principal architect of the Stax/Volt sound, singer/composer William Bell came to prominence with his classic “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” one of the quintessential soul records to emerge from the Memphis scene. William cut his teeth backing Rufus Thomas, and in 1957 recorded his first sides as a member of the Del Rios. After joining the Stax staff as a writer, in 1961 Bell made his solo debut with the selfpenned “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” an archetypal slice of countrysoul and one of the label’s first big hits. A two-year Armed Forces stint effectively derailed his career, however, and he did not release his first full-length album, The Soul of a Bell, until 1967, generating a Top 20 hit with the single “Everybody Loves a Winner”; that same year, Albert King also scored with another classic Bell composition, the oft-covered “Born Under a Bad Sign.”
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5/9/11
The Soul Of A Bell
principal architect of the Stax/Volt sound, singer/composer William Bell came to prominence with his classic “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” one of the quintessential soul records to emerge from the Memphis scene. William cut his teeth backing Rufus Thomas, and in 1957 recorded his first sides as a member of the Del Rios. After joining the Stax staff as a writer, in 1961 Bell made his solo debut with the selfpenned “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” an archetypal slice of countrysoul and one of the label’s first big hits. A two-year Armed Forces stint effectively derailed his career, however, and he did not release his first full-length album, The Soul of a Bell, until 1967, generating a Top 20 hit with the single “Everybody Loves a Winner”; that same year, Albert King also scored with another classic Bell composition, the oft-covered “Born Under a Bad Sign.”
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