Thom Bell

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Biographies:

Songwriting credits:

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Songbook’s Thom Bell feature pages

The Delfonics: selected hit recordings, 1968-1971
- 1968 — La-La Means I Love You
- 1969 — Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)
- 1970 — When You Get Right Down to It
- 1971 — Hey! Love

Thom Bell with Linda Creed or Phil Hurtt: selected co-written songs, 1970-1973
- 1970 — Keep Growing Strong / Betcha By Golly, Wow
- 1971 — You Are Everything
- 1972 — I’ll Be Around
- 1973 — You Make Me Feel Brand New

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Thom Bell interviews:

1992 — Interview with Thom Bell conducted by Dan Kimpel in March 1992 for the Los Angeles Songwriters Showcase musepaper
2006 — NPR, Thom Bell interviewed by Terry Gross on “Fresh Air”
- longer 2016 version of the 2006 interview
2008 — Thom Bell and the Sound of Brotherly Love — Houston Press: Rocks Off interview by Bob Ruggiero, published Monday, December 8, 2008

articles:

index of Thom Bell interviews, articles, and reviews at Rock’s Backpages (rocksbackpages.com) — collected pieces from 1972-2008; access requires account
2013 — Thom Bell: No longer silent in Gamble-Huff legacy, by Dan DeLuca, published June 9, 2013. in the Philadelphia Inquirer (inquirer.com)
2018 — A Hall of Fame hitmaker finds happiness and harmony in Bellingham, by Tom Fitzgerald, originally published February 15, 2018, in the Seattle Times (seattletimes.com)

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From the March 1992 interview by Dan Kimpel:

The first record I did with them [The Delfonics] in 1965 was with Cameo Records. Cameo didn’t know anything about black music at the time, and neither did I. But the record did well in the Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Virginia area. The second record did well in the same area, and then the company folded. When the company folded, the guy [probably Stan Watson, manager of the Delfonics] went out and got a loan and put some money up and said “Man, you’ve got to give me a hit record on this group.” So I called around different publishers and told them my name. “Who?” “Thom Bell.” “No, I’m afraid the only Bell we know is Bell Telephone and the Liberty Bell with the crack in it.” And I said, “I’m looking for songs.” “Well, no.” And if they did send you songs, they’d send you the junky songs. I said, “This can’t be. I’m going to write my own doggone songs.”

From the December 2011 Manifesto Magazine interview, regarding the association of falsetto* in a lead vocal with the Philly Sound:

Undoubtedly, that’s a Philly sound, oh yeah. We had Donnie Elbert too and Little Joe who sang Peanuts [Okeh 4-7088, 1957], man those tenors were synonymous with Philadelphia.

From the 2008 Rocks Off interview with Bob Ruggiero:

I had studied to be a concert pianist for so many years, so the classical world is where I came from. It was a natural process for me to hear music with oboes and cor anglais and things like that.

But Atlantic Records had strings, and there was a tympani in “There Goes My Baby” by the Drifters, and then Teddy Randazzo and Don Costa were doing things with Little Anthony and the Imperials, and then Burt Bacharach with Dionne Warwick. So it wasn’t [unprecedented], but our songs were different.

(left to right) Leon Huff, Thom Bell, and Kenny Gamble

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Book on Philadelphia Soul:

A House on Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul, by John A. Jackson, 2004

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Record and Publishing Companies:

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Co-songwriters:

William Hart — See the links in our Delfonics page
Linda Creed — Songwriters Hall of Fame
Linda Creed — Wikipedia
Phil Hurtt — Soulwalking.co.uk
Kenny Gamble — Songwriters Hall of Fame

Arrangement, production, and publishing associates:

Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff

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Pop quiz #1: Who are in this photo with Thom Bell?

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* Lead singer of the Delfonics William Hart has denied in multiple interviews that he sang falsetto on classics such as “La-La Means I Love You” and “Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time.” For example, a page on the Delfonics at StaxxRecords.com includes the following quote by Hart: “Most people think it’s falsetto, but it’s really my natural voice. When it’s time to sing, I just go into the higher register.”