William Bell | |
|---|---|
 Bell in 1971 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | William Yarbrough (1939-07-16)July 16, 1939 (age 86) |
| Genres | R&B,soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1957–present |
| Labels | Stax Records, Wilbe Records |
| Website | http://www.williambell.com/ |
William Bell (néYarbrough; born July 16, 1939)[1] is an Americansoul singer and songwriter. As a performer, he is best known for his debut single, 1961's "You Don't Miss Your Water"; 1968's top 10 hit in the UK "Private Number", a duet withJudy Clay; and his only US top 40 hit, 1976's "Tryin' to Love Two", which also hit No. 1 on theR&B chart. Upon the death ofOtis Redding, Bell released the well-received memorial song "A Tribute to a King".
As a songwriter, Bell co-authored theChuck Jackson hit "Any Other Way" (which was a cover since Bell issued it first) as a follow-up to "You Don't Miss Your Water";Billy Idol's 1986 hit "To Be a Lover", which was first a hit for Bell under its original title "I Forgot to Be Your Lover"; and the blues classic "Born Under A Bad Sign", popularized by bothAlbert King andCream.
Although he was a longtime recording artist forStax Records, he is unrelated to the label's onetime president,Al Bell.
In 2017, Bell was awarded aGrammy for Best Americana Album for his recordThis Is Where I Live. He performed his hit "Born Under a Bad Sign" alongsideGary Clark Jr. at the 2017Grammy Awards. Bell was also featured onRolling Stone's "Best of the Grammys" for that year.
Bell was born inMemphis, Tennessee.[1] He took the last name "Bell" as a stage name in honor of his grandmother, whose first name was Belle.
Bell sang in church as a child and considered himself a student ofThe Soul Stirrers, the popular gospel group led bySam Cooke. At age ten, he began songwriting with the original composition "Alone on a Rainy Night". At the age of 14, Bell won a talent contest and began making a name for himself singing in Memphis-area clubs.
He made his first leap into the music scene backingRufus Thomas. In 1957, Bell recorded his first sides as a member of the Del Rios,[1] a teenage vocal group that caught the eye ofStax Records.[2]
Bell was an early signing on Stax Records initially as a songwriter.[3] Other notable Stax Records artists include Otis Redding,[4] Sam and Dave,[5] Isaac Hayes,[6] and The Staple Singers.[7]
Bell was the first male solo act to be signed to Stax Records and he was able to release several singles before joining the military. He continued to record singles while on break from deployment, including the song "Marching Off to War".[8] It was only after Bell finished his stint in the military that he was finally able to release his debut album,[9] 1967'sThe Soul of a Bell, on Stax Records.[10] Bell's top 20 single "Everybody Loves a Winner" was on this album.
Bell was a close friend of fellow Stax recording artist Otis Redding. Bell was supposed to be on the same tragic 1967 flight that led to Redding's death. "It started snowing so bad in Chicago, the promoter up there canceled my show", recalled Bell. The tragedy led to a collaboration between Bell andBooker T. Jones (ofBooker T. & the M.G.'s) who Bell knew from high school and church. Bell and Jones released "A Tribute to a King" in honor of Redding and it quickly became a hit.[11]
In 1967, Bell co-wrote an unintended Christmas hit, "Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday".[2] The song remains one of Bell's most-recorded hits and serves as a classic R&BChristmas song.[12] In 2017,Hot Press magazine named the hit the "Greatest Christmas record of all time".[13]
Bell moved toAtlanta, Georgia, in 1969 and started Peachtree Record Company, his short-lived soul label.[2]
During his time in Atlanta, he took acting lessons and played Stanley Kowalski in a production ofA Streetcar Named Desire.Bell later signed a two-year deal withMercury Records, where he released his biggest hit, the 1977 single "Trying to Love Two",[2] which hit No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 10 on the pop chart, and sold a million copies.[14]
In 1985, he founded another label, Wilbe, and issuedPassion, which found its most receptive audiences in the UK.[1]
Two years later, Bell was inducted into theGeorgia Music Hall of Fame and received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation's R&B Pioneer Award that same year. Starting in 1992, Bell took a hiatus from the recording studio, while still performing regularly. In 2000, he released an album of all-new material on Wilbe entitledA Portrait Is Forever. In 2003, he was honored with the W.C. Handy Heritage Award. It wasn't until six years after his previous album that he released the albumNew Lease on Life.
In 2016, Bell reactivated the Stax Records label to release a new album. Produced by John Leventhal,This Is Where I Live featured Bell performing a batch of new songs, along with a revived recording of "Born Under a Bad Sign".[1] In 2017, the album was awarded a Grammy for Best Americana Album,[15] which took Bell's career to new heights including a featured performance alongside other Stax acts atBBC's50 Years of Soul event atRoyal Albert Hall in London, UK.[16] Additionally, Bell was one of the final performances at B. B. King's Blues Club in New York before it closed in the spring of 2018.[17]
Bell was featured in the 2014 documentary filmTake Me to the River that explored the heart of the enduring Memphis music scene. He was featured alongside other artists includingBobby Bland,Mavis Staples, andSnoop Dogg.[18] Bell is currently involved in the sequel to the popular documentary, and he calls it "a powerful little film".[11]
In 2016, Bell recordedThis Is Where I Live, his first major label album in over 30 years.[19] Bell was awarded aGrammy forBest Americana Album in 2017, which, in turn, had such a strong effect on his streaming data thatRolling Stone called him "the biggest winner of the night".[20] His song "You Don't Miss Your Water" is featured in the trailer and the first episode of the Cinemax TV seriesQuarry, which debuted in 2016.[21]
On September 1, 2017, age 78, Bell performed live at theRoyal Albert HallBBC Proms withJools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra in a tribute concert to 50 years of Stax Records synonymous with Southern Soul music. Bell spent time in 2017 and 2018 touring with a group of featured artists fromTake Me to the River. The touring group was named one of the "10 Bands to See This Year" byParade magazine.[22] In 2017, Bell performed twice onNPR Music'sTiny Desk Concerts. He performed with his own band and again with the touringTake Me to the River group.[8]
Bell released the single "In a Moment of Weakness" in 2018 as part of theAmazon OriginalProduced By series. His song was produced by the Grammy Award-winningMatt Ross-Spang.[8] Bell performed at the Mempho Music Festival in Memphis, Tennessee on October 6, 2018, as part of a tribute set dedicated toRoyal Studios.[23] In 2019, Bell collaborated withSouthern Avenue on their single "We've Got the Music".[24]
Bell performed at the 2019Blues Music Awards, where he was nominated for Best Soul Blues Male Artist.[25]
Eric Clapton released a video for his 2018 cover of Bell's holiday song "Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday".[26] Bell joined several other soul legends forB. B. King's tribute concert at theCapitol Theatre on February 16, 2020.[27] A few months later, theNational Endowment for the Arts named Bell one of their 2020fellows, the "nation's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. These lifetime honor awards of $25,000 are given in recognition of both artistic excellence and efforts to sustain cultural traditions for future generations."[28]
In mid-2023, Bell releasedOne Day Closer to Home on his own Wilbe Records label, cited by critics as "a master at work".[29][30]
In 2024, theRecording Academy announced that Bell's 1961 hit single "You Don't Miss Your Water" would be inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame, which recognizes recordings that "exhibit qualitative or historical significance".[31]
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Label | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [54] | US R&B [54] | ||||||
| 1967 | The Soul of a Bell | — | — | Stax 719 | |||
| 1969 | Bound to Happen | — | 49 | Stax 2014 | |||
| 1971 | Wow ...William Bell | — | — | Stax 2037 | |||
| 1972 | Phases of Reality | — | — | Stax 3005 | |||
| 1973 | Waiting for William Bell | — | — | Stax 3012 | |||
| 1974 | Relating | — | — | Stax 5502 | |||
| 1977 | Coming Back for More | 63 | 15 | Mercury | |||
| It's Time You Took Another Listen | — | — | |||||
| 1983 | Survivor | — | — | Kat Family | |||
| 1985 | Passion | — | 39 | Wilbe | |||
| 1989 | On a Roll | — | — | ||||
| 1992 | Bedtime Stories | — | 96 | ||||
| 1999 | A Portrait Is Forever | — | — | ||||
| 2006 | New Lease on Life | — | — | ||||
| 2016 | This Is Where I Live | — | — | Stax | |||
| 2023 | One Day Closer to Home | — | — | Wilbe Records | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||
| Year | Label & Cat No | Title | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 [54] | US R&B [54] | UK [55][56] | |||
| 1961 | Stax 116 | "You Don't Miss Your Water" | 95 | — | — |
| 1962 | Stax 128 | "Any Other Way" | 131 | — | — |
| 1963 | Stax 132 | "I Told You So" | — | — | — |
| Stax 135 | "Just as I Thought" | — | — | — | |
| Stax 138 | "Somebody Mentioned Your Name" | — | — | — | |
| Stax 141 | "I'll Show You"[57] | — | — | — | |
| 1964 | Stax 146 | "Who Will It Be Tomorrow" | — | — | — |
| 1965 | Stax 174 | "Crying All by Myself" | — | — | — |
| 1966 | Stax 191 | "Share What You Got (But Keep What You Need)" | — | 27 | — |
| Stax 199 | "Never Like This Before" | — | 29 | — | |
| 1967 | Stax 212 | "Everybody Loves a Winner" | 95 | 18 | — |
| Stax 227 | "Eloise (Hang on in There)" | — | — | — | |
| Stax 237 | "Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday" | — | 33 | — | |
| 1968 | Stax 248 | "Every Man Ought to Have a Woman"(A-Side) | 115 | — | — |
| Stax 248 | "A Tribute to a King" (B-Side) | 86 | 16 | 31 | |
| Stax 0005 | "Private Number"(withJudy Clay) | 75 | 17 | 8 | |
| Stax 0015 | "I Forgot to Be Your Lover" | 45 | 10 | — | |
| Stax 0017 | "My Baby Specializes"(with Judy Clay) | 104 | 45 | — | |
| 1969 | Stax 0032 | "My Whole World Is Falling Down" | — | 39 | — |
| Stax 0038 | "Happy" | 129 | — | — | |
| Stax 0040 | "Soul-A-Lujah" (with Johnnie Taylor, Eddie Floyd, Pervis Staples, Carla Thomas, Mavis Staples and Cleotha Staples) | — | — | — | |
| Stax 0043 | "Love's Sweet Sensation"(withMavis Staples) | — | — | — | |
| Stax 0044 | "I Can't Stop"(withCarla Thomas) | 106 | — | — | |
| Stax 0054 | "Born Under a Bad Sign" | — | — | — | |
| 1970 | Stax 0067 | "All I Have to Do Is Dream"(with Carla Thomas) | — | — | — |
| Stax 0070 | "Lonely Soldier" | — | — | — | |
| 1971 | Stax 0092 | "A Penny for Your Thoughts" | — | — | — |
| Stax 0106 | "All for the Love of a Woman" | — | — | — | |
| 1972 | Stax 0128 | "Save Us" | — | — | — |
| 1973 | Stax 0157 | "Lovin' on Borrowed Time" | 101 | 22 | — |
| Stax 0175 | "I've Got to Go on Without You" | — | 54 | — | |
| 1974 | Stax 0198 | "Gettin' What You Want (Losin' What You Got)" | — | 39 | — |
| Stax 0221 | "Get It While It's Hot" | — | — | — | |
| 1976 | Mercury 73829 | "Tryin' to Love Two" | 10 | 1 | — |
| 1977 | Mercury 73922 | "Coming Back for More" | — | 66 | — |
| Mercury 73961 | "Easy Comin' Out (Hard Goin' In)" | — | 30 | — | |
| 1983 | Kat Family 03502 | "Bad Time to Break Up" | — | 65 | — |
| Kat Family 03995 | "Playing Hard to Get" | — | — | — | |
| 1985 | Wilbe 201 | "Lovin' on Borrowed Time"(new version) | — | — | — |
| 1986 | Wilbe 202 | "I Don't Want to Wake Up (Feelin' Guilty)"(with Janice Bulluck) | — | 59 | — |
| Wilbe 204 | "Headline News" | — | 65 | 70 | |
| "Passion" | — | — | 96 | ||
| Wilbe 205 | "Please Come Home for Christmas" | — | — | — | |
| 1989 | Wilbe 508 | "Getting Out of Your Bed" | — | — | — |
| 1990 | Wilbe 515 | "Need Your Love So Bad" | — | — | — |
| 1992 | Wilbe 619 | "Bedtime Story" | — | — | — |
| 1995 | Wilbe 624 | "Shake Hands (Come Out Lovin')" | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||
William Bell releases his compositions, 'I Told You So', 'Just As I Thought' (Steve Cropper and Deanie Parker), 'Somebody Mentioned Your Name' (William Bell and Booker T. Jones) and 'I'll Show You'
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
