Bernard Fowler
is an American musician and songwriter, known as powerful vocalist with a wide range, who has provided backing vocals with the Rolling Stones, for over 20 years on recordings and tours, collectively and individually, as well as being a regular featured singer on other musicians' recordings and tours. He has appeared on over 30 albums. [1]
In addition, Fowler has gained notoriety touring and recording with the bands Tackhead and Bad Dog and occasionally touring with Nicklebag and Little Axe. He released his first solo album in 2006, and has produced a number of the albums upon which he performed.
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BERNARD FOWLER TICKETS
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Biography
First cuts 1970s
Fowler's first recordings were for the group
Total Eclipse in 1974. In the early '80s he was a member of The New York City
Peech Boys with DJ
Larry Levan and keyboard player Michael De Benedictus. The group had
dance hits with tracks like "Don't Make Me Wait" and "Life Is Something Special". He provided vocals for the songs "I'm The One" and "Come Down" from the
Material album
One Down
, and guested on
Herbie Hancock's 1983 album
Future Shock
, as well as the 1985 albums
Compact Disc
by
Public Image, Ltd.,
Language Barrier
by
Sly & Robbie, and
She's the Boss
, a
Mick Jagger solo effort. In 1986, he sang a song written by
Paul Simon which appeared on
Philip Glass's
Songs from Liquid Days
. In 1987 he sang backup for
James Blood Ulmer on
America:Do You Remember the Love?
, and the next year he appeared on
Bootsy Collins's
What's Bootsy Doin'?
. In 1988 Fowler found himself touring with
Steven Seagal.
[2]
Rolling Stones
thumb
In 1985, Fowler was hired to record
backing vocals on
She's The Boss
, Mick Jagger's first solo album. This proved to be the beginning of a lasting business and personal relationship, not only with Jagger, but with all the members of the Rolling Stones, as he has performed on the solo albums of
Watts, Jagger,
Richards and
Wood.
[3]
After Fowler had already performed as a
session musician with individual members of the
Rolling Stones on their solo projects, he was chosen to join the Stones on their
Steel Wheels
world tour, in 1989. Mick Jagger spoke about his choice of Fowler to sing
backing vocals saying that Fowler impressed him because he had a wide vocal range, many musical influences, and stamina.
"He is also very strong and can sing for ages. He's got a lot of range and a lot of stamina vocally. You have to have that if you're going to do long nights and lots and lots of shows, all in the open air; He can easily keep up with me." -- Mick Jagger, 1998
[4]
He has remained as a regular backup singer on tours with the Stones since then. Fowler was a feature vocalist on three of
Charlie Watts'
jazz solo albums. The other members of the Rolling Stones have utilized his vocal talents on their solo projects, including
Keith Richards's
Main Offender
and
Ron Wood's solo projects.
Fowler was the lead singer for the group
Tackhead for several albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
[5] He has also appeared on albums from
Herb Alpert,
Little Axe,
Todd Terry, and
Michael Hutchence.
Songwriting and Projects
Fowler has been asked to collaborate on songs from other artists. One such person has been Ron Wood in writing and composing songs for his solo albums. Fowler and Wood have co-written several songs together and recorded them on Wood's albums.
[6]
In 2006, Fowler released his first solo album,
Friends with Privileges
, on
Sony Japan. This is his first entirely solo effort, however, he has had a significant number of
rock and roll and
R&B heavyweights in the music industry working with him. They include
Ron Wood,
Darryl Jones and
Lisa Fischer of
Rolling Stones fame; studio
session musician and record producer
Waddy Wachtel, the
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Robert Plant,
Dave Abbruzzese, formerly of
Pearl Jam,
Joe Elliot of (
Def Leppard), and
Ivan Neville.
Discography
With the Rolling Stones and their solo projects
- (1985) She's The Boss
(Mick Jagger)
- (1989) Steel Wheels
(Rolling Stones)
- (1991) Flashpoint
(Rolling Stones)
- (1992) Tribute to Charlie Parker With Strings
(Charlie Watts)
- (1992) Slide On This
(Ronnie Wood)
- (1992) Main Offender
(Keith Richards)
- (1993) Warm and Tender
(Charlie Watts)
- (1993) Slide On Live: Plugged In And Standing
(Ronnie Wood)
- (1993) Jump Back
(Rolling Stones)
- (1994) Voodoo Lounge
(Rolling Stones)
- (1995) Stripped
(Rolling Stones)
- (1996) Long Ago and Far Away
(Charlie Watts)
- (1997) Bridges To Babylon
(Rolling Stones)
- (1998) No Security
(Rolling Stones)
- (2000) Live and Eclectic
(Ronnie Wood)
- (2002) Forty Licks
(Rolling Stones)
- (2004) Live Licks
(Rolling Stones)
- (2005) Rarities 1971-2003
(Rolling Stones)
- (2008) Shine A Light
(Rolling Stones)
With others
- (1985) Album
Public Image, Ltd.
- (1985) Language Barrier
Sly & Robbie
- (1986) Futurista
Ryuichi Sakamoto
- (1986) Media Bahn Live
Ryuichi Sakamoto
- (1986) Songs from Liquid Days
Phillip Glass
- (1987) Do You Remember the Love?
James Blood Ulmer
- (1988) What's Bootsy Doin'?
Bootsy Collins
- (1992) Future Shock
Herbie Hancock
- (1996) 12 Hits and a Bump
Nickelbag (Iguana Records)
- (2007) "Friends With Privileges" Bernard Fowler (Peregrine Records)
- (2008) Along Came a Spider
Alice Cooper
Personal Discography
- (2006) Friends With Privileges
(Sony Japan)
References
- Bernard Fowler Biography
- Bliss, Karen (accessed 10 March, 2008)Rolling Stone Magazine
- Rock-n-soul with Bernard Fowler - backup rock vocalist's career and his band Nickelbag
- Heslin, Maria Katrien with Bernard Fowler - backup rock vocalist's career and his band Nickelbag Backup Rock Vocalist's Career Oct-Nov, 1988 bNet Business Library|publisher=American Visions|accessdate=2008-06-08
- Bernard Fowler at Allmusic
- (accessed 5 March) Songs By Ron Wood