The Halloran Centre at the Orpheum Theatre has made a name for itself as a songwriters’ showcase, partly due to its ongoing Memphis Songwriters Series, hosted by Memphis songwriter Mark Edgar Stuart. But one event that should have all fans of classic songwriting rushing the stage is happening tonight with little of the standard “songwriter” hype. That’s simply because tonight’s performer, in addition to helping pen some of the most memorable songs in American culture, is also a stellar performer.
That would be William Bell, the Memphis native, now living in Atlanta, who helped put Stax Records on the map, and then helped it stay there. He wrote and sang “You Don’t Miss Your Water,” one of the first Stax singles to hit the charts, and, like “Green Onions,” another surprise hit for a B-side. He wrote “Born Under a Bad Sign” with Booker T. Jones, a tune first recorded by Albert King and made legend by Eric Clapton and Cream, that has since become a pillar of American popular music.
And that’s just for starters. Anyone who loves the sound of Stax soul should be flocking to this show. More recently, Bell’s won considerable acclaim for his Grammy-winning album, This is Where I Live, and for his featured role in the Memphis music documentary Take Me To The River, where he and Snoop Dogg performed another one of Bell’s compositions, “I Forgot to be Your Lover.”
Reflecting on a career spanning several decades, Bell recently told the Memphis Flyer, “In my concerts I’ve got three generations of people now. I’ve got the grandparents, the parents and the kids, and when you can hear them grooving and dancing and singing along, it’s a wonderful feeling to know that. Yeah, this is the same music, this is the same story, and you can feel what we’re doing. It’s great.”
So get your family’s generations together, and go hear one of the last of the original soul singers still standing. He’s a true pillar of Memphis music, still out there doing his thing.
William Bell Onstage at the Halloran Centre, Friday, August 27, 7:30 p.m. $47.50
