― J Blount, Friday, 17 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Jay Blunt, Wednesday, 14 April 2004 12:59 (twenty years ago) link
RIP Gil. http://www.gilbernalmusic.com/index.html
― It's So POLLED in Alaska (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 24 July 2011 12:15 (twelve years ago) link
Apparently "The Whip" was an early Leiber and Stoller production, when they were out in LA running Sparks Records and The Robins had not yet morphed into The Coasters. Mike Stoller met Gil in a Harmony class at Los Angeles City College and described his style as "honkin' Jazz at the Philharmonic." So presumably Gil played on the early Robins/Coasters records while King Curtis played on the later ones when Jerry and Mike went east to work for Atlantic.
This guy has a funny quote from Ry Cooder: http://tothesublime.typepad.com/to_the_sublime/2011/07/rip-gil-bernal.html
He played the tenor like it was a wind instrument, not a dentist drill.
Here is the LA Times obit linked elsewhere: http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2011/07/rip_gil_bernal_los_angeles_ten.php
Here is a blog with some more info and some youtube links: http://wwwyoufoundthateastsidesoundcom.blogspot.com/2011/07/chicano-rocker-gil-bernal.html
And here is an old article about how he recorded with The Buena Vista Social Club: http://articles.latimes.com/2001/nov/09/entertainment/ca-1950
― It's So POLLED in Alaska (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 24 July 2011 17:52 (twelve years ago) link