10 facts you may not have known about Thom Bell

In the history of popular music Thom Bell is regarded as one of the greatest producers of all time With more than platinum albums and more than gold records his musical ingenuity helped to shape R B soul and disco and influenced countless producers who came after him His signature orchestral arrangements created magic and timeless hits for the likes of Delfonics the Stylistics the Spinners the O Jays Johnny Mathis Dionne Warwick Elton John and James Ingram Jerry Butler Archie Bell the Drells Jerry Bell and Dusty Springfield among multiple others His hits include La-La Means I Love You Didn t I Blow Your Mind This Time Ready or Not Here I Come Can t Hide From Love You Are Everything Betcha by Golly Wow I ll Be Around Could It Be I m Falling in Love Break Up to Make Up One of a Kind Love Affair Ghetto Child You Make Me Feel Brand New and Then Came You with Dionne Warwick After a monumental career he retired to Bellingham Washington Bell passed away at the age of on December Dyana Williams co-founder of Black Music Month and legendary media personality lauded her former colleague and friend for his immense contributions to the music industry One of THE greater part prolific songwriters arrangers and producers of classic timeless music is Thom Bell Williams explained Billy Penn When I think of sweet poetic enchanting romantic music Thom Bell and his frequent collaborator lyricist Linda Creed come to mind As long as humanity exists Thom Bell s music will continue to be a soundtrack for living In celebration of Black Music Month we pay tribute to one of the greatest musicians ever and a proud son of Philly Here are Things You Might Not Have Known About Thom Bell A native of Jamaica Numerous may not be aware that Thom Bell was born in Kingston Jamaica on January He later relocated to Philadelphia with his parents at the age of He was one of siblings He was classically trained Bell s parents were accomplished musicians in their own right and created an conditions where he cultivated his own musical talents By the time he was he was taking piano lessons with dreams of becoming a conductor But after hearing Little Anthony and the Imperials mournful Tears On My Pillow Bell knew that he demanded to create this kind of music I fell in love with the whole production Bell narrated the Seattle Times I listened to the background the bass a lot more than just the lyrics His classical background heavily influenced his orchestral arrangements Formed a doo-wop group with Kenny Gamble As a teenager Bell formed a short-lived doo-wop group with Kenny Gamble called Kenny and Tommy and then Kenny Gamble the Romeos While they achieved local success it would not compare to the impact and success that they would enjoy years later He was Chubby Checker s conductor One of Bell s first professional jobs in the music industry was working as an arranger and conductor for rock roll icon Chubby Checker Along with conducting his touring band he also wrote several of Checker s music I was a writer for his publishing company and also writing music for specific of his shows and doing a little conducting for him Bell commented in an interview with WHYY s Fresh Air One of the architects of The Sound of Philadelphia Bell alongside Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff were the creative geniuses behind the Philadelphia Sound that reigned supreme through the late s into the s The genre was known for its sophisticated songwriting lush arrangements and unforgettable lyrics While Gamble and Huff primarily ran teh iconic Philadelphia International Records PIR label the Mighty Three refers to their music publishing company Mighty Three Music Bell worked with artists at various record companies His co-writer was Linda Creed While Bell helmed the production his songwriting partner was Linda Creed also a Philadelphia native She was the lyricist behind numerous hits including The Stylistics including You Are Everything Betcha by Golly Wow and You Make Me Feel Brand New In those days people didn t particularly appreciate a Black and white crew Bell explained of his partnership with Creed The two collaborated for nine years until Creed passed away from breast cancer at the age of in Bell was at her side until the end We were like brother and sister Bell recalled Rubberband Man was written for his son One of the classic songs from The Spinners was Rubberband Man Bell penned it with Creed and at first it was called The Fat Man a nickname that classmates had hung on Bell s son Mark Bell hoped to change the perception of this nickname by composing a song about a big man who could really move on the dance floor It was written for big people who were hip to change the whole idea of a person being large being sloppy slow Bell recalled Bob Babbitt the legendary bass participant who played on numerous Motown tracks plays the signature bassline on the song To achieve the unique sound Babbitt ran the instrument through a device he called a funk box Sung by the late great Phillppe Wynne Rubberband Man peaked at No on the Billboard Hot in I don t do R B I do music While steeped in the Black music tradition Bell defied all the labels that would be placed on his music Invariably when other producers and musicians would say that my sounds were odd for R B I would just tell them I don t do R B I do music Bell reported He was an accomplished chef Along with having the skills to cook up timeless hits in the studio Bell could really cook in the kitchen too An enthusiastic chef Bell collected more than cookbooks at his home in Washington state He and his wife rarely went to restaurants because of his mastery of Asian cuisine He gave the bulk of his memorabilia to his family In a career spanning more than six decades Bell garnered his fair share of awards over the years Interestingly he didn t keep any memorabilia in his home but gave his collection to his kids and grandkids That s another life Bell stated Good memories but I m finished with it now Critical acclaim Throughout his remarkable career Bell received plenty of accolades He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in and the Musicians Hall of Fame in He also won a Grammy Award for Producer of the Year Non-Classical in and received a Trustees Award from the Recording Academy In he will be posthumously inducted into the Rock Roll Hall of Fame The post facts you may not have known about Thom Bell appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY