Bernard Belle - What's New
NEW! Bernard Belle Bio (written by A. Scott Galloway)
If the acclaimed music television series “Unsung” ever gets around to showcasing musicians from behind the scenes, Bernard Belle should be a shoo-in for his close-up. From riding shotgun with Teddy Riley through the highly influential New Jack Swing era (including co-composing Michael Jackson’s biggest R&B smash of the ‘90s “Remember the Time”) to learning the ropes of sophisticated jazz-kissed R&B with his big sister Regina Belle to setting off the contemporary gospel scene by co-writing The Winans’ pioneering crossover jam “It’s Time,” Bernard is a fascinating and dedicated figure who has left his mark in multiple realms of music.
It all started for the Englewood, New Jersey native on Christmas Day 1975 when his hard working parents were finally able to surprise him with a Fender electric bass (he knows the serial number by heart - #S720776). He had already been playing guitar and drums (his first love on the spoons on sofa tip) at school, only on other people’s instruments. “I always had the gift of being able to hear something once and play it back,” he explains. “Not perfect pitch, mind you, but instinctively knowing how to duplicate the sound of any music I heard…and I have no idea where that came from. I loved playing all of those instruments, but I felt the bass was coolest of all.”
Largely self-taught in the beginning, Bernard sat himself down the following year with one of the greatest albums of all time and proceeded to shed on every song. That album was Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life – and the song that challenged him most on bass was Nathan Watts’ volcanic parts on “I Wish.” “That was the hardest song to play at age 11,” he confesses, “especially that intro! Once I got all the notes, I started off just playing it slow. Then day after day I got faster and faster. What I learned was that with bass, the most important thing is to learn the notes first then speed will come.”
As an 8th grader attending Englewood Junior High, Bernard played rhythm guitar in a band called Reality which was led by multi-instrumentalist Carl Lester on lead guitar (“my mentor who recognized my talent early on”) and also featured singers Regina Belle, Cindy Mizelle and Cubie Burke, Michael Brown on bass, and Kendall Turner on drums. Later while still a junior at Dwight Morrow High School, Bernard earned a scholarship to famed Berklee School of Music in Boston. “That was an honor at first,” Bernard states, “but when I attended summer camp there, I hated that all anyone did or knew was music. I had a personal life and a musical life... My college turned out to be ‘on the road’.”
After playing some of everything (except, ironically, drums) for various local acts, Bernard landed his first professional touring gig playing guitar for R&B balladeers The Manhattans in 1985. “I was the youngest guy in band at 19 – the next youngest guy was, like, 39 - so it was quite a learning experience. They had a set show that rarely changed and was all about the singer. Musicians are the seasoning, they are the main course. My sister was working with them then, too, and when she left I went with her. THAT was the hardest gig I ever…my sister as my boss! I literally could not argue or disagree with her. She said, ‘You can never challenge my authority in front of anyone.’ So the biggest lesson of my first two major gigs was discipline.”
Keeping an eye on all the young players becoming virtuosos on bass, drums and guitar, Bernard decided in his mid-`20s to distinguish himself more on keyboards as both a player and composer. It was during this time that he first encountered fast-rising young producer Teddy Riley. “I was introduced to Teddy by Big Bub, the lead singer of the group Today who I met at the old Gilsonite Music Industries store. By this time, Teddy had already worked with Keith Sweat and Al B. Sure. What I noticed about Teddy when I first met him is that his approach to music was black and white. If he was going straight, he was straight groovin’ whereas I played a lot of beautiful colorful chords – mid-tempos and ballads. Those differences made u a perfect match when we married them together. The very first thing we did was finish Guy’s debut. Also Bub and I wrote the bridge to Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative” (a gold-selling #1 for two weeks smash from the summer of `88), but Bobby and Teddy’s manager Gene Griffin took the credit.”
More incidents of similar treachery followed and soon Teddy sought liberation from the Griffin situation, moving his operation to Atlanta. This entailed great sacrifices on both Teddy and Bernard’s parts. “I had to relinquish rights to anything I created while under Gene, but I took the leap believing in Teddy and his ability to make things happen!” The first thing Bernard and Teddy co-composed post-Gene was David Peaston’s first single “Two Wrongs.” When he got his first royalty check for it – without someone taking a cut – he truly began to see just how deeply he had been ripped off. But he pressed on with Teddy, working with Boy George (of Culture Club), Jane Child (the gold-seller “Don’t Wanna Fall in Love”) and most importantly, the second Guy album, The Future, which included another of Bernard’s most lasting co-writes, the classic slow jam “Let’s Chill.”
Along with the luscious harmonies and melodies, Bernard was also a strong lyricist. That strength would play heavily in his experience with the man that Berry Gordy proclaimed to be the greatest entertainer of all-time, Mr. Michael Jackson. “When Teddy got the gig to work on several songs for Michael’s Dangerous album, Bernard shares, “he called me less than a week later to help him. MJ rented me a 500SL convertible. I had a suite and an unlimited budget. The stuff Teddy had started was really skeletal. We stripped the drums down to percussion and keyboard chords. One day I walked into Studio C of Larrabee Studios North not knowin’ that it was Michael’s – he was in there on the phone. My heart jumped. He saw me later, said he was a fan of my work and started singing Guy’s “I Like.” “Then he invited me in and played “Black and White” for me – it shook the room. He said, ‘I don’t want to do anything that has already been done. No samples!’ So I went back to the hotel suite and wrote 5 different verses for ‘Remember the Time.’ I was not going to blow this opportunity! Teddy loved it, we demoed it. MJ heard it later and loved it. This is how my second day in L.A. went. I could not believe this guy I idolized loved something that I did. I called my mom right there from the studio and told her everything. It was the experience of a lifetime…”
Bernard went from that career high to a crashing personal low – depression. “I was dealing with tax issues, coming out of a bad relationship and just generally felt that no one really cared for me,” he confesses. “I had checks stacking up that I hadn’t even cashed, but money couldn’t buy me love or happiness. And on top of all that, I watched R&B die before my eyes. Secular music changed from secular to sexual. The lowest was when I got a call to produce this girl group trio and we spent an hour and a half on one chorus. I wondered, ‘How did you all make it to work with somebody like me?’ I was used to working with women I could do three entire songs within an hour and a half!”
Thoroughly disgusted, Bernard - who had grown up in the church - beat a hasty retreat back to it…rededicated his life to Christ in 1994. He also began focusing the lion’s share of his talents on gospel music. “I was blessed to marry and have three wonderful kids. By that time, there was no way I was going to write any songs that my children could not sing. I’m grateful that in my body of work there’s nothing I’m ashamed of. Now they want songs about pimpin’, cheatin’, sexin’ and what not. I refused to sell out. I don’t mind writing about life and hard knocks, but everybody ain’t poppin’ bottles of Cris and livin’ in the v.i.p. What I liked about gospel was being convicted about what I was writing and singing. I was first saved back in 1974. My mom was all up in the church, so my sister and I were there when the doors open. All those things stayed with me.”
Bernard had proven his gospel mettle years before when he and Teddy worked with Detroit gospel legends The Winans and given them a Top 5 hit in 1990 by crossing New Jack Swing and a Go Go beat with a lyric of hooky inspiration titled “It’s Time.” Now he’s doing more of the same by producing songs such as “God is Good,” which was recorded by his sister Regina Belle and #2 only to Marvin Sapp’s “Never Would Have Made It” in the year of its release. Besides helping craft Regina’s follow-up, Bernard is also working with serious talents such as Tiffany Riddick (one of Beyonce’s Mamas backup singers, ready for her close-up), Eric Williams (formerly of BLACKstreet), and his family at Community Baptist Church in Englewood, New Jersey (under Pastor Lester W. Taylor, Jr. where Bernard is also studying to serve in the ministry).
Having worked with the King of Pop Michael Jackson, Bernard’s remaining goals in R&B/Pop music were to work with the Godfather of Soul James Brown (who he met but never got to work with before his untimely transition) and the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin (who he still hopes to work with one day soon). Until then, he is also planning to finally release under his own name a CD that unites him with some of the favorite singers from over the years. He sees it as an all-star project, much like Quincy Jones’ Back on the Block, only with old friends such as Glenn Jones and James Ingram.
Along with church, Bernard gives back to his music community as well – for he has never forgotten those who invested heavily in his development. “I do a lot of seminar speaking on discipline for young musicians in gospel and R&B,” he concludes. “I see a lot of talented individuals today…but they don’t know how to play as a unit. I school them like my high school band director Joe Daley, the great Carl Lester and my sister Regina all schooled me. Their lessons lasted me a lifetime and made me the complete musician I am today – a studio ace, a hit songwriter, record producer and road warrior.”
Written by: A. Scott Galloway
It all started for the Englewood, New Jersey native on Christmas Day 1975 when his hard working parents were finally able to surprise him with a Fender electric bass (he knows the serial number by heart - #S720776). He had already been playing guitar and drums (his first love on the spoons on sofa tip) at school, only on other people’s instruments. “I always had the gift of being able to hear something once and play it back,” he explains. “Not perfect pitch, mind you, but instinctively knowing how to duplicate the sound of any music I heard…and I have no idea where that came from. I loved playing all of those instruments, but I felt the bass was coolest of all.”
Largely self-taught in the beginning, Bernard sat himself down the following year with one of the greatest albums of all time and proceeded to shed on every song. That album was Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life – and the song that challenged him most on bass was Nathan Watts’ volcanic parts on “I Wish.” “That was the hardest song to play at age 11,” he confesses, “especially that intro! Once I got all the notes, I started off just playing it slow. Then day after day I got faster and faster. What I learned was that with bass, the most important thing is to learn the notes first then speed will come.”
As an 8th grader attending Englewood Junior High, Bernard played rhythm guitar in a band called Reality which was led by multi-instrumentalist Carl Lester on lead guitar (“my mentor who recognized my talent early on”) and also featured singers Regina Belle, Cindy Mizelle and Cubie Burke, Michael Brown on bass, and Kendall Turner on drums. Later while still a junior at Dwight Morrow High School, Bernard earned a scholarship to famed Berklee School of Music in Boston. “That was an honor at first,” Bernard states, “but when I attended summer camp there, I hated that all anyone did or knew was music. I had a personal life and a musical life... My college turned out to be ‘on the road’.”
After playing some of everything (except, ironically, drums) for various local acts, Bernard landed his first professional touring gig playing guitar for R&B balladeers The Manhattans in 1985. “I was the youngest guy in band at 19 – the next youngest guy was, like, 39 - so it was quite a learning experience. They had a set show that rarely changed and was all about the singer. Musicians are the seasoning, they are the main course. My sister was working with them then, too, and when she left I went with her. THAT was the hardest gig I ever…my sister as my boss! I literally could not argue or disagree with her. She said, ‘You can never challenge my authority in front of anyone.’ So the biggest lesson of my first two major gigs was discipline.”
Keeping an eye on all the young players becoming virtuosos on bass, drums and guitar, Bernard decided in his mid-`20s to distinguish himself more on keyboards as both a player and composer. It was during this time that he first encountered fast-rising young producer Teddy Riley. “I was introduced to Teddy by Big Bub, the lead singer of the group Today who I met at the old Gilsonite Music Industries store. By this time, Teddy had already worked with Keith Sweat and Al B. Sure. What I noticed about Teddy when I first met him is that his approach to music was black and white. If he was going straight, he was straight groovin’ whereas I played a lot of beautiful colorful chords – mid-tempos and ballads. Those differences made u a perfect match when we married them together. The very first thing we did was finish Guy’s debut. Also Bub and I wrote the bridge to Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative” (a gold-selling #1 for two weeks smash from the summer of `88), but Bobby and Teddy’s manager Gene Griffin took the credit.”
More incidents of similar treachery followed and soon Teddy sought liberation from the Griffin situation, moving his operation to Atlanta. This entailed great sacrifices on both Teddy and Bernard’s parts. “I had to relinquish rights to anything I created while under Gene, but I took the leap believing in Teddy and his ability to make things happen!” The first thing Bernard and Teddy co-composed post-Gene was David Peaston’s first single “Two Wrongs.” When he got his first royalty check for it – without someone taking a cut – he truly began to see just how deeply he had been ripped off. But he pressed on with Teddy, working with Boy George (of Culture Club), Jane Child (the gold-seller “Don’t Wanna Fall in Love”) and most importantly, the second Guy album, The Future, which included another of Bernard’s most lasting co-writes, the classic slow jam “Let’s Chill.”
Along with the luscious harmonies and melodies, Bernard was also a strong lyricist. That strength would play heavily in his experience with the man that Berry Gordy proclaimed to be the greatest entertainer of all-time, Mr. Michael Jackson. “When Teddy got the gig to work on several songs for Michael’s Dangerous album, Bernard shares, “he called me less than a week later to help him. MJ rented me a 500SL convertible. I had a suite and an unlimited budget. The stuff Teddy had started was really skeletal. We stripped the drums down to percussion and keyboard chords. One day I walked into Studio C of Larrabee Studios North not knowin’ that it was Michael’s – he was in there on the phone. My heart jumped. He saw me later, said he was a fan of my work and started singing Guy’s “I Like.” “Then he invited me in and played “Black and White” for me – it shook the room. He said, ‘I don’t want to do anything that has already been done. No samples!’ So I went back to the hotel suite and wrote 5 different verses for ‘Remember the Time.’ I was not going to blow this opportunity! Teddy loved it, we demoed it. MJ heard it later and loved it. This is how my second day in L.A. went. I could not believe this guy I idolized loved something that I did. I called my mom right there from the studio and told her everything. It was the experience of a lifetime…”
Bernard went from that career high to a crashing personal low – depression. “I was dealing with tax issues, coming out of a bad relationship and just generally felt that no one really cared for me,” he confesses. “I had checks stacking up that I hadn’t even cashed, but money couldn’t buy me love or happiness. And on top of all that, I watched R&B die before my eyes. Secular music changed from secular to sexual. The lowest was when I got a call to produce this girl group trio and we spent an hour and a half on one chorus. I wondered, ‘How did you all make it to work with somebody like me?’ I was used to working with women I could do three entire songs within an hour and a half!”
Thoroughly disgusted, Bernard - who had grown up in the church - beat a hasty retreat back to it…rededicated his life to Christ in 1994. He also began focusing the lion’s share of his talents on gospel music. “I was blessed to marry and have three wonderful kids. By that time, there was no way I was going to write any songs that my children could not sing. I’m grateful that in my body of work there’s nothing I’m ashamed of. Now they want songs about pimpin’, cheatin’, sexin’ and what not. I refused to sell out. I don’t mind writing about life and hard knocks, but everybody ain’t poppin’ bottles of Cris and livin’ in the v.i.p. What I liked about gospel was being convicted about what I was writing and singing. I was first saved back in 1974. My mom was all up in the church, so my sister and I were there when the doors open. All those things stayed with me.”
Bernard had proven his gospel mettle years before when he and Teddy worked with Detroit gospel legends The Winans and given them a Top 5 hit in 1990 by crossing New Jack Swing and a Go Go beat with a lyric of hooky inspiration titled “It’s Time.” Now he’s doing more of the same by producing songs such as “God is Good,” which was recorded by his sister Regina Belle and #2 only to Marvin Sapp’s “Never Would Have Made It” in the year of its release. Besides helping craft Regina’s follow-up, Bernard is also working with serious talents such as Tiffany Riddick (one of Beyonce’s Mamas backup singers, ready for her close-up), Eric Williams (formerly of BLACKstreet), and his family at Community Baptist Church in Englewood, New Jersey (under Pastor Lester W. Taylor, Jr. where Bernard is also studying to serve in the ministry).
Having worked with the King of Pop Michael Jackson, Bernard’s remaining goals in R&B/Pop music were to work with the Godfather of Soul James Brown (who he met but never got to work with before his untimely transition) and the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin (who he still hopes to work with one day soon). Until then, he is also planning to finally release under his own name a CD that unites him with some of the favorite singers from over the years. He sees it as an all-star project, much like Quincy Jones’ Back on the Block, only with old friends such as Glenn Jones and James Ingram.
Along with church, Bernard gives back to his music community as well – for he has never forgotten those who invested heavily in his development. “I do a lot of seminar speaking on discipline for young musicians in gospel and R&B,” he concludes. “I see a lot of talented individuals today…but they don’t know how to play as a unit. I school them like my high school band director Joe Daley, the great Carl Lester and my sister Regina all schooled me. Their lessons lasted me a lifetime and made me the complete musician I am today – a studio ace, a hit songwriter, record producer and road warrior.”
Written by: A. Scott Galloway
Daily Verse
Psalm 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's
sake............
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's
sake............
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