George HaffendenStax soul man William Bell has resigned to the label that helped make him famous, and is set to release a brand new album of soul this June.
It has been announced that soul legend William Bell is set to release a brand new album on Stax Records this June. Bell is most famous for his tenure on Stax Records back in the sixties, when he had a string of hits including ‘You Don’t Miss Your Water’, ‘I Forgot To Be Your Lover’, and ‘Private Number’ with Judy Clay. Now, at the age of 76, he has resigned to Stax, now under ownership of the Concord Music Group, and has released his first new single since 2010’s ‘Am I Mr Right’.
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, a young William Bell first signed to Stax Records in 1961 and scored his first hit with the enduring ‘You Don’t Miss Your Water’. He would go on to record 25 additional singles for Stax, before singing with Mercury Records and later his own Wilbe Records. A noted songwriter as well as performer, Bell co-wrote with Booker T. Jones the blues-soul hit ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’ for Albert King. He also performed at the famed Wattstax Festival in Los Angeles in the early seventies.
The first single off the new album, This Is Where I Live, sees Bell return to the gritty, southern soul that made him a Stax icon back in the early sixties. Age appears to have taken no toll on his distinct voice; backed by a sparse rhythm arrangement that is reminiscent of his earlier work, the song takes Bell back to his best. The song is reflective and poignant, suiting Bell’s stage in life. As he told NPR Music, “the title kind of struck me, as if a man was just looking back over his life and trying to find out what he would do differently — the loves that he’s lost or gained”.
William Bell is set to release his new album This Is Where I Live on June 3 on Stax Records. His brand new single ‘The Three Of Me’ is out now on iTunes and Spotify.