Robert Brookins

Robert Brookins
Born (1962-10-07)October 7, 1962
Origin Sacramento, California, United States
Died (2009-04-15)April 15, 2009
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, producer
Instruments Singing, keyboards, drums
Years active 1979-2009
Labels
Associated acts

Robert Franklin Brookins (October 7, 1962 – April 15, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, producer and musician. Brookins was a member of Earth, Wind & Fire.[1]

Early years

Brookins was born and raised in Del Paso Heights, Sacramento, California.[2] He began singing at the age of four, drumming at five and playing keyboards at nine years old. At the age of 11 he started up his own band entitled Little Robert & the Fondeles.[1] The band went on to win Motown's 1974 Soul Search Contest.[1] Brookins was also an alumnus of Grant Union High School.[2]

Musical career

Brookins later formed with his brother Michael a group known as Afterbach.[1] They went on to release a critically acclaimed album entitled Matinee upon Maurice White's ARC Records, an imprint of Columbia Records.[1] After such he went on to work as a composer and musician upon Philip Bailey's 1983 album Continuation as well as Ramsey Lewis and Nancy Wilson's 1984 album The Two of Us.[3]

Brookins thereafter worked as a songwriter upon Deniece Williams 1984 album Let's Hear It For The Boy and The Isley Brothers' Masterpiece of a year later.[3] He then performed upon Stanley Clarke's 1985 LP Find Out!.[4] A year later he composed upon Rebbie Jackson and Al Jarreau's albums Reaction and L Is for Lover.[3]

During 1986 he released his debut solo album entitled In the Night. Within that year, he again performed and composed on Stanley Clarke's Hideaway and George Duke's self titled LP. Brookins thereafter produced the 1987 albums of Bobby Brown and Stephanie Mills being King of Stage and If I Were Your Woman respectively. He went on to write for Nancy Wilson on her album Forbidden Lover which was issued within that year.[3]

Brookins then lent his vocals and wrote upon George Duke's 1988 album Thief in the Night. He also composed upon the 1988 LPs of Jeffrey Osborne and Jackie Jackson being One Love-One Dream and Be the One respectively.[1][3][5] Two years later, he produced on Jeffrey Osborne's LP Only Human and The Whispers's More of the Night respectively.[3]

Brookins went on to perform and compose upon Earth, Wind & Fire's 1990 studio album Heritage. He then played once again with Stanley Clarke upon his album entitled 3. During the next year he produced Keisha Jackson's self titled LP.[3]

Brookins later produced Philip Bailey's 1994 self titled album. During the next year he played on Wayman Tisdale's LP Power Forward and produced his 1996 album In The Zone as well.[3]

Instruments

As well as drums, Brookins also played keyboards, guitar, bass guitar and horns.[1]

Death and legacy

Writing for AllMusic, Andrew Hamilton said: "The often overused term multi-talented is true to its definition when referring to Robert F. Brookins."[1]

Brookins died on April 15, 2009 from a heart attack.[6][7][2] He was survived by a son.[6] Since his death an annual tribute event has been held in his honor.[8]

Solo recordings

Albums

Singles and EPs

  • 1986: "Our Lives," MCA Records – #95 US Black Singles[9]
  • 1986: "Our Lives" (12" single: Extended Club Mix 6:56) b/w Our Lives (Remix 9:05) and Incredulous (Instrumental: 5:13), MCA Records: MCAT 1131
  • 1987: "If You Only Knew," MCA Records
  • 1987: "Come To Me" (12"), MCA Records: MCA-23727
  • 1988: "Where Is The Love," (duet with Stephanie Mills), MCA Records – #18 US Black Singles[9]
  • 1989: "Don't Tease Me," MCA Records – #39 US Black Singles[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hamilton, Andrew. "Robert Brookins – Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Remembering Sacramento Native, Robert F. Brookins". Sac Cultural Club. April 15, 2013. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Robert Brookins – Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  4. ↑ Ginell, Richard S. "Stanley Clarke – Find Out!". AllMusic. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  5. ↑ Sanders, Charles L. (July 1989). "Sounding Off – The Best in Recorded Music". Ebony. Vol. 44 no. 9. ISSN 0012-9011.
  6. 1 2 "Robert Brookins Soul Music Tribute". Sac Cultural Club. May 1, 2009. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  7. ↑ Ross, Kevin (April 16, 2009). "Singer/Producer/Songwriter Robert Brookins has Died". Radio Facts. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Always Remembered: Robert F. Brookins Black Music Month Celebration". Sacramento365. June 1, 2013. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Robert Brookins – Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.