Bernie Wilson of Harold Melvin & Blue Notes Dies

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www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/genre/randb-hip-hop/bernie-wilson-of-harold-melvin-blue-notes-1004137243.story

Bernie Wilson of Harold Melvin & Blue Notes Dies

Bernie Wilson, baritone member of the rhythm and blues group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes that produced the 1972 hit "If You Don't Know Me by Now," has died.

Wilson, 64, died early Sunday at Kresson View Center in Voorhees, N.J., following a stroke and a heart attack, his cousin, Faith Peace-Mazzccua, said Monday.

Philadelphia International Records, the former record company for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, said Wilson's death leaves Lloyd Parks as the sole surviving member of the group's lineup at the time. The lineup also featured Teddy Pendergrass and Lawrence Brown.

The group produced a string of R&B hits in the '70s and helped define the Sound of Philadelphia.

Soul Singer Teddy Pendergrass Dead at 59

"If You Don't Know Me by Now" topped the R&B charts and made the top five on the pop charts. The hits that followed included "I Miss You," "Bad Luck," "Wake up Everybody," and the dance track "The Love I Lost," which has been credited as one of the first disco records.

"He left home at 16 as a pauper and came back home a millionaire," Peace-Mazzccua told The Associated Press.

She said her cousin kept performing until a few years ago and hoped to return and sing gospel music.

"Bernard was a very funny person. He should have been a comedian," she said. "He didn't take no stuff and he loved people."

Funeral arrangements were pending Monday.

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edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/27/bernie.wilson.obit/index.html

Philadelphia sound baritone Bernie Wilson dead

(CNN) -- The Sound of Philadelphia is without the sweet soul notes of Bernie Wilson, following the death of the Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes baritone on Sunday.

Wilson died of undisclosed medical complications at a hospital in Voorhees, New Jersey, according to Philadelphia International Records.

Wilson was a member of what's called the "classic" Blue Notes line-up that included Teddy Pendergrass, and that signed with Philadelphia International in 1972, beginning a four-year string of rhythm-and-blues classics that defined the Philadelphia sound.

Harold Melvin, Lawrence Brown and Lloyd Parks rounded out the quintet's line-up at the time.

The group made its 1972 chart debut with "I Miss You" and followed with its first No. 1 rhythm-and-blues hit -- and first Grammy Award nomination -- "If You Don't Know Me By Now." Other Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes hits from that time include "The Love I Lost," "Wake Up Everybody," "Bad Luck" and "Don't Leave Me This Way."

Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes were one of the most popular rhythm-and-blues groups of the 1970s, as their songs ranged from soft and sultry ballads with sweeping and lush instrumental back-up to funk-influenced, proto-disco dance extravaganzas. Their songs were covered by a number of performers as well -- from Simply Red's recording of "If You Don't Know Me By Now" to Thelma Houston's pure disco hit with "Don't Leave Me This Way."

The group never quite recovered from Pendergrass' departure for a solo career in 1976, framed by Parks' departure in 1974 and Wilson's in 1977. Although Melvin toured and recorded with several versions of the Blue Notes into the 1990s, the group never matched its mid-70s success.

Wilson performed with Parks, Brown and John Atkins as The Blue Notes after leaving Harold Melvin and Blue Notes. Parks and Wilson, with Gil Saunders -- also a former Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes member -- toured as a trio for a time in the 1990s.

Melvin died in 1997. Pendergrass, paralyzed in a 1982 car accident, died in January 2010. Brown died in 2008. With Wilson's death, Parks is the only living Blue Note from the Philadelphia International era.

[Enigma.]

Oh dear so many great musicians have passed away recently.. Beefheart, Teena Marie and now Wilson :(

[jj99$ - - LeLe]

Oh noo. What a loss. May he rest in Peace.