Great thread, just read the whole thing, viewed the clips, etc. Just wanted to say, this is what makes TalkBass so awesome -- you get to learn a lot more about amazing players like this. 
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Bernard Edwards - Sadowsky Model
- Thread starter eduardo
- Start date
Well, According a conversation that Marcus Miller had with Bernard : he said he thought that Bernard always played the B.C Rich,so he went out and bought one, only to find out that he played a Precision on some of the earlier recordings
I think you nailed it
Funny thing, after posting this an old rerun of Soul Train was on TV and they had Chic. Bernard was holding a BC Rich but it sounded like a MM. That show used to always fake it to a pre recorded track
MikeBass
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I think you nailed it
Funny thing, after posting this an old rerun of Soul Train was on TV and they had Chic. Bernard was holding a BC Rich but it sounded like a MM. That show used to always fake it to a pre recorded track
Not always but way too often.
Bernard Edwards
Yeah, Bernard was a friend of mine. We would run into each other in studios, in the street. He would give me advice about a lot of things. He told me not to move to LA (I didn't listen
I remember, around 1978, I saw Bernard on a Chic album cover with a BC Rich bass. It was white with this unusally shaped body. Anyway, the song "Good Times" was on this album and I thought it sounded so good, I ran out and bought a white BC Rich.
I got it home and started playing Good Times...I'm saying to myself, "This don't sound like the record........."
I met Bernard shortly after and told him I bought the BC Rich but couldn't get that cool sound. He said, "Man I didn't play a BC Rich on that album. I played my Fender Precision!" I said, "But you have the BC Rich on the album cover." He said, "Yeah, well the BC Rich looks good, so I take pictures with it!"
God rest his soul......
Poor fella, must've sold his Fender...
Way overlooked in the general back-of-the-hand dismissal of disco by 'serious musicians'.
I've got news for you: Disco saved bass guitar in a lot of ways. This was the advent of wide-spread synth use, and back then we wondered if keyboard or MIDI'd bass would put us out of business, what with 'Dream Weaver' and the like as big hits at the time.
Disco records pushed kick drum and bass right up in your face, and lots of those records had some great lines and great playing. Disco gets short shrift, but among the paying customers it was a reaction that folks were tired of flannel shirts, politics, and granola: They were ready to party like it's 1979 !
I loved so much of Bernard's playing, but a real fave is Diana Ross' 'I'm Coming Up' which is essentially Chic being the studio band under her vocals. Like Verdine White, Bernard had a very strong right hand, and besides his deep groove, there's lots of little grace notes that drive that tune like a train, and of course with the late Tony Thompson and Nile Rodgers' rhythm guitar work, they were a locked rhythm section like few before or since.
Duran's John Taylor was/is a huge fan, and owns Bernard's Music Man he cut so many hits with.
I've got news for you: Disco saved bass guitar in a lot of ways. This was the advent of wide-spread synth use, and back then we wondered if keyboard or MIDI'd bass would put us out of business, what with 'Dream Weaver' and the like as big hits at the time.
Disco records pushed kick drum and bass right up in your face, and lots of those records had some great lines and great playing. Disco gets short shrift, but among the paying customers it was a reaction that folks were tired of flannel shirts, politics, and granola: They were ready to party like it's 1979 !
I loved so much of Bernard's playing, but a real fave is Diana Ross' 'I'm Coming Up' which is essentially Chic being the studio band under her vocals. Like Verdine White, Bernard had a very strong right hand, and besides his deep groove, there's lots of little grace notes that drive that tune like a train, and of course with the late Tony Thompson and Nile Rodgers' rhythm guitar work, they were a locked rhythm section like few before or since.
Duran's John Taylor was/is a huge fan, and owns Bernard's Music Man he cut so many hits with.
Very well put! Disco recordings were also one of the main gigs for the session bassist and guitarists in NYC at that time.
Roger
I think it was a pre-Ernie Ball Music Man Stingray ..
I do not know if you have read the whole thread, but Edwards’ use of the Stingray and BC Rich was discussed thoroughly.
Aaah .. in 1984 ... ok, ok .. in my opinion in 1984 Bernie was in full Stingray mode with, maybe, some experimentation with ‘80s basses of that period .. definitely the Stingray was played more by him than the BC Rich in that period .. anyway you are the history teacher, not me
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