Search - William Bell :: Soul of a Bell

For whom the Bell souls (ouch...sorry)

David Kinney | San Francisco, Ca. United States | 01/30/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"William Bell must have felt like the best light heavyweight on a label of heavyweights. Stax in the mid to late sixties was like a GTO firing on all cylinders and William Bell who helped build the machine was left standing in the driveway. Heres a great way for southern soul fans to hear the underappreciated talent of William Bell. "You Don't Miss Your Water" is a country soul standard having been covered by The Byrds, Taj Mahal, and Gram Parsons. This was one of the earliest releases on Stax and hearing Booker T. play country tinged piano is worth the price of the CD alone. Bell is a smooth soulful singer for the most part although he can pull off a rougher Otis Redding sound when it's called for. Somehow, back in the sixties, I missed out on hearing "Everybody Loves A Winner", the standout cut here. Churchy and soulful, heartfelt and moving, Van Morrison might well have used it as a blueprint for the Moondance album. It's that powerful. This music is, alternately, gritty and ethereal, deeply sad and joyful, filled with the exuberance of youth and the dignity of adulthood. All that is my way of saying that the man has soul. He does'nt mind sharing it either."