Bert Berns was an extravagantly talented songwriter and producer who brought Latin rhythms to soul music and soul to rock and roll.
Before Berns' amazing seven-year run was cut short in 1967 at age 38 by a fatal heart attack, he produced "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison; "Under the Boardwalk" by The Drifters; "Baby, I'm Yours" and "Make Me Your Baby" by Barbara Lewis; "Cry Baby" by Garnet Mimms; "Cry to Me" by Betty Harris; "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love," "Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)," "Got to Get You Off My Mind" and "If You Need Me" by Solomon Burke; "Killer Joe" by the Rocky Fellers; "A Little Bit of Soap" by the Jarmels; and "Here Comes the Night" by Them.
In addition, he wrote or co-wrote "Twist and Shout" (Isley Brothers, The Beatles), "Hang On Sloopy" (The McCoys), "Piece of My Heart" (Erma Franklin, Janis Joplin), "Tell Him" (the Exciters), and "I Want Candy" (the Strangeloves, Bow Bow Wow), among many others. Berns (a.k.a. Bert Russell) also was a partner in the Atlantic offshoot labels Bang and Shout.
Universal has a new collection of songs written and produced by Berns, and though it's a little light - only 10 songs - and they aren't all the ones I would have chosen, it is nice to see weird old Bert get some of the recognition he so richly deserves. Songs on the disc include Burke's "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" and "Cry to Me," Mimms' "Cry Baby," Franlin's "Piece of My Heart," the Isley's "Twist and Shout" and "You'll Never Leave Him," a lesser Drifters tune "I Don't Want to Go ON Without You," Freddie Scott's "Are You Lonely For Me Baby," and two from a guy I have literally never heard of: Hoagy Lands.
Bert Berns was born in the Bronx in 1929. Berns' Russian immigrant parents were so intent on ensuring the success of their dress shop that they put Bert and his sister in an orphanage rather than raise them. Berns studied classical piano as a child, and worked as a record salesman, music copyist and session pianist in his teens and twenties.
Envisioning himself a player, Berns spent time in pre-Castro Cuba working in nightclubs, absorbing Latin-American rhythms, and hobnobbing with shady characters. Berns' Latin influence can be heard on "Twist and Shout," "A Little Bit of Soap," "Hang On Sloopy," and especially his work with the Drifters ("Under the Boardwalk," "I've Got Sand in My Shoes").
Berns returned to New York, and in 1960 went to work for Robert Mellin Music writing and plugging songs. Berns drifted to Atlantic in 1961 where he wrote and produced Solomon Burke, Ben E. King, Wilson Pickett and The Drifters, creating some of the greatest uptown soul on record. Like all of the greats, Berns had an ability to bring out the best in the singers he worked with. Berns style may have been a bit goofy (loud clothes, defiant hairpiece, dangling cigarette) but his passion was unassailable.
Article comments
1 - Ed Driscoll
Eric,
What exactly is a "paddy motherfucker"? That's one epithet I've never heard before!
Ed
2 - James Russell
An Irishman with a passion for incest?
3 - Eric Olsen
I'm not exactly sure, but my guess is that it isn't good. The Dictionary of Slang says it's a derogatory term meaning white person, as used by a black person.
4 - Jon Cohen
I dare you to name a record contemporaneous with "I Don't Want to Go On Without You" that sounds remotely like it. To me, it sound like a Gamble & Huff record or a Spinners record of 10 years later.
It's one of the most astonishing records I have heard, because it entirely separates the string track from the vocal track, making two distinct themes.
5 - Dan
Why isn't Bert Berns in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
There should be a box set of his collection.
A movie of his life would be very interesting.
6 - Eric Olsen
Dan, couldn't agree more on all counts.