Search - William Bell :: Very Best of

Best comp ever of underrated soul man's work

Jeff Pearlman | Lakeland, FL USA | 08/04/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is another sale attributable to a book by Dave Marsh called "The Heart of Rock and Soul." Which has now gone out of print at least twice and is one of the first items I ever reviewed. Anyway, Mr. Bell is one of several R & B veterans with several singles described in that book. This is the first CD to include all of them. "The Best of" doesn't have "You Don't Miss Your Water" and "Everybody Loves a Winner"; "The Soul of a Bell" has those but not "Private Number" (a duet with Judy Clay) and "I Forgot To Be Your Lover." All are now, finally, available on one disc that covers Bell's Stax career through 1974. [Ironically, Bell didn't reach the Pop Top 40 until he'd left Stax for Mercury. The single, "Tryin' To Love Two", got to #10 (#1 R&B) in 1977. I estimate it's the most successful song of the era I've never heard on the radio then or since. It appears on Volume 18 of Rhino's "Soul Hits of the '70's" series which, as I just checked, is (criminally) OUT OF PRINT.]"

Blown Away

Sundery Robinson | Tuscaloosa, Alabama | 10/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Very Best of William Bell CD is Great. "Lovin'on Borrowed Time" MAN! Just blows me away everytime I listen to it. This CD has several Great songs on it. If you love "You Don't Miss Your Water, I Forgot to Be Your Lover, My Whole World is falling Down. You'll be blown away too!!! Amazon.com has the best selections on Blues and other music than any other sites that I know. Now, I check in Weekly to see if Amazon.com has anything on Rueben Bell such as "Down On My Knees and I hear you Knocking"."