Baritone Who Helped Define Philly Soul Dies

by Neda Ulaby

Bernard Wilson, 64, who helped define the sound of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s, died Sunday at a hospital in New Jersey after suffering a stroke and a heart attack. Wilson's velvet baritone backed up the hits he performed with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, including "If You Don't Know Me by Now" from 1972.

Wilson's parents died when he was a child and he was raised by a grandmother. His family liked to say he left home a pauper at 16 and returned a millionaire. The Blue Notes were groomed by legendary Philly producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff.

"If You Don't Know Me By Now" charted on both the R&B and the pop charts. Other hits included "Wake Up Everybody" and "Bad Luck." Although he sang second baritone, Wilson was the flashiest member of the group. He loved fancy clothes and cars, according to Lloyd Parks, who at 61 is now the group's last original member.

From: http://www.npr.org/2010/12/28/132425023/baritone-who-helped-define-philly-soul-dies?ft=1&f=1039

Philadelphia International success
This incarnation of the group, including Melvin, Pendergrass, Bernard Wilson, Lawrence Brown, and Lloyd Parks, were signed to Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff's Philadelphia International label in 1972, and scored several major R&B hits over the next four years. Among the Blue Notes' most important and successful recordings are love songs such as "If You Don't Know Me By Now" (1972, their breakout single), "I Miss You" (1972), "The Love I Lost" (1973), and "Don't Leave Me This Way" (1975), and socially conscious songs such as "Wake Up Everybody" and "Bad Luck" (both 1975). "Bad Luck" holds the record for longest-running number-one hit on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart: eleven weeks. A 1976 cover of "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Motown artist Thelma Houston was a number-one hit on the US pop chart; both it and the Blue Notes' originals are considered defining recordings of the disco era.

Complete comments on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7wvUnJEgho