Edwin Birdsong

Edwin Birdsong (born in 1950) is a keyboard/organ player who was known in the 70's and 80's for his experimental funk/disco music. He never achieved chart success, but developed a strong fan base, and has also been sampled by other artists many times, including Daft Punk who sampled "Cola Bottle Baby" in "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", and Gang Starr who sampled his single "Rapper Dapper Snapper" for their song "Skillz".

Biography

Birdsong was the son of a minister and grew up in a strict fundamentalist environment. [1] He joined the Los Angeles Community Choir for a period before serving in the Vietnam War. He then went on to play in clubs in Germany, and then moved to New York to pursue his music career. There he headed a Jazz and Blues trio but with little success. While he was in New York he also attended the Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard as a composition major.

In 1971 he signed a record deal with Polydor. Under Polydor, he issued his first 2 full length albums, What It Is and Supernatural. Birdsong then issued one album for Bamboo, Dance of Survival, in 1975, then recorded Edwin Birdsong for Philadelphia International in 1979, which included the single "Phiss-Phizz." Edwin had also worked extensively with Roy Ayers; he co-produced 3 of his albums and wrote "Running Away" and "Freaky Deaky" with him.

Birdsong slowly stopped making his own music, but carried on playing session work for many well known artists, including Stevie Wonder.

Discography

• What It Is (1972, Polydor)
• Supernatural (1973, Polydor)
• Dance of Survival (1975, Bamboo)
• Edwin Birdsong (1979, Philadelphia International)
• Funtaztik (1981, Uni Records, Salsoul)