| Chris Bell (musician) |
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Information AboutChris Bell (musician) |
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Bell had played in a number of Memphis bands beginning in the 1960s , prior to his later famous work in the 1970s with Chilton. He had started playing music at age 12, influenced heavily by the Beatles and other British Invasion groups like The Yardbirds and The Who . One of his early groups included Memphians Richard Rosebrough and Terry Manning, with whom he continued to work for the rest of his music career. In 1964 and 1965 , Bell played lead guitar in a British Invasion-influenced group called the Jynx with local musicians, including lead vocalist Mike Harris, rhythm guitarist David Hoback, drummer DeWitt Shy, and bassist Bill Cunningham. Other lead vocalists at some of the group's shows and rehearsals, though not present on their recordings, included local teens Ames Yates, Vance Alexander, and Chilton. Chilton, who attended nearly every Jynx show and sang lead vocals for a couple of weeks, soon joined the Box Tops with Cunningham, as the Jynx split up in 1966 . Bell continued to perform and record in Memphis throughout the rest of the decade, turning his focus more toward writing original songs by the late 1960s. BIG STAR BEGINS The group later known as Big Star stemmed from two Bell band projects that began in the late 1960s when he was recording and performing live in groups named Icewater and Rock City. These groups featured a revolving set of musicians including Jody Stephens, Terry Manning, Tom Eubanks, Andy Hummel, Richard Rosebrough, Vance Alexander, and Steve Rhea. Recordings by these groups appear on the various artists collection ''Rockin' Memphis 1960's–1970's Vol. 1'' and ''Rock City'', released in 2003 . Chilton was asked by Bell to join several months after the group had started performing. Eventually the group, during a period of recording demos and tracks for their first album, settled on naming the group "Big Star." The lineup for Big Star's first album was composed of Bell (guitars/vocals), Chilton (guitars, vocals), Hummel (bass, vocals), and Stephens (drums, vocals). Bell and Chilton wrote most of the group's songs, with occasional writing contributions from Hummel and Stephens. Bell was even more influenced by the music of the British Invasion than Chilton, whose subsequent career has seen him turn toward soul music, country, punk rock (producing The Cramps), R&B, and European pop. Bell steadfastly retained his Beatles-oriented pop influences throughout his career. Along with Ardent Studios founder John Fry and engineer Terry Manning, Bell is credited with much of the mixing and engineering work done on the first Big Star album, ''#1 Record''. After this album failed to find commercial success due to confusion by Stax, its soul-oriented distributor, in marketing the album, Bell left the band in 1972 and began a struggle with intense depression that gripped him off and on for the rest of his life. Bell's brother David has also written of Bell's need to branch out from being in the shadow of his more famous bandmate, Chilton, as another reason for Bell's departure. David Bell also reported a brief reunion during the recording of Big Star's second album, ''Radio City'', which led to Bell's collaborating with the group members to write a couple of songs on the album, including "O My Soul" and "Back of a Car." SOLO WORK AFTER BIG STAR Bell began to concentrate on solo work after leaving Big Star, recording demos at Ardent Studios and Shoe Recording in Memphis with old friends including Rosebrough, Manning, Cunningham, Ken Woodley, and occasionally Chilton and Jim Dickinson . One of Bell's better known solo songs from this period is "You and Your Sister," featuring Bell's guitarwork and vocals, Chilton's backing vocal, and Cunningham's string arrangements and bass work. Another of Bell's more famous solo songs was "I am the Cosmos," from the same period. Bell also began playing in a group with local songwriter Keith Sykes in the 1970s. During the late 1970s, a few of Bell's pop song lyrics began to evince influences from his newfound interest in Christian spirituality, as he continued to grapple with clinical depression. Although he released a single in 1978 on the Car Records label, none of his solo material was released on a full length album during his lifetime. Bell died in December 1978 when he lost control of his small Triumph sports car, sometime after 1 a.m. on the morning of the 27th, on his way home from Ardent Studios. The car struck a wooden light pole on the side of the road, killing him instantly. His funeral was held the next day, December 28th, the birthday of former bandmate Chilton. Bell's music and that of Big Star became popular with alternative rock musicians in the 1980s through word of mouth. Eventually, well known artists including R.E.M. and The Replacements began touting the recordings of Big Star as significant works. Finally, almost 14 years after his death, the songs from his Car Records single and several of his other 1970s recordings were released on 1992's ''I Am the Cosmos'' full-length CD on Rykodisc . Big Star's pop gem "In the Street," which had featured the tight harmonies of Bell and Chilton, was chosen as a representative song of the 1970s decade by the producers of the television show '' That '70s Show '' in 1998 . Cheap Trick recorded a version of the song for the show with new lyrics in 1999 , also included on ''That '70s Show Presents That '70s Album: Rockin'.'' Bell has recently been featured on the album . His song Speed Of Sound is the third track on the album. DISCOGRAPHY Band work :The Jynx:
:Icewater and Rock City:
:Big Star:
Solo work
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