WILLIAM BELL

William Bell was one of the first artists to sign with Stax and remains active in music to this day.

He was born William Yarbrough in Memphis on July 16, 1939. His professional name came from his grandmother, whose first name was Belle. As a child, he sang in church and began writing songs at age ten. Four years later, Bell won a talent contest and began singing in Memphis-area clubs. He also backed Rufus Thomas, a popular radio Memphis radio D.J. and recording artist.

In 1957, Bell made his first recordings as a member of the doo-wop group, the Del Rios. By 1961, he was a staff songwriter at Stax Records. His debut release was one of his own compositions, “You Don’t Miss Your Water” (until your well runs dry). The country-soul ballad became a substantial hit down south and spent a week on the national charts.

Bell made several other recordings for Stax before leaving Memphis for a two-year stint in the military. Once he had returned to civilian life, Stax released his debut album, The Soul of a Bell, in 1967. It produced the chart single, “Everybody Loves a Winner.”

In 1967, bluesman Albert King recorded Bell’s song, “Born Under a Bad Sign.” It was later done by the British rock trio Cream and has been hailed as a timeless staple of the blues.

On December 10, 1967, a heavy snowstorm in Chicago led to the cancellation of one of Bell’s shows. Consequently, he missed the flight that took the life of his good friend and fellow Stax artist, Otis Redding. Devastated by the loss, Bell collaborated with Booker T. Jones (of Booker T. & The MG’s) on the 1968 single, “A Tribute to a King.”

Bell’s duet with Judy Clay, “Private Number,” became a top ten hit in England in 1968. Early the following year, he enjoyed his first top ten U.S. Soul hit with the self-written “I Forgot to Be Your Lover.” In 1986, Billy Idol remade it as “To Be a Lover,” taking it to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1969, Bell relocated to Atlanta and started a short-lived record label, Peachtree. During his time in Georgia, he also took acting lessons and played Stanley Kowalski in a stage production of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire.

After Stax closed its doors in the mid ‘70s, Bell signed with Mercury and had his all-time biggest hit. “Tryin’ to Love Two” reached #1 on the Soul chart and #10 pop in January 1977. It was also a certified million-seller.

In 1985, Bell founded the Wilbe label and released his album Passion. Its most receptive audience was in the UK. In 1987, Bell was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. After an eight-year hiatus from recording, he released A Portrait Is Forever, an album of new material, in 2000. In 2003, Bell received the W.C. Handy Heritage Award. His next album, New Lease on Life, came out in 2009. Six years later, he appeared in Take Me to the River, a documentary film about the Memphis music scene.

In 2016, Bell revived the Stax label to release his album, This Is Where I Live. The following year, it won the Grammy for Best Americana Album. This led to a major career boost for William Bell, which included a performance at the BBC’s 50 Years of Soul concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall. He was also one of the last performers to appear at B.B. King’s Blues Club in New York City before it shut down in 2018.

In 2020, the National Endowment for the Arts named William Bell one of its fellows, the “nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. These lifetime honor awards of $25,000 are given in recognition of both artistic excellence and efforts to sustain cultural traditions for future generations.”

Rock critic Dave Marsh included three of Bell’s songs--”You Don’t Miss Your Water,” “Everybody Loves a Winner,” and “I Forgot to Be Your Lover”--in his 1989 book, The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made.

Charted singles:

“You Don’t Miss Your Water” (1962) Pop #95
“Any Other Way” (1962) Pop #131
“Share What You Got” (1966) R&B #27
“Never Like This Before” (1967) R&B #29
“Everybody Loves a Winner” (1967) R&B #18, Pop #95
“Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday” (1967) R&B #33
“A Tribute to a King” (1968) R&B #16, Pop #86
“Every Man Ought to Have a Woman” (1968) Pop #115
“Private Number” (duet with Judy Clay, 1968) R&B #17, Pop #75
“I Forgot to Be Your Lover” (1968-69) R&B #10, Pop #45
“My Baby Specializes” (duet with Judy Clay, 1969) R&B #45, Pop #104
“I Need You Woman” (duet with Carla Thomas, 1969) Pop #106
“Happy” (1969) Pop #129
“My Whole World Is Falling Down” (1969) R&B #39, Pop #101
“Lovin’ on Borrowed Time” (1973) R&B #22
“I’ve Got to Go on Without You” (1973) R&B #54
“Gettin’ What You Want (Losin’ What You Got)” (1974) R&B #39
“Tryin’ to Love Two” (1976-77) R&B #1 (1 week), Pop #10
“Coming Back For More” (1977) R&B #66
“Easy Comin’ Out (Hard Goin’ In)” (1977) R&B #30
“Bad Time to Break Up” (1983) R&B #65
“I Don’t Want to Wake Up (Feelin’ Guilty)” (duet with Janice Bullock, 1986) R&B #59
“Headline News” (1986) R&B #65