Gil Bernal (February 4, 1931–July 17, 2011) was an American singer and session musician. His saxophone can be heard on recordings such as "Searchin'" by The Coasters. In the 1950s he played on Duane Eddy's 1958 album Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel. In later years, he played on Warren Zevon's 2003 album The Wind and the Chávez Ravine album by Ry Cooder.

Background

Bernal was born on February 4, 1931, in Watts, Los Angeles. His father was Sicilian and his mother Mexican.^[1]

Career

As well as a musician, Bernal was a singer in his own right. As singer he sang on his own singles, which included "Keep Those Wanderin' Eyes Off My Baby", "Tower of Strength" and "The Dogs".^[2]

Early years to the 1950s

By the time he was in his teens he was an accomplished singer and saxophonist. In the early days he played at parties. In 1950, he ended up replacing a sax player that Lionel Hampton had fired. He then toured nationally with Hampton in a band that included Quincy Jones and Little Jimmy Scott.^[3] In the period between 1954 and 1955, Bernal recorded under his own name. He recorded "Easyville" and "The Whip" for the Spark Records label. Two others he recorded for the label were "Strawberry Stomp" and "King Solomon's Mines". "The Whip" did receive some airplay and was used by Alan Freed as the opening theme for his late R&B show. He did some session work for the label which included "Riot in Cell Block Number 9" by The Robins.^[4][5] He played on Duane Eddy's 1958 hit "Rebel Rouser" and also "Stalkin'".^[6][7]

1960s

His single "This Is Worth Fighting For" was picked by Billboard in July 1967 to chart in the hot 100.^[8] Also in 1967, the film Banning that starred Robert Wagner and Jill St. John and Gene Hackman was released. Bernal sang the song "The Eyes of Love" which was featured in the film. He received an Academy Award nomination for it. He performed "It Sure Is Groovy" for the movie "In The Heat of the Night" starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger.^[9][10] Bernal also sang "The Next Train Out", featured in the 1969 film Blood of Dracula's Castle.^[11]

1970s

In 1970, he was signed to Amaret Records with the intention to be produced Joe Porter and Jerry Styner.^[12]

1990s to 2000s

In 1997 he appeared in the film The End of Violence.^[13] In the 90s, he received a phone call from Ry Cooder, who had known him for about five years, asking him to come to Havana in the next few days to play on a recording by Ibrahim Ferrer. Bernal didn't have his passport in order and it would have been weeks before he could get it sorted. In the end, the solution was to overdub the saxophone parts. So following Cooder's instructions, he added the parts.^[14] In 2005, Bernal contributed to Cooder's concept album Chavez Ravine.^[15]

In 2012, his record "The Dogs" bw "James" was re-released by Jukebox Jam Series in 2012. The A side is a Northern Soul favorite while the B side is a tribute to Civil Rights Movement figure James Meredith. Bernal had agreed to the terms of reissuing the 45 but died before the record was released.^[16][17]

Death

In 2011, he died in Glendale, California, at the age of 80.^[18][19]

Discography