazy wondering what they would be up to now if they had survived. The music is always there so it has to do.

[thisnameistaken]

There's a close-up of Bernard's right hand at the start of this vid: [url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RFQcOrqQLN8"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RFQcOrqQLN8[/url]

[Bass_In_Yer_Face]

Just got a CD copy of the Chic live at the Boudakan and I can't even here the bloody bass in half the tracks!...I skipped straight to "I want your love" and couldn't even hear the bass part!

On the plus side I just found another killer bass line from Nard on 'Sorcerer' by Norma Jean Wright

[crez5150]

He was F*****G AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Delberthot]

Everybody Dance isn't the easiest song I ever learned!

He was such a fluid player.

To elaborate on the John Taylor incident - Bernard left the Stingray to John as they had become very good friends through the Powerstation stuff.

One day he was recording something and went outside for a fag or something and when he came back the sound engineer had taken the strings off the bass. He didn't just take them off, he cut them oiff!

Bernard was famously asked what strings he used and his answer was 'whatever they come with' and they were the strings that were on it until that day.

There was nothing special about that bass, it was just a 2 band late 70s Stingray with dead old strings. Someone said it best when they said that 'the funk is in the fingers'.

[wombatboter]

I do often forget how much Bernard Edwards influenced my playing....He was one of the best bassplayers there has ever been. Killer sound, tremendous grooves, great technique (the slap bass on Baby Doll)..
Like someone already mentioned : hurray for Nile Rodgers too...
Saw him a couple of years ago in a Belgian TV show where he had to play some live songs..
Probably he wasn't too pleased with the local rythm section and decided to play the Chic songs only with his guitar and his two backing singers...
His groove was so tight and tasteful that he managed to pull it off by himself and even without bass and drums "Le Freak" was incredible..
Some musicians like Rodgers/Edwards for instance are truly blessed...

[JJTee]

This is a great little tribute to Chic and Bernard:

[url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=s4VfG0oFe3k"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=s4VfG0oFe3k[/url]

Enjoy

[YouMa]

Him and Nile did the soundtrack to an 80s film called soup for one which features why by Carly simon,the film isnt supposed to be to good but apparently the soundtrack by edwards and rogers is well good.Does anyone have this? I cant find it anywhere.I presume it is now deleted.

[Kiwi]

FWIW, Nard didn't collapse on stage. If you get the Budokan DVD you'll have his final performance right there. What's particularly poignant is that just before he introduces Nile he mentions he's got a touch of the "Tokyo Flu". Little did anyone know he'd be dead 2 days later. Utterly, utterly tragic.

As for Jill Jones, if you take a look at the intro section when she does her solo bit, she sings a version of "this old man..." with a few invented lines that don't make any sense whatsoever. I've managed to catch Nile Rogers online in chat a couple of times and asked him about that bit. He wondered if she might have been high on something as her judgement was way off.

The thing I learned most from Nards playing was the art of playing behind the beat. Its definitely a mind set thing that playing so relaxed.

[mxm]

Without being really anal, I think the Budokan DVD was filmed over 2 gigs/different nights....someone may enlighten me...??!!

Anyway, 'Nard rules.

[silverfoxnik]

[quote name='chris_b' post='280188' date='Sep 9 2008, 10:09 AM']Bernard Edwards has two great qualities for me.
His economy of playing: Every note is effective and there is not a single note wasted or out of place.
His unpretentiousness: Forget GAS, mojo or the technology of bass playing, his attitude was to just pick up a bass (any bass!) and nail the tune.

How do you put a different or better line to a BE tune? You can't. That's unique.[/quote]
+1

His basslines were the song in a lot of cases, and that really is unique!

[Clarky72]

[quote name='Clarky' post='280135' date='Sep 9 2008, 07:37 AM']Do you - or any other Forumite - have a link (Youtube?) which shows his unusual playing style? I read in 'Bass Player' magazine that he held his forefinger and thumb together and struck the strings almost as if he had a plectrum between them.

Cheers Clarky

PS, fantastic player and his basslines were part of the soundtrack of my youth[/quote]

Hey Clarky,

Check this clip. There's a part where you see Bernard's technique of thumb & forefinger clearly...

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14kXaX5D6Ng"]The Man[/url]

Cheers
Clarky

[Huw Foster]

He's very quickly turning into one the strongest influences on my playing of late. Can't get enough!

[alanbass1]

Bernard is great. Larry Graham then Bernard really shaped my style in my early days on bass