Thom Bell

Thom Bell
Thomas Randolph Bell (January 26, 1943 – December 22, 2022) was an American record producer, arranger and songwriter known as one of the creators of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s. He found success as a producer and songwriter for the Delfonics, Stylistics, and Spinners. In June 2006, Bell was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2016, Bell was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.
Background
Bell was born on January 26, 1943 in Kingston, Jamaica, to Anna and Leroy Bell, and brought to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the age of four by his parents, according to an interview Bell gave to Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air. Both of Bell's parents were native Jamaicans. Thomas Bedward Burke, Bell's maternal grandfather, was born in Kingston, Jamaica.
Known as Thom, Bell was one of ten brothers and sisters. His mother, Anna, worked as a stenographer, and was a pianist. Leroy, his father, owned a fish market and restaurant, was also musical, playing the accordion and Hawaiian guitar.
Career
Bell, classically trained as a musician, sang as a teenager with Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Daryl Hall (of Hall & Oates fame). Bell's first big break in soul music came with Cameo Records in Philadelphia where he worked as a session player and arranger.
In1967, he was introduced to a local group called The Delfonics, and produced two singles for them the recording label, Moonglow. Bell brought a mellifluous, hypnotic haut en couleur style to soul music, and soon his production talents yielded several big hits for the Delfonics on the Philly Groove label, run by their manager Stan Watson. These releases included "La-La (Means I Love You)" and "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)," the latter of which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1970.
Bell joined the fast-growing record production company operated by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff in Philadelphia, working as an arranger for acts such as Jerry Butler, Archie Bell & The Drells, Jerry Bell, The O'Jays, and Dusty Springfield. He arranged some big hits, including The O'Jays popular "Back Stabbers," on Gamble and Huff's own record label, Philadelphia International Records, which the two launched in 1971. Bell then joined the Gamble and Huff in setting up a music publishing company for their songs, Mighty Three Music.
By 1971, Bell had moved on to produce another local group, The Stylistics, this time on Avco Records. By then, he had teamed up with the Philadelphia-born songwriter, Linda Creed, and this partnership, along with Russell Thompkins, Jr., the lead singer of the Stylistics, generated three albums full of memorable tracks. Bell and Creed became one of the era's dominant soul songwriting teams, penning hits such as "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)", "You Are Everything", "Betcha by Golly, Wow", "Break Up to Make Up", "You Make Me Feel Brand New", and "I'm Stone in Love with You" (the latter with Anthony Bell).
In 1972, Bell agreed to produce The Spinners for Atlantic Records. The group, who had long been with Motown Records, had joined Atlantic after failing to get the attention they wanted. It was the start of a successful collaboration that lasted for seven years and eight original albums. Bell revitalized the group, producing five gold albums that included chart success with singles such as "I'll Be Around", "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love", "Games People Play", and "The Rubberband Man". In 1974, he was awarded a Grammy for Best Producer of the Year.
In 1975, Bell produced an album with Dionne Warwick called Track of the Cat, one year after he had teamed her with the Spinners on the song, "Then Came You", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and reached #2 on the R&B chart. He also worked with acts such as Johnny Mathis (two albums), Billy Paul, Ronnie Dyson, Little Anthony & The Imperials, and New York City in the mid to late 1970s, but generally with less commercial appeal.
Subsequently, Bell had success with Deniece Williams, including her R&B #1 and Top 10 re-make of The Royalettes' "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" in 1982; James Ingram with "I Don't Have the Heart" in 1990 (Bell's second #1 pop hit); and Elton John, whose EP, The Thom Bell Sessions, featured back-up by the Spinners and produced the Top 10 hit, "Mama Can't Buy You Love", in 1979. Other artists Bell produced in the 1980s included The Temptations, Phyllis Hyman, Dee Dee Bridgwater, and he even re-united briefly with the Stylistics in 1981 on Philadelphia International's subsidiary, TSOP.
Warner Chappell Music acquired Mighty Three Music in 1990.
A December 2008 interview with Bell featured on the Philly Soul box set, Love Train, stated he would soon compose a piece for the Philadelphia Orchestra. Past Orchestra members played in MFSB, the house band who played on many Bell productions.
Bell was known for being a perfectionist in his writing and very budget conscious, demanding that session musicians play his compositions as they were written and not improvise.
Personal life
Bell married Sylvia Bell in 1965 but they later divorced in 1984. He married Vanessa Joanne Wittrock in Seattle on December 29, 1985. He had six children.
On December 22, 2022, at the age of 79, Bell died at his home in Bellingham, Washington after what was described as a "lengthy illness."
Producing and songwriting
1965: "Pass Me By" – Hattie Winston
1968: "La-La (Means I Love You)" – The Delfonics
1969: "Brand New Me" - Dusty Springfield
1970: "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" – The Delfonics
1971: "Hey Love" – The Delfonics
1971: "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" – The Stylistics
1971: "You Are Everything" – The Stylistics
1972: "People Make the World Go Round" – The Stylistics
1972: "Betcha by Golly, Wow" – The Stylistics
1972: "I'm Stone in Love with You" – The Stylistics
1972: "I'll Be Around" – The Spinners
1972: "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" – The Spinners
1973: "I'm Doing Fine Now" – New York City
1973: "One of a Kind (Love Affair)" – The Spinners
1973: "Ghetto Child" – The Spinners
1973: "Break Up to Make Up" – The Stylistics
1973: "Rockin' Roll Baby" – The Stylistics
1974: "You Make Me Feel Brand New" – The Stylistics
1974: "Mighty Love (Part I)" – The Spinners
1974: "Then Came You" – The Spinners (with Dionne Warwick)
1975: "They Just Can't Stop It (The Games People Play)" – The Spinners
1976: "The Rubberband Man" – The Spinners
1979: "Are You Ready for Love" – Elton John (with the Spinners)
1979: "Mama Can't Buy You Love" – Elton John
1980: Dee Dee Bridgewater
1981: "Silly" – Deniece Williams
1982: "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" – Deniece Williams
1990: "I Don't Have the Heart" – James Ingram
References
External links
Exclusive Thom Bell Interview published January 2012
Bio at soulwalking.co.uk
2006 Interview with Terry Gross on "Fresh Air"
An interview with Soul Express in February 2018
1943 births
2022 deaths
American musicians of Jamaican descent
Grammy Award winners
Record producers from Pennsylvania
American music arrangers
American male organists
20th-century American keyboardists
Musicians from Philadelphia
Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania
American male pianists
21st-century American pianists
21st-century organists
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American singer-songwriters
American male singer-songwriters
MFSB members
American organists