Almost forgotten with the constant change in technology is the reality that before the early ‘80s, many of the great recordings of the ’60s and ‘70s were gone, out of print, hard to find and only rarely rediscovered if you happened upon a worn out LP in a used record store! The invention and advent of the compact disc brought back literally thousands and thousands of tracks that might have been permanently lost to posterity. The CD ‘revolution’ of the ‘80s and ‘90s and beyond gave avid record collectors and music enthusiasts the opportunity to revive memories associated with specific tracks as well as introducing us to albums and singles we just might have missed the first time around.

Take William Bell’s Stax catalog: I still recall loving his first album for the label, “Soul Of A Bell” because of tracks like “Everybody Loves A Winner” and a particular favorite, “You Don’t Miss Your Water.’ Loved his duets with the late Judy Clay – the classic “Private Number” and follow up “My Baby Specializes,” wishing they had done an entire LP together. Thought his 1968 hit, “I Forgot To Be Your Lover” was magnificent. But, honestly, I never really followed some of his subsequent Stax albums, only being reminded of this soul man’s skills when he signed with Mercury Records in 1976 when “Tryin’ To Love Two” brought him back to the R&B and pop charts.

Seeing William in action last summer in Memphis when he performed as part of the Stax 50th anniversary celebration (and having seen him at a small Cleveland nightclub a year or so prior at a pre-Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame tribute to Sam Cooke), I was struck by his ability to remain true to his musical roots: he was, after all, the very first male solo vocalist signed to Stax back in ’62, thus an important figure in the company’s growth and expansion. Live, he’s a solid soul man, expressing himself with real emotion and truth-tellin’ honesty.

Digging into the still-available set of two-on-one CDs first issued by Fantasy and remaining in the Stax/Concord catalog I find “Wow” and “Bound To Happen,” a twenty-one track collection that comprises two albums first issued in 1971 and 1969 respectively. The ten cuts that make up “Wow” are particularly interesting, mostly produced by Stax president Al Bell and all but three tracks cut in Muscle Shoals, Alabama rather than in Memphis. The horns and strings were overdubbed at Ardent Studios (in Memphis) while the particularly soulful background vocals – courtesy Kim Weston, then-husband producer Mickey Stevenson, Patrice Holloway (sister of Motown star Brenda) and Jessie Smith (of the vocal group Hodges, James & Smith) – on seven tracks were done at MGM studios in Los Angeles. The result? A decidedly different-sounding album for Mr. Bell! Maybe a little more polished than some of his early Memphis-cut material, the standout tracks including “Till My Back Ain’t Got No Bone” (an Eddie Floyd-Al Bell song, later recorded by Esther Phillips), artist/songwriter (Prince) Phillip Mitchell’s “Somebody’s Gonna Get Hurt” and Stax songwriter Bettye Crutcher’s “A Penny For Your Thoughts.” Hoping to generate extra sales, Stax added Bell’s 1968 hit “I Forgot To Be Your Lover” to “Wow” but it didn’t make much difference: at the time of its release in 1971, Gulf & Western (which had assumed financial control of Stax) were only interested in ‘numbers’ and William Bell’s LP, bereft of a new hit single, just didn’t get any major push.

Of greater interest to more traditional soul fans is 1969’s “Bound To Happen,” produced by Booker T. Jones and featuring the MGs (Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn and Al Jackson Jr.) augmented by Stax musicians Marvell Thomas (son of Rufus, brother of Carla), Michael Toles and James Alexander with The Memphis Horns. Aside from the exquisite “I Forgot To Be Your Lover,” the original twelve tracks included originals such as the upbeat “Happy,” (a Bell-Jones original), the memorable “My Whole World Is Falling Down,” (co-written by Bettye Crutcher and Booker T.) and the Caribbean-flavored “Bring The Curtain Down.” Of the covers, most notable: “Johnny, I Love You,” another Jones’ tune originally recorded by Booker for the “Uptight” soundtrack; a great version of “I Got A Sure Thing,” first cut by Stax labelmates Ollie & The Nightingales; and an interesting reading of “Born Under A Bad Sign,” the song William had written with Booker T. Jones a few years earlier for blues guitarist Albert King. As a classic late ‘60s Stax album, “Bound To Happen” is certainly worthy of attention and while William Bell may never have reached the mainstream heights of, say, Isaac Hayes or Sam & Dave, his music is a bona fide representation of Stax at its soulful best.

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

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 at 12:39 am and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.