In 1999, William Bell’s last two albums for the Stax label were remastered and put together on a single CD: 1973’s Phases of Reality, which Bell produced, and Relating, which he co-produced with Al Jackson Jr. and released in 1974. Stax would pretty much cease operations the following year.

Recording time at the Stax studio in Memphis was so heavily booked in early ’72 that headman Al Bell guided William to record the Phases of Reality rhythm tracks at Muscle Shoals studios in Alabama and then finish up the album by recording the vocal tracks and completing production at Stax in Memphis. Supple southern soul from the Muscle Shoals Sound greatly benefits Bell’s vocals on Phases of Reality. The Sound included greatly under-appreciated blues songwriter and guitarist Eddie Hinton, who also laid down soulful guitar for Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge and other legends of American soul.

Accompanying this shift in the underlying rhythm and feel from Memphis soul to Muscle Shoals, listeners get the feeling that William Bell was very interested in musically trying something/ANYthing on Phases of Reality just so long as it was new. It features several songs of social awareness, something Bell had almost never recorded before (“Save Us,” “Fifty Dollar Habit,” “Man in the Street”). “On the Phases album I was trying to make a statement about some of the things that were wrong in society and trying to get people conscious of it,” he later allowed.

Bell tries on other styles too. The title track barely rewrites Sly Stone’s “Family Affair,” down to its loping rhythm and Bell’s half-spoken / half-sung rap. “Lonely for Your Love” seems to borrow the jangling, colorful island accoutrements of “Montego Bay.”

“True Love Don’t Come Easy” features Bell harmonizing with The Sweet Inspirations, whose delicious harmonies graced numerous hits by “The Queen of Soul” and “The King,” Elvis Presley, Memphis’ adopted son. It’s not at all difficult to imagine Elvis’ voice rolling smoothly through “True Love,” which also sort of refers back to the country-soul mixture of Bell’s Stax breakout hit, “You Don’t Miss Your Water” from 1961. (Bell’s “True Love” co-writer was Harold Beane, guitarist on Isaac Hayes’ epic revision of “Walk on By.”)

The Stax catalog is filled with names familiar in popular culture – think Otis Redding, Booker T., Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes for starters. Within the world of R&B, artists like Carla Thomas, The Emotions, The Mad Lads, Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Johnnie Taylor, Little Milton, Albert King, The Dramatics and The Staple Singers immediately come to mind. Then, for die-hard soul music folks there’s Mable John, Judy Clay, The Soul Children, Ollie & The Nightingales, The Astors, Jeanne & The Darlings, Inez Foxx, Bettye Crutcher…and The Sweet Inspirations.

I’ve been in love with The Sweet Inspirations since the spring day in 1967 when their first Atlantic single, “Why (Am I Treated So Bad),” a remake of a Pops Staples-penned song recorded by the Staples a few years earlier, arrived at Soul City, the record store I co-owned in London when I was a mere teen. I knew nothing of the group’s origins – until their first Atlantic LP (catalog number 8155 – funny how we remember certain things forever!) followed a few months later. The four women adorning the cover, shot in Central Park just a block or so from Atlantic’s 1841 Broadway offices, were – I discovered in reading the liner notes – Cissy Houston (aunt of Dionne Warwick, whose Scepter recordings had served as my introduction to sweet soul music), Estelle Brown (a former member of the Gospel Wonders), Sylvia Shemwell (sister of Judy Clay) and Myrna Smith (a cousin of Warwick’s). They had sung behind a virtual who’s who of R&B and pop artists in New York, their origins traceable to sisters Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, who had started what would become known as ‘The Group’ among the Big Apple’s producers, songwriters and label execs.

Atlantic’s Jerry Wexler had used the gospel-based quartet on his first sessions with Aretha Franklin, freshly signed to the label and aware that the group’s soulful harmonies could have some potential if heard outfront, he took the ladies into the studio in April ’67 to record a few songs. By the summer, The Sweet Inspirations were on the R&B charts with the afore-mentioned “Why (Am I Treated So Bad)” single, brilliantly bluesy track and headed to Memphis to work on a first album: in a slice of pop music mythology, songwriters Dan Penn and Spencer Oldham came up with “Sweet Inspiration” in a matter of minutes when the group needed an original tune during those Memphis sessions…and the group found themselves with a big hit as well as a song that the attention of one, Elvis Aaron Presley who was so impressed that in 1969, he invited the quartet to back him during a Las Vegas gig. The group had already been on the road for specific dates with Aretha so performing live was nothing new and with that first flurry of shows, The Sweets (as they became affectionately known) began a relationship with Presley that has endured way past his passing: today, Estelle, Myrna and Portia Griffin (who replaced Sylvia Shemwell, unable to work due to ill health) tour the world with the official Presley tribute show, sanctioned by the legendary artist’s estate.

Estelle, Myrna and Sylvia signed to Stax Records in 1972, two years after Cissy Houston had left the group and after the release of their fifth Atlantic album in 1970. Their stay with the Memphis label was short-lived: just one album was released, bearing their three names, in 1973. Produced by David Porter (longtime writing partner of Isaac Hayes and an artist in his own right) and Ronnie Williams, the keyboardist and producer (whose Stax discography includes work with The Soul Children, Rance Allen, The Emotions and Rufus Thomas), the album boasted songs penned by the two producers such as the standout “Wishes And Dishes,” a familiar tale for many a married woman, “Slipped And Tripped” (the album’s lone single release) and “The Whole World Is Out” as well as songwriter Bettye Crutcher ‘s brilliant “Why Marry” (complete with a final rap that referenced the album’s opening cut) undoubtedly the best cut on the LP.

The LP was definitely not geared towards providing the trio with a hit single, more a loosely-defined concept piece much like Porter’s own solo albums (think, “Victim Of A Joke”) or The Soul Children’s “Friction.” The album spent two weeks on the R&B charts in August 1973 and the trio made one more visit to the Stax studios for 1974’s “Dirty Tricks” single, penned by Sylvia Shemwell. Never Stax stars as such, The Sweet Inspirations were nonetheless noteworthy for that one 1973 album. “Why Marry” with its brilliant harmonies is worth the price of the whole LP, still thankfully available on CD. Sweet, sweet indeed.

David Nathan
Aka the British Ambassador Of Soul
Owner, www.soulmusic.com, www.soulmusicstore.com