Patrick Adams

Patrick Adams (born: March 17, 1950 in Harlem, New York City, U.S.A. / died: June 21, 2022) was a US disco, soul and boogie producer, arranger, songwriter and musician. He was known primarily for his production and songwriting work on the New York-based labels P&P Records, Red Greg Records, Salsoul Records, Prelude Records and major labels like Atlantic, as well as his studio projects Cloud One, Bumblebee Unlimited, Inner Life, Musique, Phreek and The Universal Robot Band. He has won the ASCAP Songwriter of the Year Award 3 times and has earned 32 gold and platinum records. Patrick's childhood was spent singing in choirs and attending concerts at the legendary Apollo Theater. His father bought him a trumpet and in his teens Adams began playing guitar and writing songs. He honed his arranging skills by dissecting the song structure and arrangement patterns of the records he heard on the radio. In 1970 he was appointed Vice President of A&R for Perception Records (5)/Today Records where he discovered teenage vocal trio Black Ivory and met his future friend and longtime musical collaborator Leroy Burgess. In 1974 Adams left Perception Records (5)/Today Records and started his own production company, Patrick Adams Productions, Inc. He met Peter Brown of P&P Records through mutual friend Lonnie Johnson and started producing experimental records for Peter's many labels. He also formed a musical collective called the The P.A. System. Some of the artists he has worked with include Ace Spectrum, Black Ivory, Bruni Pagan, Candi Staton, Debbie Taylor, Eddie Kendricks, Fonda Rae, Gladys Knight, Herbie Mann, Loleatta Holloway, Main Ingredient, Narada Michael Walden, Rick James, The Salsoul Orchestra, Shannon, Sister Sledge, Skipworth & Turner, The Spinners and more. In the '80s he started working as an engineer at Power Play Studios and did work for artists like Eric B. & Rakim, Heavy D. & The Boyz, Keith Sweat, R. Kelly, Salt-N-Pepa and Teddy Riley. Although he is credited on hundreds of releases, the Atlantic Records disco project "Patrick Adams presents Phreek" is one of the few times his name appears on the front of an album cover.