Thom Bell

Thom Bell ( born January 26, 1943 in Kingston, full name Thomas Randolph Bell) is a Jamaican record producer, pianist, singer, conductor, arranger and composer. Along with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff applies Bell as one of the fathers of the Phillysounds ( "The Sound of Philadelphia ").

Life

Born in Jamaica, Bell and his family moved to Philadelphia when he was 5 years old. As a child he studied classical piano lessons. In 1959 he sang in the vocal ensemble "The Romeos " with Kenny Gamble. In the early 1960s he worked as a conductor, arranger and composer for Chubby Checker.

His first big success was in 1967 at Bell belonged Cameo Records as producer of the Delfonics to their hits, among others La La Means I Love You and Did not I Blow Your Mind This Time.

In 1972 Bell produced the Stylistics at Avco Records. In collaboration with Linda Creed, which was responsible for the lyrics, created three highly acclaimed albums.

A little later, Bell moved to Atlantic Records, where he attributed the Spinners on track. Her greatest produced by Bell hits include Ghetto Child, Could It Be I'm Falling in Love and Then Came You, the latter with Dionne Warwick.

In the aftermath Bell collaborated with many other artists, including Johnny Mathis, Billy Paul, Deniece Williams, James Ingram and Elton John.

Awards

1975 Thom Bell won a Grammy in the category "Best Producer of the Year ". In 2006 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In the same year he received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.