2017 Grammy Winning Album On Vinyl LP With Limited Edition MP3 Full Album Download Card!
2017 Grammy Award:
Best Americana Album
Since his earliest days as an artist, this legendary Stax Records soul man,William Bell, has been delivering the truth with one of the most remarkablevoices in popular music. While other R&B titans have made their legacies withvocal gymnastics, screams and shouts, Bell has carved out his niche with a moresubtle approach. His style is all about phrasing and inflection, simmeringtension and restraint. It’s flowing and graceful, a kind of Tai Chi Soul. Andwhether he’s singing a ballad or an up-tempo tune, Bell always has a direct lineto the poetry of the heart.
Decades after his last major release, William Bell returns to the relaunchedStax label with his definitive statement as an artist, This Is Where I Live. A12-song collaboration with Grammy-winning producer John Leventhal, it’s abeautiful summary of Bell’s journey as a singer and songwriter. The albumcontains echoes of the past, but more importantly, it embodies a contemporaryflair that points the way forward to a new chapter in an already storied career.
“This is the first major label album I’ve done in a long time,” Bellsays, “and to have it be part of Stax is just great. I feel like I’ve comefull circle, and that gives me new energy, like I’m starting all over again.”
In 1961, Bell was one of the first artists to sign with Stax Records, where hisself-penned solo debut “You Don’t Miss Your Water“was one of theyoung label’s early hits. After serving two years in the Army, Bell establishedhimself as an MVP at Stax, co-writing hits with Booker T. Jones, both forhimself (including stone soul classics like “Everyday Will Be A Holiday,““I Forgot To Be Your Lover“ and “Private Number“)and others (“Born Under A Bad Sign“for Albert King became one ofthe most-covered blues songs ever written).
His songs were recorded by everyone from fellow soul artists Otis Redding andKing Curtis to rock bands like Cream and The Byrds. He didnt release his owndebut album until 1967, but The Soul Of A Bell has been widely acknowledged as aseminal work. Bell sailed from strength to strength into the early ’70s, whensoul music faded and Stax folded.
He recalls, “When that happened, I thought, ‘Well, I guess I’m not goingto record anymore.’ So I moved to Atlanta and started a label called PeachtreeRecords, and I did a lot of producing of other artists. Then in 1977, MercuryRecords approached me about making an album. I wasn’t sure about it, so I didfour sides. ‘Trying To Love Two’ came out of that, which was a huge hit.“
But that moment didn’t last, and Bell went back to the ‘business’ side of themusic business, producing and releasing albums for other artists on his ownWilbe Records label. As the years passed, Bell saw his songs covered by artistsranging from Billy Idol to Carole King to Warren Haynes to Sturgill Simpson, andhe became a talisman for a new generation of hip-hop artists who have sampledhis recordings. Bell was also inducted into both the Memphis and Georgia MusicHalls of Fame.
With such a rich legacy, Bell recognized that a new album would have a lot tolive up to. He needed just the right collaborator. And he found it in JohnLeventhal. The triple threat producersongwritermulti-instrumentalist, bestknown for his work with singer-songwriters like Shawn Colvin and Rosanne Cash,might’ve initially seemed an unlikely fit. But Leventhal says, “Soulmusic was a huge imprint for me, so I jumped at the chance to produce thisproject. I was real familiar with William. The only caveat I had was that Iwanted to write the songs with him.“
“At my age,“says Bell, “I’ve had a lot of experience, and Iknow what my limitations are, what my faults are as a human being, and I utilizethat. When I approach a lyric or a melody, I’m brutally honest. And writing withJohn, and also Marc Cohn, they were sensitive to that. And yet, how I approachand present it feels a little more refined.“
Honest and refined are the two words that come to mind as the album unfolds. “The Three of Me“ reaches deep into the pocket of a classic Memphismid-tempo groove for some unflinching past-present-future self-examination.Addiction to an unhealthy love stirs the hard-grooving “Poison in theWell“ while the reimagining of his classic “Born Under A Bad Sign“takes on more vivid colors and a deeper resonance. When Bell shifts intoballad-mode, the effect is breathtaking. The grain of his voice, the intimacy ofit, on standout tracks like the sweetly tender “I Will Take Care Of You“(writtenfor a dear friend recovering from health problems) and the cover of JesseWinchester’s “All Your Stories“ define the very essence of soulsinging. Throughout, Leventhal surrounds Bell with arrangements constructed ofclassic elements loping drums, plump bass, chinking electric guitars, splashesof organ and horns but always finds fresh ways of recombining them so thelanguage transcends mere tribute. This Is Where I Live doesn’t reinvent thewheel so much as give it some nifty new treads to carry it into the modernworld.
Features:
Vinyl LP
Limited Edition MP3 Full Album Download Card
Selections:
Side A:
1. The Three Of Me
2. The House Always Wins
3. Poison In The Well
4. I Will Take Care Of You
5. Born Under a Bad Sign
6. All Your Stories
Side B:
1. Walking On A Tightrope
2. This Is Where I Live
3. More Rooms
4. All The Things You Can’t Remember
5. Mississippi-Arkansas Bridge
6. People Want To Go Home
