Herb Bernstein is an American record producer and arranger.
Bernstein arranged and produced records for many artists in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. These artists include Laura Nyro, John Denver, Joel Grey, The Four Seasons, Bob Dylan, The Monkees, Dusty Springfield, Tina Turner, The Happenings, Julie Budd, Lainie Kazan, Frankie Valli, Peaches & Herb, Patti Austin, Connie Francis, and Jimmy Roselli.
The Laura Nyro album More Than a New Discovery released in 1967, which Bernstein arranged and conducted, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. The album included such classic songs as "Wedding Bell Blues" and "Stoney End."
In recent years, Bernstein served as music director and conductor for Michael Amante [1]. He continues to work as arranger and conductor for his longtime protegee Julie Budd [2], appearing at symphonies and other venues across the country.
Herb Bernstein was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and was a star basketball player in high school and college. He attended Southern Methodist University on a basketball scholarship, then earned his B.S. and M.A. in Education at New York University. He briefly played professional basketball for the Milwaukee Bucks.
He soon became a basketball coach and teacher in the New York City School system, where his day to day encounters with "special students" was the topic of conversations with his friend and fellow teacher at the time, Gabe Kaplan. Those conversations led to the widely popular '70s TV series Welcome Back, Kotter. The characters and their antics were largely based on Herb's students and experiences.
Bernstein always dabbled in music, starting with violin lessons at the age of four. He later learned piano and played in bands until he broke into the record business full-time in the mid-1960s.