Bass Player Online Newsletter
Interview by Gerard Thompson
Grammy winning multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Bernard Belle tragically passed away in 2022 at only 57. Shortly before his untimely death we had conducted an interview with Belle for Bass Player, which we are now publishing as an exclusive for our quarterly BP newsletter.
The Englewood, New Jersey native first came to national attention as a guitarist with the same legendary group, the Manhattans with which his sister performed in the late 1970s. But he is perhaps best remembered for his work as part of the famed New Jack Swing era, often with producer Teddy Riley. He co-wrote Michael Jackson’s smash “Remember The Time,” and produced or wrote for such luminary acts as Today, Guy, Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston and Glenn Jones. And of course he was heavily involved in many of the biggest songs and albums of his sister.
After dedicating his life to Christ in 1994, Belle turned more to Gospel, but for a while, he was one of the most sought after songwriters in R&B. Below is an extract from our chat with the renowned songwriter:
Bass Player: Who were you influences as a songwriter and musician?
Bernard Belle: Oh, so many. Too many to list in full. We came from a very musical family and God blessed us with many gifts. I would grow up listening to all sorts, Aretha, Earth Wind & Fire, Rufus, all the greats, man. Just great, great music.
BP: What about the bass playing? Who informed you on that front?
BB: Marshall Jones from the Ohio Players was a big one. Mr Larry Graham. Bootsy (Collins, Parliament/Funkadelic). These were the guys. They understood the bottom. They understood when to play and when to not. They were my education.
BP: How did you go from playing guitar in your sisters band to working with some of the biggest names in the industry?
BB: Well, it wasn't overnight - I paid my dues. But it was a family affair, man. Regina (Belle, a Grammy Award-winning singer in her own right) was getting more recognition and kind of making waves. The Manhattens were looking for a guitarist and Regina was their backing singer. She kind of got me the gig and that's how I started out. It wasn't my big break, but it was like a domino effect and got me in the industry.
BP: You were instrumental in pioneering the New-Jack-Swing sound with Teddy Riley. How did that collaboration come about?
BB: We went way back. He was brought in to produce an album for my band Today. And the creative juices just started flowing, man. He was such a cool cat and such a visionary. He doesn't get enough credit, he really could do anything he put his mind to.
BP: And did you start writing songs together right away?
BB: Not really. My first published work was actually on a Boy George album (laughs).
BP: A million miles away from the New-Jack-Swing movement then?
BB: Oh yeah man. But we did our album (with Today) after that. Teddy was great at getting the best out of everybody and working together towards a common goal. That was part of his greatness and was his gift. Not everyone has that ability, it's not as easy as it sounds to unite people, the right musicians, towards making something that's actually worth listening to.
BP: How did you first come to work with Michael Jackson?
BB: Teddy (Riley) contacted me about coming up with some instrumentals and beats and things for Mike. I had about ten tracks I sent him and he chose two to work on (which ended up being Remember The Time and Why You Wanna Trip On Me from Jackson's multi-platinum 1992 opus "Dangerous").
BP: How involved was Jackson in the creative process?
BB: Michael was great y'know, he would always say 'there's no room in the studio for ego, you leave that at the door'. And he lived by his advice. Sometimes he would place a lot of trust in you and you'd feel the weight of that responsibility in a way. You're not just working for anybody here, he was the biggest star on the planet, and a total musical genius, and so for someone like that to give you that amount of trust is amazing, but also daunting at the same time.
BP: Did you write the songs together or did he commission you to write for him?
BB: A bit of both. Each time was different. With Remember The Time I handed him and Teddy the instrumental and Michael went away and wrote the melody line and the lyrics. Then with Trip, he asked me to write something in his style. He said he wanted Dangerous to be more socially conscious and aware, so I wrote lyrics I thought he would sing and presented them to him in his style. He loved it and added his own touches with Teddy. The drum loop and those harmonies I think were all Mike. He did great on that, it felt like a true collaboration, in the sense that he took what I did, and just made it better.
BP: And you worked with him again on his final studio album Invincible, right?
BB: That was one of the first songs I think he did with myself and Rodney Jerkins. Rodney called me one day - he was a big fan of Dangerous and wanted to see what we could do. Michael told me he wanted to do a song about the paparazzi and it was just after Princess Diana had died, maybe like a year or so after. Michael had some ideas and asked me to go from there.
BP: So you presented him with an instrumental again?
BB: Yes, but under his instruction. He said he wanted something rocky, but with a chugging beat. He kind of beatboxed to me, like he does, the kind of rhythm he was after. I came back with my instrumental and he loved it, especially the little camera click loop we did, he loved that. I had some lyrics written out and would kind of mimic singing it to him in his style. He changed a bit of that, kind of re-wrote some of my lyrics, swapped some lines around and came up with some of his own. It was all very collaborative. I was surprised about the Princess Diana references, I didn't think he would go there, but he was really effected by what had happened to her and I think he wanted to shine a light on her treatment at the hands of the paparazzi.
BP: Did operating at that level change you as a musician?
BB: It can't not, man. It was life-changing. But it was lightning in a bottle, that whole time. Teddy, Face (songwriter Babyface), myself, Bobby (Brown), Michael, Keith (singer/songwriter Keith Sweat). That whole scene - there was just an abundance of talent and it was all leading somewhere. It was such exciting times and we all came out better musicians, better songwriters, better artists than we were before.
Interview by Gerard Thompson
Grammy winning multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Bernard Belle tragically passed away in 2022 at only 57. Shortly before his untimely death we had conducted an interview with Belle for Bass Player, which we are now publishing as an exclusive for our quarterly BP newsletter.
The Englewood, New Jersey native first came to national attention as a guitarist with the same legendary group, the Manhattans with which his sister performed in the late 1970s. But he is perhaps best remembered for his work as part of the famed New Jack Swing era, often with producer Teddy Riley. He co-wrote Michael Jackson’s smash “Remember The Time,” and produced or wrote for such luminary acts as Today, Guy, Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston and Glenn Jones. And of course he was heavily involved in many of the biggest songs and albums of his sister.
After dedicating his life to Christ in 1994, Belle turned more to Gospel, but for a while, he was one of the most sought after songwriters in R&B. Below is an extract from our chat with the renowned songwriter:
Bass Player: Who were you influences as a songwriter and musician?
Bernard Belle: Oh, so many. Too many to list in full. We came from a very musical family and God blessed us with many gifts. I would grow up listening to all sorts, Aretha, Earth Wind & Fire, Rufus, all the greats, man. Just great, great music.
BP: What about the bass playing? Who informed you on that front?
BB: Marshall Jones from the Ohio Players was a big one. Mr Larry Graham. Bootsy (Collins, Parliament/Funkadelic). These were the guys. They understood the bottom. They understood when to play and when to not. They were my education.
BP: How did you go from playing guitar in your sisters band to working with some of the biggest names in the industry?
BB: Well, it wasn't overnight - I paid my dues. But it was a family affair, man. Regina (Belle, a Grammy Award-winning singer in her own right) was getting more recognition and kind of making waves. The Manhattens were looking for a guitarist and Regina was their backing singer. She kind of got me the gig and that's how I started out. It wasn't my big break, but it was like a domino effect and got me in the industry.
BP: You were instrumental in pioneering the New-Jack-Swing sound with Teddy Riley. How did that collaboration come about?
BB: We went way back. He was brought in to produce an album for my band Today. And the creative juices just started flowing, man. He was such a cool cat and such a visionary. He doesn't get enough credit, he really could do anything he put his mind to.
BP: And did you start writing songs together right away?
BB: Not really. My first published work was actually on a Boy George album (laughs).
BP: A million miles away from the New-Jack-Swing movement then?
BB: Oh yeah man. But we did our album (with Today) after that. Teddy was great at getting the best out of everybody and working together towards a common goal. That was part of his greatness and was his gift. Not everyone has that ability, it's not as easy as it sounds to unite people, the right musicians, towards making something that's actually worth listening to.
BP: How did you first come to work with Michael Jackson?
BB: Teddy (Riley) contacted me about coming up with some instrumentals and beats and things for Mike. I had about ten tracks I sent him and he chose two to work on (which ended up being Remember The Time and Why You Wanna Trip On Me from Jackson's multi-platinum 1992 opus "Dangerous").
BP: How involved was Jackson in the creative process?
BB: Michael was great y'know, he would always say 'there's no room in the studio for ego, you leave that at the door'. And he lived by his advice. Sometimes he would place a lot of trust in you and you'd feel the weight of that responsibility in a way. You're not just working for anybody here, he was the biggest star on the planet, and a total musical genius, and so for someone like that to give you that amount of trust is amazing, but also daunting at the same time.
BP: Did you write the songs together or did he commission you to write for him?
BB: A bit of both. Each time was different. With Remember The Time I handed him and Teddy the instrumental and Michael went away and wrote the melody line and the lyrics. Then with Trip, he asked me to write something in his style. He said he wanted Dangerous to be more socially conscious and aware, so I wrote lyrics I thought he would sing and presented them to him in his style. He loved it and added his own touches with Teddy. The drum loop and those harmonies I think were all Mike. He did great on that, it felt like a true collaboration, in the sense that he took what I did, and just made it better.
BP: And you worked with him again on his final studio album Invincible, right?
BB: That was one of the first songs I think he did with myself and Rodney Jerkins. Rodney called me one day - he was a big fan of Dangerous and wanted to see what we could do. Michael told me he wanted to do a song about the paparazzi and it was just after Princess Diana had died, maybe like a year or so after. Michael had some ideas and asked me to go from there.
BP: So you presented him with an instrumental again?
BB: Yes, but under his instruction. He said he wanted something rocky, but with a chugging beat. He kind of beatboxed to me, like he does, the kind of rhythm he was after. I came back with my instrumental and he loved it, especially the little camera click loop we did, he loved that. I had some lyrics written out and would kind of mimic singing it to him in his style. He changed a bit of that, kind of re-wrote some of my lyrics, swapped some lines around and came up with some of his own. It was all very collaborative. I was surprised about the Princess Diana references, I didn't think he would go there, but he was really effected by what had happened to her and I think he wanted to shine a light on her treatment at the hands of the paparazzi.
BP: Did operating at that level change you as a musician?
BB: It can't not, man. It was life-changing. But it was lightning in a bottle, that whole time. Teddy, Face (songwriter Babyface), myself, Bobby (Brown), Michael, Keith (singer/songwriter Keith Sweat). That whole scene - there was just an abundance of talent and it was all leading somewhere. It was such exciting times and we all came out better musicians, better songwriters, better artists than we were before.
