It’s funny how sometimes you think you ‘found’ a new artist, only to discover afterwards that you’ve ‘known’ him for quite a few years, but somehow his name never registered…
In this case I got intrigued in Bernard Fowler after reading reviews of his 2019 solo album ‘Inside Out’, a fascinating spoken-word album featuring only Stones covers, which gave familiar songs quite a different twist.
I listened to the whole album and was very impressed, this guy knew what he was doing!
Since then I have been paying more attention to Mr. Fowler and although he released only 3 solo albums, he has been appearing as a guest vocalist on loads of albums, including several in my own collection; Sly & Robbie’s 'Language Barrier', Material’s 'One Down', Jazz Passengers' 'In Love', James Blood Ulmer’s 'America - Do You Remember The Love?', and many more…
Plus he has been working as a backup vocalist with the Rolling Stones for a very long time, both in the studio and on stage!
Here’s a brief overview of his career so far.
He started singing in 1975 with the group The Total Eclipse for the album 'A Great Combination'.
In the early 1980s he provided vocals for several Celluloid Records and Bill Laswell projects, incl. Herbie Hancock’s 'Future Shock' hit album. During the later 80s and 90s he was a popular vocal gun for hire, besides the earlier mentioned albums and bands he also worked with Tackhead, Little Axe, Yoko Ono, Bootsy Collins, Philip Glass, etc.
The Stones connection started in 1985 where he contributed vocals to Mick Jagger’s solo ’She’s The Boss’ and 4 years later for the band’s ’Steel Wheels’. Besides those he also appeared on albums by Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Charlie Watts…
In 2006 Fowler finally released a solo funk/rock/pop/soul album ‘Friends With Privileges’, which was followed by ‘The Bura’ in 2015, featuring a mix of reggae, blues, rock and more…
Despite such an impressive resume no compilation has ever been released, consequently this seemed like an excellent opportunity for Jokonky to correct this lack and hopefully introduce his work to our regular visitors and beyond.
Considering the huge number of artists/groups he has worked with, the most appropriate name for this (double disc!) compilation seemed ‘In Good Company’.
In this case I got intrigued in Bernard Fowler after reading reviews of his 2019 solo album ‘Inside Out’, a fascinating spoken-word album featuring only Stones covers, which gave familiar songs quite a different twist.
I listened to the whole album and was very impressed, this guy knew what he was doing!
Plus he has been working as a backup vocalist with the Rolling Stones for a very long time, both in the studio and on stage!
Here’s a brief overview of his career so far.
He started singing in 1975 with the group The Total Eclipse for the album 'A Great Combination'.
In the early 1980s he provided vocals for several Celluloid Records and Bill Laswell projects, incl. Herbie Hancock’s 'Future Shock' hit album. During the later 80s and 90s he was a popular vocal gun for hire, besides the earlier mentioned albums and bands he also worked with Tackhead, Little Axe, Yoko Ono, Bootsy Collins, Philip Glass, etc.
The Stones connection started in 1985 where he contributed vocals to Mick Jagger’s solo ’She’s The Boss’ and 4 years later for the band’s ’Steel Wheels’. Besides those he also appeared on albums by Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Charlie Watts…
In 2006 Fowler finally released a solo funk/rock/pop/soul album ‘Friends With Privileges’, which was followed by ‘The Bura’ in 2015, featuring a mix of reggae, blues, rock and more…
Despite such an impressive resume no compilation has ever been released, consequently this seemed like an excellent opportunity for Jokonky to correct this lack and hopefully introduce his work to our regular visitors and beyond.
Considering the huge number of artists/groups he has worked with, the most appropriate name for this (double disc!) compilation seemed ‘In Good Company’.
Disc 1 includes Fowler with:
Material / Beside / B-Side / Taxi Gang / Sly & Robbie Band / Jonas Hellborg / Philip Glass / Ryuichi Sakamoto / The Strange Parcels / Ronnie Wood / Stevie Salas / Jazz Passengers
Disc 2 features him with:
Tack>Head / The Uptown Horns / Bomb The Bass / Herb Alpert / Doug Wimbish / Paul Rose / The Boneshakers / The Chess Project / George Lynch & Jeff Pilson + a few tracks from his solo albums
Link: https://pixeldrain.com/u/cQQ6LzxA
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Have any of you ever had a similar experience like mine with 'discovering a new artist' who in hindsight wasn't that 'new' at all?
I will have to give that question some thought! This was a great idea to feature Bernard Fowler. I first became aware of his name when he was the vocalist for the Charlie Watts Quintet on their 1993 album Warm & Tender. I picked up the CD after hearing "My Ship" on radio or maybe a video channel. It is a lovely album of romantic jazz standards. The follow up album (Long Ago & Far Away) is credited to Charlie Watts (not his Quintet), and is equally good.
DeleteThen I discovered (as you have) that Bernard was on many of the On-U Sound records already in my collection (as lead singer on some of the Tackhead, Strange Parcels and Little Axe records), and that he was in demand as a backup vocalist for the Rolling Stones and others. He appears on Johnnie B. Bad (my favorite in the American Explorers series).
I believe he got his start in the early 1980's with a group called the Peech Boys (sometimes billed as NYC Peech Boys). They were popular in the dance clubs, and that led to Bernard's collaboration with Material, as they were utilizing a number of different vocalists.
Interesting bit of trivia about Beside (a Material production): "Change The Beat" is one of the most sampled records in music history.
https://www.whosampled.com/Beside/Change-the-Beat-(Female-Version)/
Thanks Jonder, glad you like it. I know there is enough material to compile another collection of Fowler collaborations, but let's first see how this post will be received.
DeleteI always assumed he had involvement with Was Not Was...maybe it was the lyric that threw me:
ReplyDelete"I'll work for Mr. Fowler, making fifty-cents an hour"
Somewhere in America there's a street named after My Dad
When Shakin Stevens first got his Top 40 entry I did not know he had ten years of experience, same with Jona Lewie, who was "new" in 1980 with Kitchen At Parties while he had Cherry Ring and before that Terry Dactyl.
ReplyDeleteIn 1982 Golden Earring played Rockpalast. On tv it was announced as "some will say, nâh, another new hard-rock band, while others will ask, didn't knew they still existed? Live from the Grugahalle in Essen: here are Golden Earring"
The other way around, I used to think that (The) Scorpions were one and the same, Hello Josephine and the German Hardrockers.
There were a lot of New Wave and power pop artists who were "new" to me when I was young, but had a background in pub rock bands that had never caught my attention. Snakefinger had been a pub rocker with Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers (and their drummer Pete Thomas joined Elvis Costello's Attractions). Finding out that Huey Lewis' band Clover played on My Aim Is True... that the members of The Police had played jazz, blues and fusion... that the Stranglers and Joe Strummer were OLD...
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