Gil Bernal

Gil Bernal
Born	February 4, 1931 Watts, Los Angeles, California
Died	July 17, 2011 (80) Glendale, California
Genres	Rock & roll, pop, R&B
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Saxophone Vocals
Labels	Spark Records, Amaret Records
Associated acts	Lionel Hampton

Gil Bernal was a singer and a session musician. His saxophone can be heard on recordings such as "Searchin'" by The Coasters. In the 1950s he played on Duane Eddy's 1958 album Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel. In later years, he played on Warren Zevon's 2003 album The Wind and the Chávez Ravine album by Ry Cooder.

Bernal was born on February 4, 1931 in Watts, Los Angeles. His father was Sicilian and his mother Mexican.

As well as a musician, Bernel was a singer in his own right. As singer he sang on his own singles, which included "Keep Those Wanderin' Eyes Off My Baby", "Tower of Strength" and "The Dogs".

By the time he was in his teens he was an accomplished singer and saxophonist. In the early days he played at parties. In 1950, he ended up replacing a sax player that Lionel Hampton had fired. He then toured nationally with Hampton in a band that included Quincy Jones and Little Jimmy Scott. In the period between 1954 and 1955, Bernal recorded under his own name. He recorded "Easyville" and "The Whip" for the Spark Records label. Two others he recorded for the label were "Strawberry Stomp" and "King Solomon's Mines". "The Whip" did receive some airplay and was used by Alan Freed as the opening theme for his late R&B show. He did some session work for the label which included "Riot in Cell Block Number 9" by The Robins. He played on Duane Eddy's 1958 hit "Rebel Rouser" and also "Stalkin'".

His single "This Is Worth Fighting For" was picked by Billboard in July 1967 to chart in the hot 100. Also in 1967, the film Banning that starred Robert Wagner and Jill St. John and Gene Hackman was released. Bernal sang the song "The Eyes of Love" which was featured in the film. He received an Academy Award nomination for it.

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